Also known as Ensalada de Nopales. Tender cactus planks cut into strips and then diced with tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, avocado, cilantro, lime, and salt. Great as an appetizer or as a side for many meals.
Can I use fresh cactus?
Yeah, sure you can! I’m going the lazy route (or as I like to call it, the efficient route) here and using jarred, but definitely do it if you can. Fresh is always better.
What kind of cactus plant is this?
This cactus is a prickly pear cactus plant. Fun Fact a prickly pear cactus is both a vegetable and a fruit! Cool right! The cactus pads themselves are the vegetable, but the plant does give fruit during the summer months that turn red and are sweet but have a lot of seeds that constipate you if you eat too many. The fruit is called a “tuna” in Spanish…yeah, like the fish!
Step by Step Process
Drain your jar of tender Cactus over the sink in a colander. You want to discard the liquid the cactus comes in.
Take out the pepper the cilantro and the onion that will be in the mixture and that usually is at the bottom of the jar.
You also want to rinse it in cold water so that you get all of the sliminess out of it and some of the vinegar taste.
On a cutting board, dice your tender cactus into small pieces. I like them smaller because they are easier to scoop when using chips or crackers.
At this point, you should dice your tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, and avocado.
Roughly chop your cilantro into pieces.
Mix all of your ingredients in a bowl with a spoon and squeeze the juice of 1 lemon and add ½ teaspoon of salt, and queso fresco (if you’re adding it) over your mix.
Give it all a good mixy mix with your spoon again.
Serve this as an appetizer with some chips or as a side salad to a meal or make it the meal by servicing on top of a tostada.
Tips and Ideas:
- You can add as little or as much as you’d like of the jalapeno. If you don’t like yours that spicy or you don’t want any spice at all, just decrease or omit it completely.
- Cheese is completely optional. It does give a creamier feel to it, but leaving it out makes for a great vegan option.
- Don’t have fresh jalapenos, you can use pickled jalapenos instead! Your salad will still be super delicious!
- If you are serving these as an appetizer, they are great with saltine crackers or tortillas chips.
Cactus Salad (Ensalada de Nopales)
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 0 Minutes
- Total Time: 15 Minutes
- Yield: 4–6 generous servings 1x
Description
Also known as Ensalada de Nopales. Tender cactus planks cut into strips and then diced with tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, avocado, cilantro, lime, and salt. Great as an appetizer or as a side for many meals.
Ingredients
- 1– 30 oz jar of tender cactus “Nopalitos” – drained and diced
- 1 cup diced tomatoes
- ½ cup chopped onion
- ¼ cup diced jalapenos
- 1 avocado – cubed pieces
- ½ cup roughly chopped cilantro
- 1 lime
- ½ teaspoon of kosher salt
- ½ cup crumbled queso fresco (optional)
Instructions
- Drain the jar of tender cactus over the sink in a colander.
- Take out the pepper, cilantro, and onions at the bottom of the jar.
- Rinse the cactus with cold water.
- Dice the cactus into small pieces.
- In a bowl, add your diced cactus, diced tomato, chopped onion, diced jalapenos, roughly chopped cilantro, cubed avocado, and queso fresco (optional).
- Squeeze the juice of 1 lime and add ½ teaspoon of salt over your mix.
- Mix well with a spoon or utensil of choice.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
You can add as little or as much as you’d like of the jalapeno. If you don’t like yours that spicy or you don’t want any spice at all, just decrease or omit it completely.
Cheese is completely optional. It does give a creamier feel to it, but leaving it out makes for a great vegan option.
Don’t have fresh jalapenos, you can use pickled jalapenos instead! Your salad will still be super delicious!
If you are serving these as an appetizer, they are great with saltine crackers or tortillas chips.
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