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prickly pear

Frozen prickly pear margarita

13 · Sep 16, 2013 · 2 Comments

A prickly pear margarita is just the drink you need to punch up your cocktail hour!

Red prickly pear margarita in a glass rimmed with Tajin, sitting on a napkin on a green drink tray

Grocery stores are typically overflowing with prickly pears—known as tunas rojas in Spanish—in July, August and September. You can eat them plain, use them to make agua fresca de tuna roja, watermelon and prickly pear paletas, prickly pear sorbet or even margaritas! There are so many possibilities.

Read my helpful guide on how to peel and eat cactus fruit before you begin this recipe!

Prickly pears are full of pectin, which means they’re ideal for making jelly and jam! The pectin produces a syrupy consistency that’s also perfect for blending with ice to make a frozen margarita.

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red prickly pear frozen margarita in a glass

Frozen prickly pear margarita

  • Author: Maura Wall Hernandez
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 minutes
  • Yield: 3 cups 1x
  • Category: Cocktails
  • Cuisine: Mexican
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Description

Red prickly pears are the star of this spin on a classic frozen margarita.


Ingredients

Scale

4 ounces (1/2 cup) tequila blanco

1 ounce Cointreau

3 large red prickly pears (tunas rojas)

Juice of 1/2 of a large lime

1/2 cup natural cane sugar, such as Zulka azúcar morena

3 cups ice

1 tablespoon of Tajín (to rim the glasses; optional)


Instructions

Remove the skin from the prickly pears and chop roughly.

Add chopped prickly pears to a food processor or blender with tequila blanco, Cointreau, lime juice and sugar. Puree until smooth, then strain the puree to remove the prickly pear seeds.

In a clean blender or food processor cup, add the strained puree and 3 cups of ice and blend until the mixture becomes slushy.

Wet the rims of the glasses by rubbing with a lime wedge. Put the Tajín in a flat dish and dip the glass rims in it until they’re coated all the way around. 

Pour the margarita into the glasses and serve immediately.


Keywords: red prickly pear, red cactus pear, cactus fruit, margarita

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @maurahernandez on Instagram and hashtag it #TOSOTT

For more on different varieties of prickly pears and how they’re used in Mexico, Saveur has an excellent little guide you should check out.

drinks, Holidays, Recipe día de la independencia, margarita, Mexican Independence Day, prickly pear, red prickly pear, tequila, tequila blanco, tuna roja, tunas, Zulka

Watermelon and red prickly pear paletas

4 · Sep 15, 2013 · 2 Comments

Watermelon and red prickly pears are one of my favorite fruit flavor pairings. This summer I’ve been making a combination agua fresca with both flavors, and I started modifying my agua fresca recipe to turn them into paletas (er… Zokuletas). While mixing them together and pouring straight into my Zoku Quick Pop Maker for a quick and tasty treat, I found that I enjoy them much more when they look pretty too. I love making these layered pops for a refreshing snack on a hot day.

watermelon prickly pear paletas

If you don’t have the Zoku Quick Pop Maker, you can also use a popsicle mold with 2-ounce pops (affiliate links to El Mercadito, The Other Side of The Tortilla’s Amazon aStore); you’ll just have to wait longer for the layers to freeze before you can add another layer….

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Dessert, Popsicles, Recipe, Snacks paletas, popsicles, prickly pear, red prickly pear, sandía, tuna roja, watermelon, Zoku Quick Pop Maker, Zokuletas, Zulka

Wordless Wednesday: Prickly Pear Sorbet

7 · Jul 17, 2013 · 1 Comment

Last week I stopped at a Whole Foods in West Los Angeles to pick up a few things for dinner on my way home from work. I always eye the dessert case to see what’s new in case something catches my interest. I was delighted, then, to see this red prickly pear sorbet!

Prickly Pear Sorbet from Whole Foods in West Los Angeles…

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Finding Mexico in Los Angeles, Wordless Wednesday agua de tuna roja, prickly pear, tuna roja, tunas

Agua de tuna roja

11 · Sep 30, 2010 · 27 Comments

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/15416696[/vimeo]

I still remember the first time I saw tunas growing wild – José and I were visiting Mexico City one warm week at the end of the summer several years ago. One afternoon we were bored, so my suegra suggested that José take me on an official tour of Ciudad Universitaria. Also referred to as CU, it is home to the main campus of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (la UNAM or in English, the National Autonomous University of Mexico), the largest university in Latin America and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2007.

This year on September 22, UNAM celebrated 100 years since its founding as the National University of Mexico as it was conceptualized by Secretary and Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, Justo Sierra, and inaugurated in 1910 by President Porfirio Díaz. The university is also the successor to the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico, founded by Spanish Royal Decree in 1551 – technically making UNAM one of the oldest universities in the Americas.

On the campus grounds, besides the historic buildings designed by some of Mexico’s most well-known architects, murals and sculptures by famous Mexican artists, an Olympic stadium that has hosted a Summer Olympic Games (1968) and a World Cup (1986), and an impressive number of students, faculty and staff, there exists a serene, green space that is as close to the original land’s flora and fauna as it might have grown freely during the height of the Aztec empire….

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Aguas frescas, Culture, drinks, How To, Mexico City, Recipe, Video aguas frescas, Aztecs, cactus fruit, cactus paddle, lime, limón, Mexica, nopales, prickly pear, receta vegetariana, Tenochtitlán, Toltec, tunas, UNAM, UNESCO

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¡Bienvenidos!

Hi, I'm Maura Hernández. Welcome to my kitchen! I'm an award-winning food and travel blogger, recipe developer, and former journalist sharing my passion for all things Mexico. Married to a Chilango, I've traveled Mexico extensively over the last 15 years. Here, you'll find a mix of traditional and modern Mexican cooking, along with my advice on where to eat, stay and play on your visit to Mexico! READ MORE

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