These past few weeks I’ve found myself making Aguas Frescas (Mexican Fresh Fruit Drinks) a lot more often, a sign that summer has arrived. The possibilities for making Aguas Frescas are endless, especially if you live in a big multicultural city like we do. The international and ethnic markets here are overflowing with all sorts of tropical fruits.
Prickly Pear Drink
I know that it’s not the case with everyone, but here even at the flea market you can find vendors with wooden crates full of fruit, and to my surprise, they also sell prickly pears. While I was picking the fruit, a woman approached me and asked me how we eat them.
I told her that the easiest way to eat them is to just peel them and eat them as you would an apple or banana, but I was buying them to make a prickly pear drink. The recipe is really easy, and she was amazed when I gave her the instructions to make it herself.
Mexico is not the only country were prickly pears grow, but we do have a large share of them growing all over the central states of Mexico. They are sold at markets and as street food, peeled and ready to eat as a snack. The peel has some fine needles, and the pulp is juicy and sweet with lots of seeds (that are edible). The green prickly pear that grows in the central states of San Luis Potosi, Hidalgo, Puebla and Estado de Mexico is more common than the red prickly pear.
They come in many varieties and colors, some in different tones of yellow and some with fewer seeds, like the Queen Green Prickly Pear, which has more pulp than seeds. Prickly Pears are used to make different types of drinks and even desserts. The seeds are used in some regions to make salsa after they’ve been sun-dried.
How to make Prickly Pear Agua Fresca
- Rinse the prickly pears and dry them with a paper towel. With a sharp knife, cut both ends off and discard. (Please check the ingredients list below)
- Make a slit along the side and, with your finger, pull the skin and peel. Proceed to peel the rest of the prickly pears.
- Place the peeled prickly pears in your blender with 2 cups of the filtered water.
- Puree for a few seconds, the fruit pulp is so soft that it doesn’t need a long time to puree. The seeds will remain intact.
- Pour the mixture into a pitcher using a strainer. Discard the seeds. Add sugar, ice cubes, and the rest of the filtered water to the pitcher and mix. Add more sugar if needed, according to your taste.
PRICKLY PEAR DRINK
Ingredients
- 6 Prickly Pears tunas
- 6 cups of filtered water
- ½ cup of sugar*
- 2 cups ice cubes
Instructions
- Rinse the prickly pears and dry them with a paper towel. With a sharp knife, cut both ends off and discard.
- Make a slit along the side and, with your finger, pull the skin and peel. Proceed to peel the rest of the prickly pears.
- Place the peeled prickly pears in your blender with 2 cups of the filtered water.
- Puree for a few seconds, the fruit pulp is so soft that it doesn’t need a long time to puree. The seeds will remain intact.
- Pour the mixture into a pitcher using a strainer. Discard the seeds. Add sugar, ice cubes, and the rest of the filtered water to the pitcher and mix. Add more sugar if needed, according to your taste.
Notes
¡Buen provecho!
Mely,
More recipes:
Nammi
I have never had or seen a prickly pear would love to taste one. have a nice week end
Catherine
This looks refreshing, delicious and I am sure very healthy. Blessings dear. Catherine
Prieta
I like! It looks very refra what a great color.
Carmen Lagunas
I must say I that I had never tried this agua de tuna before. I did it yesterday and I LOVED it! Its so refreshing! Thanks for sharing!
Lidia
I am so making this awesome drink!! My neighbor has a LARGE cactus that overflows to my garage so I guess I will be picking some later and making this refreshing drink. Thanks for taking the time and sharing all of your amazing authentic Mexican recipes. Love your blog!! I always look forward to your new entries. Thanks.
Andy King
This is very delicious. We made this and your flour tortillas with our fajitas tonight and it was a huge success. Also played around with the recipe and added lime which was also delicious. Thank you very much.
mmartinez
Hello Andy,
Thank you for telling me about the addition of lime. I will do that too next time.
Paul Herman
Exactly how I make this! I was turned on to "tunas" by a Mexican friend, and this is a required beverage during the summer, for me.
I do have a small alteration, however, though the proportions are the same. Being diabetic, I use the equivalent amount of Splenda instead of the sugar.
The previous comment suggesting the lime juice sounds great, as well, and I plan to try it out in just a few minutes.
Mely Martínez
Hello Paul,
I'm so glad to know you like "Agua de tunas", about the addition of lime juice. We love to add lime juice to many of our Aguas Frescas, like the Papaya Agua fresca, it tastes so refreshing! Enjoy!