Cactus Salad Recipe
Recipe for a delicious, easy to prepare, healthy, vegetarian Mexican cactus salad (nopal or nopalitos salad).
Servings: 6 cups
Calories: 105kcal
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. cactus pads
- 4 Roma tomatoes plum
- 1 large white onion
- 12 sprigs of cilantro
- 6 ozs. ranchero cheese
- ½ tsp. salt + more if needed
Instructions
Cooking the Cactus
- Cut the cactus pads into ¼" x ½" pieces.
- Place the cactus in a large pan and cover with 2" of water.
- Turn the heat on high and bring the water to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium.
- Skim the slime during cooking until the cactus no longer releases any. (about 10 minutes)
- Drain the cactus and rinse under cool running water.
Other Ingredients
- Dice the tomatoes.
- Dice the onion.
- Finely chop the cilantro.
- Crumble the ranchero cheese.
Assembling the Salad
- Add all of the ingredients to a mixing bowl and gently turn until well mixed.
Notes
Preparation Notes
- For a bolder version of this salad, add the juice of 2 limes and one very finely chopped serrano chile to add the citrus tanginess of the limes and the heat of the serrano pepper.
- The ranchero cheese is salty. You may not need to add additional salt. Only add more after you have tasted it to avoid an overly salty salad.
- The salad is best eaten fresh but it will keep in the fridge for 2 days. After that its texture becomes unappealing.
- You can make this vegetarian cactus salad recipe vegan by omitting the ranchero cheese.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 105kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 7g | Sodium: 454mg | Sugar: 5g