Simple Prickly Pear Margarita Recipe

With its naturally bold pink color and mellow sweetness, this prickly pear margarita is a vibrant twist on the classic. The fruit adds a subtly floral, watermelon-like flavor that balances beautifully with the citrus and tequila, resulting in a fresh, fruity blend unlike anything you’ll find in a mix.

(This post has been updated from an older December 2017 version with additional information.)

Are you ready for a fun new margarita recipe? I feel like I hit the jackpot when I found prickly pears at our local produce market!! Prickly pear has a unique honey-like flavor that tastes incredible in cocktails.

I am all for exotic fruit cocktail recipes! The more unusual, the better! Just try these delicious Red Currant Margarita or Dragon Fruit Cocktail recipes!

What Are Prickly Pears?

Prickly pears, or the “tuna,” are the fruit of a prickly pear cactus. Their fruit can be hot pink, orange, and even green. Each color of prickly pear has a subtle flavor difference. It is often difficult to determine the color of a fruit until you cut it open.

You can learn a lot more about prickly pears in my extensive Guide to Prickly Pears. You can also make a sweet Prickly Pear Syrup, which tastes incredible in craft cocktails like these Prickly Pear Margaritas.

👀 Sandi Says: Most prickly pears come without the spines. Prickly pear fruit can be dangerous because its thick spines can be hard to remove.

Cactus pear fruit makes the best cocktails! You will love these Prickly Pear Bourbon Cocktails at your next happy hour!

How To Juice A Prickly Pear Fruit:

Are you ready to juice your prickly pear fruit? I promise it isn’t as hard as you might think! Just be sure to remove the prickly pear thorns. If your prickly pear has thorns, you need to safely remove them. The Prickly Pear Guide linked above, which includes information on prickly pears, provides a good tutorial on safely removing the spines.

(Note: Some readers commented in my prickly pear syrup recipe that they prefer to burn the prickly pears off with a kitchen blow torch. If you try this, use caution and wear all necessary protective gear.)

Step 1: Cut the cactus pear fruit in half lengthwise. This is when you see what color fruit you have! Scoop out the pulp and add it to a strainer. Place the strainer over a glass or container to catch the juice.

Step 2: Use a spoon to mash the pulp against the mesh in the strainer. This will force all of the juice through. The strainer will trap the seeds you don’t want in your drink!

NOTE: Do not eat the seeds. Some readers tell me that you can swallow the tiny seeds, but please be aware that they are as hard as rocks and can chip your tooth if you try to chew on them.

Now you have prickly pear juice for this cactus pear margarita recipe! Next, take a margarita glass and rub lime around the rim. Dip the edges of the rim in coarse sugar. For this recipe, I used ginger-infused sugar. You can buy it at most spice shops, or make your own Ginger Sugar.

Tools:

1. A cocktail shaker to chill your drink.
2. A strainer to press the juice out of the cactus pear pulp.

Prickly Pear Margarita

Sandi Gaertner

An easy prickly pear margarita recipe.

5 from 7 votes

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Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Course Cocktail Recipes

Cuisine American

Servings 2

Calories 231 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ ½ cup prickly pear fruit juice
• ▢ 3 ounces tequila
• ▢ 1 ounce triple sec
• ▢ 1 teaspoon lime juice
• ▢ ¼ cup pineapple juice
• ▢ ½ teaspoon sugar for the rim

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Instructions

 

• ▢
  Cut prickly pear fruit in half lengthwise. 
• ▢
  Scoop the fruit into a strainer. Place the strainer over a container. Use a spoon to press the fruit into the mesh. This will force the juice out, without getting seeds.
• ▢
  In a shaker, add ice, and all of the ingredients.
• ▢
  Shake to chill. Let sit for 2 minutes while you prep the rim.
• ▢
  Rub fresh lime over the rims on two glasses. Dip the rim in coarse sugar.
• ▢
  Pour the cocktail into each glass. Garnish with pineapple or lime.

SPECIAL NOTE

Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, my rule of thumb is to add more flour if your dough or batter is wet and add more liquid if the dough or batter is too dry!

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 231kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 1gSodium: 75mgFiber: 2gSugar: 22g

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Nutrition Disclaimer

Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.