Prickly Pear Cactus: The Perfect Succulent

Here in South Texas, prickly pear cacti grow like weeds.  Seriously.  But for the suburban homesteader in the southwestern United States, this can be a very good thing.  Today, I’m going to share with you what prickly pear cactus is and why it is the perfect succulent for the suburban homesteader, particularly in a hot and dry(ish) climate.

Prickly pear cactus are a common cactus type here in the United States.  Britannica notes that prickly pear can refer to “any of several species of flat-stemmed spiny cacti of the genus Opuntia (family Cactaceae) and their edible fruits,” which are native to the Western Hemisphere.  The cactus pads, seeds, fruits, and flowers are all edible.  The fruit is sometimes called a “cactus fig” or tuna in Spanish.  A popular food along the southern border is nopales (singular: nopal; basically, just cactus pads, cooked or raw). 

According to WebMD, “Prickly pear cactus might lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels by reducing how much the stomach absorbs. People most commonly use prickly pear cactus for diabetes. It is also used for enlarged prostate, hangover, high cholesterol, and many other purposes.”  However, the site goes on to note that “there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.”

Other sites note that tunas and flowers can also be used as dyes.  The juicy flesh of the nopales can even be used like aloe vera, which is applied topically to treat burns, including sunburn. 

So, as you can see, the nopales, seeds, flowers, and tunas are not only edible, but they may also have medicinal and additional uses.  At the same time, overconsumption of nopales can cause stomach upset, so as in all things, moderation is key. 

Because the prickly pear is a cactus, it is well-adapted to arid or semi-arid environments.  As someone with a notorious brown thumb, I definitely appreciate this aspect of growing prickly pear.  Unless you’re living in Arizona or Nevada, your area probably receives enough rainwater to keep this succulent alive without human intervention. 

My husband and I are fortunate enough to have a well-established prickly pear growing on the corner of our property.  When we first moved into the light blue longhouse, my husband accidentally hacked into it with a weedwhacker.  I thought that was the end of the cactus… and I couldn’t have been more wrong.  The pieces broken from the plant took root and grew into their own cacti, so now we have several prickly pears growing together. 

So, now that you know what it is and why you should grow it, here are a couple of ways you can use and prepare it.

A quick disclaimer: I don’t have any experience in preparing things like cactus fig jam or nopales tacos.  However, there are many other bloggers who do have that experience and have been kind enough to share their recipes.  If you are interested in growing your own prickly pear (which, after reading this post, I hope you are!), please research different ways to prepare your harvests.

So, with that in mind, know that I’m not an expert in prickly pear harvesting.  But some who have more experience recommend either (1) gently burning off the thorns before you remove the pads from the plant, or (2) using tongs or gloves to remove the pads and then paring off the thorns with a sharp, clean knife.  

One of my former students, who has a prickly pear in her yard, shared that she plucks off young and tender pads without using gloves, as the most tender pads have underdeveloped thorns and can be easily peeled to reveal the juicy inner flesh.  …however, I learned the hard way that this is ill-advised, as it’s not the visible thorns that cause the most damage; it’s the little, almost invisible hair-like thorns that will dig into your skin and cause rashes and/or irritation. 

I recently harvested a small, tender pad from my cactus, took it inside, and washed it off (which I should have done after burning off the thorns).  After tending to my wounds, I used chopsticks to hold the nopal in place while I gently burned away the thorns with a lighter.  Once all the little thorns were removed, I used a pairing knife to gently scrape off the rest, along with the bumps that protruded from where the large thorns had grown.  Then, I diced it up—a rather slimy job—and sautéed it in corn oil until each chunk was browned on both sides.  

Once it cooled enough to eat, I tried my own fresh nopal from the garden and loved it!  The taste and texture was lighter than I expected, and it reminded me and my husband of fried okra—just with a milder taste and less slimy texture.  This is definitely a food I want to experiment with more in the future, as it is both delicious and readily available to me.

So what do you think?  Are you interested in growing your own prickly pear cactus?  Would you try fresh nopal?  Let me know in the comments!