If you have wondered what to make with prickly pears, you will love these fun tips and recipe ideas! I will walk you through everything you need to know about these exotic cactus fruits and how to enjoy their flavor!
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I have a special treat for you today! I am in love with prickly pears and will show you some of the best prickly pear recipes you can make with them!
Prickly pears have many names, including cactus fruit, cactus pears, Opuntia, cactus fig, and even Mexican tuna fruit. (How silly is that name?) They can be found throughout Mexico and some of the southern states.
Prickly pears come in several colors, ranging from red to hot pink, orange, and green. You can use any color of prickly pear in the recipes I share. I love using vibrant red and purple cactus pear fruit juice to make syrup.
Check out the Prickly Pear Web Story!
How to eat a prickly pear:
There are lots of ways to eat a prickly pear. You can make a jam, prickly pear chutney, or cactus pear jelly. I love using juice to make syrup for cocktails! Sauces for roasted meats flavored with prickly pear add so much flavor.
Prickly pears taste like a cross between watermelon, strawberries, and raspberries. They have an earthy flavor and are great for sweet and savory recipes! My favorite way to enjoy them is in my Prickly Pear Margarita recipe!
What part of the prickly pear is edible?
You can eat the fruit inside of the cactus pear rind. You do not want to eat the peel or spines.
How to remove prickly pear spines:
Lucky for us, most prickly pears are sold with the spines removed. If you end up with a spiny cactus pear, you can safely remove the thorns with these steps:
- Wear thick gloves
- Use tweezers or plyers to pull the spines out of the prickly pear carefully.
How to cut a cactus pear:
Cutting a cactus pear is easy once the spines are removed. Place the pear on a cutting board and take a sharp knife, and cut both ends off. Next, make a horizontal knife slice about ⅛ of an inch down the skin. You should be able to peel the skin off, leaving just the fruit.
The bummer about prickly pears is their seeds. They are hard as rocks and not edible in their current form. You will need to either remove them if you use pieces of the fruit or strain them out if you want the juice. Some brave people make cactus pear seed oil out of them, but that takes a lot of special equipment.
How to remove the seeds:
The best way to remove the seeds is to press the fruit through a fine-mesh strainer. The juice can pass through into a glass. If you want to have chunks of fruit, you can eat the fruit and then spit out the seeds. It isn't ideal, but whichever you do, be careful because the seeds are small but rock-hard.
How long will prickly pears keep fresh?
Prickly pears should keep fresh on the counter or in the produce drawer of your refrigerator for a week or two, depending on how ripe they were when you purchased them. If they are cut open, store them in these airtight containers.
And now for the recipes. These are easy prickly pear recipes you can make quickly. I can't wait to hear which one you liked best!
The Best Prickly Pear Recipes
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This post was updated from an older June 2015 post with more details and easier-to-follow directions.
Maribel
You can eat the seeds. At least we do in Mexico. They are edible and you don’t need to chew the fruit much so it’s easy to enjoy. Lastly in Mexico it’s called tunas as you mentioned and it’s not a weird name at all for us.
Sandi Gaertner
That is great to know. I really appreciate your coming to let me know Maribel. I hope you have a nice weekend!
alex
Greetings From Sunny South Africa!
The easiest and painless way to remove the spines of a prickly pear, is to put it in cold water for few minutes to soften the spines so that it don't prick you, and lightly brush off the spines with a tooth or small nail brush under the water. You will also notice that most of the spines are dislodged by itself after a few minutes in the water. Be careful not to keep it in the water for too long. Try it, it works and been tried and tested for many years (at least where I live) If I CAN, YOU CAN!
Enjoy!
Sandi Gaertner
Hello Alex. Thank you so much for the tips. I would love to hear what you make with prickly pear fruit in South Africa.