I love to eat cactus nopales salad all year round. Growing up in Mexico, nopalitos salad was used as a side dish for Mexican food recipes, or even eaten in tacos! you can eat nopales raw, fried, grilled, on smoothies, or steamed.
I love to eat this salad on top of tostadas. Spread some avocado on a tostada and then add the nopal salad recipe and you have the perfect vegan lunch ready! Not vegan? add some queso fresco to the salad!
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Ingredients
Nopal salad can be made with cooked or raw nopales. The recipe I am sharing today is made with cooked nopales. This is the best nopales salad recipe you might find! The secret? is a delicious nopal salad dressing that takes cactus leaves to another level.
- 1.5 pounds chopped and cleaned nopales cactus
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 cups chopped tomato
- 1 diced jalapeno or serrano *serrano is more spice
- 3 tablesspons chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup white or apple vinegar
- 1 cut in squares avocado
- ¼ cup olive oil optional
How to make Nopales Salad
Ensalada de Nopales is a great way to eat prickly pear cactus. This Mexican salad is a great alternative for a low-carb, even keto salad recipe.
You can find already prep nopales in most Mexican supermarkets. Cactus paddles or leaves come already cleaned and chopped. If you need to clean the nopal leaf from scratch follow the instructions on How to clean and cook Nopalitos.
- Place 1.5 chopped nopales cactus in a pot with 1 garlic clove, ¼ of an onion, and ¼ teaspoon of salt.
- Let it cook in its own slime and water for 20 minutes or until they are soft on the inside and outside and have turned into an olive oil color.
- Place in a strainer and rinse with cold water, this will help you to stop them from overcooking and get rid of the left mucilaginous texture.
- In a container add 1 cup of chopped onion and cover with ½ cup of white or apple vinegar, add ¼ teaspoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon of oregano and let it rest for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the nopales to the onion, then 2 cups of chopped tomato and 1 jalapeno or serrano in slices.
- Mix all together and add salt to taste.
- You can add chopped avocado to this salad.
- Some people also add ¼ cup of olive oil. I used to do it but it really is not required the vinegar gives all the flavor it needs but I leave you another recipe for a prickled nopales salad recipe here.
Nopales Salad dressing recipe
Most nopal Mexican salads use vinegar as dressing. The secret to the delicious nopales dressing is the orégano! here are the ingredients.
- ½ cup vinegar
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- The trick is to pickle the onion in the vinegar with the spices for about 5 minutes and then add the rest of the salad ingredients.
Recipes for Nopalitos
Nopales goes well as a side dish practically with almost everything! I would not combine it with anything that comes creamy such as creamy chipotle chicken but this salad goes perfectly with:
- Carne asada
- Fish fillet
- On top of tostadas with avocado
- Beef Barbacoa
- All kinds of Tacos
- Mexican chili
Nopales salad has a lot of fiber and is a great source of calcium. Eating nopal salad will help you to improve digestion. Nopales have proven to help lower glycemic levels in people with diabetes 2. 
For how long can I store Nopales Salad
Nopales take a while to spoil once they are cooked and also the vinegar dressing helps to conserve them. The nopal salad might sty well if stored in the fridge for up to 5 days. Just do not add the avocado to the salad when prepare. Add the avocado when you are about to eat it if you pretend to save it for the week.
Ingredients
- ⅕ pounds chopped and cleaned nopales cactus
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 cups chopped tomato
- 1 diced jalapeno or serrano
- 3 tbsp chopped cilantro
- 1 tbsp oregano
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup white or apple vinegar
- 1 avocado cut in squares
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Place 1.5 chopped nopales cactus in a pot with 1 garlic clove, ¼ of an onion, and ¼ teaspoon of salt.
- Let it cook in its own slime and water for 20 minutes or until they are soft on the inside and outside and have turned into an olive oil color.
- Place in a strainer and rinse with cold water, this will help you to stop them from overcooking and get rid of the left mucilaginous texture.
- In a container add 1 cup of chopped onion and cover with ½ cup of white or apple vinegar, add ¼ teaspoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon of oregano and let it rest for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the nopales to the onion, then 2 cups of chopped tomato and 1 jalapeno or serrano in slices.
- Mix all together and add salt to taste.
- You can add chopped avocado to this salad.
- Some people also add ¼ cup of olive oil. I used to do it but it really is not required the vinegar gives all the flavor it needs but I leave you another recipe for a prickled nopales salad recipe here.
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Laura creates content in Spanish and English for a community of over 3 million followers and has been recognized as one of the most influential Latinas in the US, Latinos 40 under 40 in Chicago.
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