Cactus Paddle Salad/Relish or Ensalada de Nopalitos

Cactus Paddle Salad/Relish or Ensalada de Nopalitos

  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 15 mins
  • Servings: 4-6

    • About This Recipe

    “I like this and use in tacos and Fajitas. Give it a try!”

    Ingredients

  • 1 (15ounce) jars cactus pieces, drained and well rinsed
  • 1ripe tomato, cored and diced
  • 1/4-1/2 cupdiced red onion
  • 6 -8sprigscilantro, chopped

    • Dressing

  • 3teaspoonsvegetable oil
  • 1teaspooncider vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoondried oregano( Mexican if you can find it)
  • 1/8 teaspoonsalt
  • black pepper
  • 1pickled jalapeno, diced

    • Directions

  • If the cactus is in big chunks dice to 1/2-1/4 inch pieces.
  • Toss together with the tomato, onion and cilantro.
  • Whisk together the dressing ingredients and toss with the salad.
  • Serve.

    • Reviews

  • “My partner only brought me back one bottle of cactus pieces from his trip to Las Vegas and am I ever glad we chose this recipe to use it in! It is very much like a fresh salsa and although we could have used it as a topping for tacos, we lapped it up as a side dish to our main Mexican meal. Thanks Di!”

  • “This recipe is very similar to my mom’s, and she makes it all the time, especially for our special occasion barbecues, when we enjoy carne asada. If you are lucky enough to have fresh cactus pieces available, as we are, then you need to julienne, boil with salt, and drain them a couple of times to get rid of the sliminess. Then you can use them in this recipe. Chill this salad, and it is sooo refreshing!!”

  • “This was pretty good!Nice and quick easy!The kids gobbled in up.Thanks for sharing!”

  • “Quite good. Makes a good salsa for chips. I’m taking this to a 4th of July party to freak out my Yankee neighbors.”

  • “This is an easy and awesome tasting salad, I even added, extra stuff, I added extra mexican oregano jicama,coleslaw,greenpeppers,red and yellow, Jalepeno and carrots.Thanks for your recipe.”

  • “This was really good! I ate it with tortilla chips, as a substitute for salsa. This was my introduction to nopalitos (admittedly, I was a little apprehensive), and I’m sure I’ll be making this again. Thanks!”

  • “Very good. Used fresh cactus pads and cooked them according to recipezaars instructions, before tossing in the salad. I found the flavors and texture improving over night, so this is ideal to prepare the day before”

  • “I never liked nopalitos so I made this for the rest of my family instead.The response was that it was spectacular.We used fresh cactus pads from our backyard nearly spineless prickly pear cactus (make sure they are still a deep green color) and then we pretty much followed the same procedure that it says here in recipezaar if you click the “cactus pieces” link above in the ingredient list.Careful not to let the foam boil over! I also added maybe 1/2-1tbsp of lemon juice as one of my family members suggested.Thanks!”

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