How to Make Nopales con Huevo
Put an exotic touch on your scrambled eggs by adding nopales or edible cactus! This nopales con huevo or nopales with eggs recipe is a classic Mexican breakfast that’s delicious on warm tortillas.
Is Cactus Edible
Yes!
While not all species of cactus are edible, the ones you see at the Mexican grocery stores and mercados are perfectly safe to eat.
Nopales in English can be called any of the following names: cactus, prickly cactus, or cactus leaves, cactus paddles, or prickly pear cactus pad.
Some Nopales Recipes
- How to Clean Nopales or Cactus Paddles (video instructions included)
- Ensalada de Nopales (Cold Cactus Salad)
- Sautéed Nopales | Quick & Easy Recipe For Preparing Prickly Pear Cactus Pads
- How To Cook Nopales With Vegan Chorizo
- How To Make Sopes And Gorditas
Where to Buy Nopales Cactus Paddles
You can buy nopales in Mexican supermarkets, mercados or Hispanic stores.
In the US, some farmer’s markets may carry them as well as some non-ethnic or “regular” grocery stores also carry them.
For fresh nopales look in the produce aisle. You’ll find fresh whole paddles both with and without the thorns.
Most Mexican grocery stores will also have prepackaged bags or a pile of nopales already cleaned, prepped, and sliced or cubed — so, ready to cook after a quick rinse!
NEVER buy nopales from other sources and certainly NEVER go and harvest wild nopales unless you 100% know what you’re doing! Remember not all cactus species are edible.
What if Fresh Nopales Aren’t Available
If you can’t find fresh nopales you can also check for jars at the grocery store.
They come “pickled” or in brine and are in the same grocery aisle as other canned vegetables. Sometimes you’ll find them in the cold section of the produce isle.
Jarred or canned nopales are fine to use too but you definitely need to drain them and give them a several rinses to remove the viscous liquid before using.
Another option is frozen nopales. Some Mexican stores carry these and they too are a good alternative to fresh nopales. You don’t need to defrost or rinse before using, just toss them into your pan.
How to Safely Clean and Prepare Nopales Paddles (cactus)
Most grocery stores and mercados will clean and prep the nopales for you. But if you want to you can certainly remove the thorns yourself. It’s not that difficult to do just takes a little practice.
Click on the photo below to learn how to clean your own nopales — or how to remove the thorns from nopales.
💡 TIP
If you want to buy fresh nopales paddles with the thorns, they will actually last longer in your fridge than buying prepped and clean cactus.
The prepared cactus will turn brownish on the areas where they were cut and thorns were removed. Still edible, just not as pretty to look at.
What do Nopales Cactus Taste Like
Ah, the most popular question regarding nopales!
When raw this vibrant green vegetable has a crunch or rather crispness to it’s texture. The taste of nopales is a light lemoniness with touches of herbs and also similar to raw green beans…the truth is that the smell and taste of nopales cactus is quite unique.
Trust me if you’ve never tasted nopales you really must, and I guaranteed if prepared correctly, you’ll fall in love with them. They are one of my most favorite vegetables and I eat them quite often.
Nopales and Eggs Ingredients
The ingredients for this delicious, hearty and healthy breakfast are basic and easy to find. I usually give you substitutions but none are required or available in this simple recipe.
- nopales
- white onion
- garlic
- jalapeno peppers or serrano chilies
- roma tomato
- eggs
- salt
- olive oil
You’ll also need corn tortillas or flour tortillas and your favorite salsa for serving. If you’d like you can also serve with refried beans.
Make This Recipe Vegan
To make the nopales con huevo vegan simply swap out the eggs for vegan egg substitute like Just Egg, or tofu, or even chickpea vegan egg scramble.
How to Make Nopales and Eggs or Nopales con Huevos
Amigos this is such an incredibly easy dish to prepare. I don’t know about you but I don’t like to spend hours cooking in the morning, so for me this recipe is the perfect dish for breakfast.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add onion and sauté until soft and translucent.
- Add the minced garlic and chopped chile and cook for 3 minutes.
- Mix in the nopales and sprinkle with salt.
- Sauté until the nopales release their viscous liquid, continue to cook until that liquid cooks off.
- Add the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Crack or break eggs into the nopales mixture.
- Mix until well combined and cook until desired consistency.
- Serve with warm tortillas on the side and if desired some refried beans, your favorite salsa, and avocado slices.
How to Eat and Serve Huevos con Nopales
This dish makes a hearty and healthy breakfast any day of the week. But it’s also great for lunch too!
Typically I serve these scrambled eggs and nopales with some warm corn tortillas, whatever salsa I have in the fridge, maybe some refried beans, and some slices of avocado. You could also top with some sprinkled queso fresco.
You can make tacos or if you’d like this can also be delicious vegetarian breakfast burrito filling. Or it can be used to stuff breakfast gorditas.
Another option is to take a crusty bolillo and hollow it to to stuff with the nopales con huevo. So delicious and so are many possibilities!
How ever you choose to eat this delicious, nutritious vegetarian, just remember to enjoy or buen provecho!!
Nopales with Eggs Recipe
The recipe is very easy and best of all it doesn’t take a lot of time — especially if you buy the nopales already cleaned and cubed!
Some people simply use eggs, nopales, and onion. As you can see I like to add the trinity of Mexican cooking ingredients: onion, chile, and tomatoes!
Please feel free to adjust the ingredients used as well as their amounts. If you want you could even just do egg whites instead of the whole eggs.
If you already have cooked nopales that were first cooked in salted water, you can drain and use them for this dish too. I just skip that step when making this for breakfast.
I truly hope you make this scrumptious recipe, buen provecho!
Huevos con Nopales or Scrambled Eggs with Cactus Paddles
Ingredients
- 2 cups nopales cleaned and cubed
- ½ small white onion about little more than ¼ cup, chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 2 whole Roma tomatoes chopped
- ½ serrano pepper roughly chopped , to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt to taste
- 1.5 Tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
- 4 eggs or as desired
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft and translucent. Add the minced garlic and chopped chile and cook for 3 minutes. Mix in the nopales and sprinkle with salt. Sauté until the nopales release their viscous liquid, continue to cook until that liquid cooks off.
- Add the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes. Crack or break eggs into the nopales mixture. Mix until well combined and cook until desired consistency.
- Serve with warm tortillas on the side and if desired some refried beans, your favorite salsa, and avocado slices.
Nutrition
Nancy Lopez is a food blogger and author of the cookbook Mexican Tamales Made Meatless. Born in Mexico, raised in the US, and currently living in Southern Mexico, she has followed a meatless diet for almost 10 years. It is her passion and mission to share all she has learned about vegan Mexican cooking and vegetarian Mexican recipes. Mexican Made Meatless is a blog dedicated to preserving the authentic flavors of Mexican cuisine just without the meat. It’s a place to celebrate Mexican culture and all it’s delightfully delicious traditional foods. Read more…
This recipe brings back fond memories of my grandmother cooking breakfast for us in her kitchen wearing her mandil, makin us huevos con nopales en salsa. I will be making this as soon as I go shopping for nopales
Those are the best kind of memories. Enjoy!