The tangy taste of pico de gallo is ideal for dipping chips into, but it’s also a staple side to tacos and other Mexican dishes. The texture is chunky as opposed to liquid salsas and so it can be used as a topping or component where other sauces might make a dish too soupy. This Nopales con Pico de Gallo has a wonderful fresh flavor from the nopales in the mix. The flavor of this cactus has been compared to green beans, asparagus, or other green vegetables.

Nopal is also known as the prickly pear cactus and don’t worry- we’ll show you how to remove the spines and cook these wonderful cactus paddles to perfection.

The flavor the cactus adds to the pico de gallo is green, fresh, even a bit earthy at times. That green flavor enhances the lime juice and the cilantro, without taking over the whole dish.

The easiest way to get the spines off the paddles is just to use a vegetable peeler. Your grocery might have them de-spined already, but it’s still nice to run the peeler over the little bumps just to make really sure all the needles are gone. After that simply cut into a medium dice and you’re ready to boil your nopales.

These cactus paddles are a little bit like okra in that they can get slimy. Simply drain and rinse them a few times after cooking to remove this texture. Unlike okra, this slime does disappear when you follow these steps. But, if you’d rather not cook it fresh you can buy jarred or canned nopales already cooked and diced!

After making your nopales the only thing left to do is to combine all the pico de gallo ingredients together and mix it up.

You can use as many hot peppers as you like- or as few. Use 1 or 2, or even half a pepper. You can also use jalapeño peppers if you can’t find Serrano.

Toss everything together and don’t forget to season well. I like to combine everything, let it sit for 10 minutes, then come back and taste it. I often find I need to add just a little more salt to the dish.

Serve this with chips or with some of your favorite Mexican or Tex-Mex dishes. It’s a wonderful way to enjoy this cactus, but the familiar flavors of pico de gallo keep this a crowd-pleasing dish.