Facts About Mexican Cactus

Can You Eat Cactus?

The short answer is yes! Our favourite way to eat Mexican cactus is in a quesadilla, a dish that you will often find in Mexican street food.  Marinated in delicious Mexican spices the cactus adds a tangy note to the Quesadilla. Meanwhile, check out Quesadilla Recipes for more inspiration.

How To Cook Cactus

When it comes to cooking Cactus is extremely versatile.  Firstly, you can grill, roast, or even stew cactus to accompany other vegetables/meat. Additionally cactus is delicious in Mexican salads. Similarly, you can even use nopal flour to bake healthy biscuits which are very high in fibre.  

Cactus offers health benefits 

Mexican cactus offers many health benefits. Cactus is very rich in water, fibre, calcium, and potassium. Due to the high amount of fibre, cactus decreases cholesterol, triglyceride, and blood glucose levels. As a result, doctors recommend cactus to people with type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity.  Above all, cactus gives the feeling of satiety, contributes to good digestion and helps you avoid constipation. For this reason, you will find it in natural medicine and weight-loss diets.

Next on our list of interesting facts about the Mexican cactus is the Mexican flag. The coat of arms on the Mexican flag features a Mexican eagle holding a rattlesnake and is perched on a cactus. It recounts the founding of what is now Mexico City. The legend is that the gods told the Aztecs to establish their city where they saw an eagle on a cactus eating a serpent. Moreover, this crest has been an important political and cultural symbol for centuries and has come to represent the triumph of good over evil.

Nopales (pronounced no-PAHles) are fleshy, arboreal cactus plants which grow between one and five metres high. They have oblong green stalks or branches (pencas) that are flat with thorns. In addition, Nopal cactus’ are found from sea level to about 3,000 meters above sea level and can be wild or cultivated. These plants are perennial and bloom mainly from December to June.

The colourful flowers and fruit are known as Prickly Pear

The flat green pads of the cactus are called the nopales. In the upper part of the stalks, you will find red, purple and yellow flowers along with the prickly pear which are a delicious fruit with crunchy seeds.

Cactus features in one of Mexico’s best-known expressions  

Next on our list of interesting facts about Mexican cactus, there is an old expression “más mexicano que los nopales” which translates to “more Mexican than nopales”. It is often said to refer to something that is very representative of Mexico. It reflects how pervasive cacti are in Mexican culture and traditions.

Mexican Cactus domesticated over 9 thousand years ago

Finally, the Mexican cactus was domesticated over 9 thousand years ago. Along with maguey, corn and beans, cactus was consumed as a main food of the Chichimeca groups. They called it nohpalli, a Nahuatl voice that became nopal upon the arrival of the Spaniards.