>U Mom Knows Best: Homemade Prickly Pear Cactus Lemonade

Monday, September 14, 2020

Homemade Prickly Pear Cactus Lemonade

 Prickly pears make the best lemonade



 I recently discovered the joys of harvesting prickly pears and now have several bags in my freezer that are filled with these delicious cactus pears. If you have never tried a prickly pear fruit, you need to as these deep purple fruits or tunas are simply delicious. The pear fruit that comes from a prickly pear cactus is sweet and has a taste similar to watermelon. The texture of the fruit can be compared to a cucumber and the color of the sweet prickly pears is amazing. The deep purple color of the prickly pears gives your recipes a pink to purple color. Learn more about how to harvest prickly pears here.

Amazing recipes



 The prickly pear fruit is tasty by itself and is wonderful in smoothies, you will love drinking purple smoothies. Many people like to harvest the prickly pears to make prickly pear jelly and prickly pear syrup. While many restaurants here in New Mexico like to serve prickly pear ice cream and prickly pear margaritas. My favorite way to use the magenta prickly pear fruit is in a refreshing glass of lemonade which is perfect for a hot summer day after harvesting prickly pears. If you don't live in the desert and want to try prickly pears, you can find them at grocery stores in the produce section.



 I spent last weekend foraging prickly pears and it was quite a process. While the prickly pear cactus are plentiful here in the desert of Albuquerque New Mexico and free for the taking, picking the sweet purple fruits is something that most people would not do as these purple pears grow on a cactus plant that is loaded with spikes and the fruits themselves are covered with tiny spikes that are impossible to remove from your skin.  I have lived in Albuquerque for over 20 years and this was my first year that I decided to get brave and pick the fruits from the prickly pear cactus.


 The cactus plants near my house were bursting with prickly pear fruits and it was my son who encouraged me to pick them. He plucked a pear from a cactus while we were out running and had me taste it (after he peeled the pear.) It was so delicious that I had to go pick more. I did plenty of research online on how to harvest prickly pear fruits from a cactus and then I spent all weekend picking prickly pears. My freezer is filled with bags of purple prickly pears that are ready for my smoothies and glasses of prickly pear lemonade. You can also use the prickly pears to make a delicious Prickly Pear Syrup that is wonderful on ice cream and stirred into drinks.


Sweet and refreshing lemonade



 When you add the juice from a prickly pear to a glass of lemonade it makes a sweet drink that has amazing flavor and color. It is a refreshing drink for a hot summer day. This sweet pink drink is so easy to make. You can add the prickly pear purple juice to homemade lemonade, storebought lemonade, or even a powder lemonade mix. Fresh lemonade from freshly squeezed lemons always tastes the best. Squeezing lemons is not that hard when you have a citrus juicer. If you do not have a juicer, then simply squeeze the lemons by hand over a fine-mesh strainer, that way the seeds don't end up in your lemonade.


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Items needed for prickly pear lemonade



+ Fresh lemons
+ Prickly pear fruits
+ Sugar or zero-calorie sweetener 
+Water
+ A Pitcher
+ Spoon
+ Citrus juicer or blender

Tip: To check to see if the prickly pear is ripe before peeling, place it in a bowl of water. If it sinks, it is ripe and ready to eat. If the fruit floats, then give in a couple more days to ripe. I like to place my pears on a baking tray on the countertop for a couple days to further ripen.


Prickly Pear Lemonade
Makes 8 glasses

Ingredients
5 prickly pears, peeled
4 lemons, peeled and sliced in half
8 cups of water
3/4 cup sugar

 Place all the ingredients into a blender, don't worry about the seeds from the fruit as we will be removing them later with a fine- mesh strainer. Blend the ingredients on high until smooth. You will hear the noise of the seeds. Then pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the seeds.
If you don't have a fine-mesh strainer, you can remove the seeds from the fruits before you blend them. To remove the seeds from the prickly pears~ cut the fruit in half and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. To remove the seeds from the lemons, just slice the lemons in quarter pieces and use a knife to remove the seeds. You can also use a citrus juicer to remove the seeds from the fruits.




28 comments:

AiringMyLaundry said...

Oh yes please. I know my family would love this! We're all about lemonade. Plus it's super pretty :) So bonus, you get Insta pics.

Celebrate Woman said...

I really would like to try all of these delicious recipes. I have not seen the prickly pear fruit sold near by, though.

Kathy said...

I've always been interested in trying prickly pear. I hear of so many great things about it. This drink sounds amazing too. I could go for this right now.

Fatima D Torres said...

Fresh lemons are always a good idea when making lemonade. I'd love to try this version sometime.

Kita Bryant said...

This is just the cutest drink idea. I really love the glass you chose to use too!

Toni said...

This is really a must-try! It looks so delish!

Ramil Hinolan said...

Id like to make the smoothie recipe. For a tropical like the Philippines, I can enjoy the cold treat all-year round.

Gust si Aroma said...

Oh my goodness how good this lemonade looks! It sounds perfect for these last days of summer heat!

Alvern at Success Unscrambled said...

Just amazing!! I never knew that those things were even edible. Looking at them without the skin reminds me of the kiwi fruit. I cannot wait to give this a try and I enjoy fruits a lot.

Monidipa said...

This looks so delicious, yummy and refreshing. I'll try it out soon!

Lisa said...

I’ve never tried prickly pear cactus before, that purple colour is amazing. This lemonade recipe looks refreshing.

Georgia said...

Love lemonade and these recipe sound so interesting! I ve never heart ofPrickly pear cactus so its a great idea to try!

Rosana Rodriguez said...

I can’t wait to start trying your recipe, homemade prickly pear cactus lemonade awesome.

Never Say Die Beauty said...

The color is fabulous! I have never tried a prickly pear, but I have seen them on cactus when I have visited the southwest. I will look to see if they are sold at my supermarket here in the Boston area. I love lemonade and would love to try this recipe!

Sarah Bailey said...

This sounds like a unique drink I would definitely love to try it as I can't think that I have tried anything with prickly pear before.

Jamie said...

YUM!!! Living in AZ, we've had Prickly Pear a lot. I'm going to save this to make for a family weekend! :)

Katie Kinsley said...

That is a lot of lemons! I haven't tried prickly pear drink before, but when i've gone out west there always seems to be a lot of prickly pear flavored candies.

The Super Mom Life said...

I don't think I've tried prickly pear before. I can't wait to make this!

Tasheena said...

I would love to give this a try. This recipe looks really refreshing.

Bianca said...

I didn't know that prickly pears can be made into a refreshing drink. This is a must-try

Lavanda Michelle said...

I bet it taste sweet and delicious. The recipe looks simple and easy to make. I cant wait to attempt it! Thanks for sharing.

Richelle Escat said...

So sad it's not locally available, I'm so curious with how this prickly pear would taste.

Scarlett Brooklyn said...

I'll look for this in the market, I bet this is so refreshing.

Rach said...

What an interesting drink and I don't think I've tried this before. Would love to taste this sometime.

Gust si Aroma said...

Oh my goodness! How good this lemonade looks. I love trying new drink recipes during summer!

Authentic Food Quest said...

This sounds divine. I've always wanted to know what to do with prickly pear and I love this refreshing summer drink. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Cheers

Anamika A Chattopadhyaya said...

Oh, I have never tried a prickly pear fruit but if it tastes like watermelon then I'll have to try it out! And the drink looks so refreshing and delicious 👌🏻😍

Thanks,
Everything Enchanting

Kita Bryant said...

I love the glass! This would be really great for a party.

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