Prickly pear juice is made from cactus fruits. It's refreshing and so easily made, you don't need a blender or juicer!
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What is a Prickly Pear?
Prickly pears are the colorful fruits of the nopales “paddle” cactus. They are native to the American continent where they grow in an arid, dry desert climate.
The fruits are also known as tuna fruit or simply cactus fruit, and they are called prickly pears because they are a bit pocky on the outside.
The fruits are about the size of a fist or smaller, and they come in vibrant colors, pink, yellow, red, or green.
Cactus fruits taste juicy, a bit plain, and not sweet just like dragon fruits. They are great if you want to feel refreshed. So, yes a prickly pear juice can be a hangover cure.
The green cactus parts, aka nopal, are edible as well and can be cooked.
Ingredients
Here is an overview, the US and metric instructions are located further below in the recipe card.
- prickly pear cactus fruits — the fresher, the better. They keep well in the fridge for a longer period.
- water
- ice cubes — if you want your juice cold
- sugar (optional)
We also like to add a few drops of lime and a pinch of salt to the juice. It adds flavor and nutritional value, which can be good during the scorching hot summer days.
Process Overview
To make the juice is simple if you know how. Let's break it down into 3 easy steps.
Find more details in the recipe card further below.
Step 1
Cut off prickly pear ends and peel the fruit.
Cut the fruit into smaller cubes.
Step 2
Place fruit pieces into a large bowl and mash with a fork.
Pour in water, mash, and mix.
Step 3
Strain juice.
Serve up the juice with ice cubes.
📖 Recipe
Prickly Pear Juice
Ingredients
- 6 Piece Prickly Pears fresh cactus fruits
- 2½ Cups Water
- Ice Cubes to your liking
To add flavoring (optional)
- pinch Salt optional
- pinch Sugar optional
- a few drops Lime Juice optional
Instructions
- Rinse your fruits and pat dry. Cut off prickly pear ends. Cut lengthwise from top to down into the skin on one side and remove the skin. The skin can be discarded.6 Piece Prickly Pears
- Cut the fruit into quarters and then cubes. Place the fruit cubes into a large bowl.
- Mash the fruits with a fork and add water a little at a time. Do that until all fruit pieces are mashed and all water has been added. Mix the fruit mash and water.2½ Cups Water
- Prepare another bowl and place a large fine sieve over the bowl. Pour fruit juice into the sieve to strain. The liquid part will fall through into the bowl, the thicker fruit parts will need to be pressed against the sieve to take out all the juice.
- When you are done collecting all the juice, discard fruit leftovers in the sieve. Add ice cubes to your liking to your juice. You can choose to season too with salt, sugar, and lime juice.Ice Cubes, pinch Salt, pinch Sugar, a few drops Lime Juice
Notes
Equipment
- 2 Mixing Bowl 1 large and a smaller
- 1 Fork
- 1 Fine-Mesh Strainer medium to large sized
Nutrition
Storing
The juice can be stored for about 3 days in your fridge. It should be consumed soon enough.
If you want to store a larger batch for another day, then freezing might be a good idea.
Prepare the juice as per instruction and store it in freezer-friendly containers in your freezer.
To use your frozen cactus juice, just keep it out overnight in your fridge.
FAQs
From late summer to early winter.
You can get them in your Walmart in North America. You can easily get them in a local market in central and South America. In Europe, they tend to appear selectively in larger supermarkets in cities in late summer and in September. Prickly pears can be purchased online too.
The color doesn't really matter. The fruits should look fresh, not too soft, and without skin wrinkles. Pick the ones without bruises in stores.
Do you have the nutrient contents of a prickly pear?
No, sorry I don't. But that juice should give you an approximate value.