Nopales Taco

Name: Nopales Taco
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 serving(s)
Ingredients: 150 g orange cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped, see GH TIP; 1/2 onion, finely chopped; small handful coriander, finely chopped; juice 1 lime; 1 tbsp. olive oil; 2 onions, finely sliced; 2 tsp. dried ancho chilli flakes, see GH TIPS; 2 tsp. dried oregano; 2 x 460g jars sliced nopales (nopalitos), drained and rinsed (500g drained weight), see intro; 12 corn tortillas, we used Cool Chile Company; 1 avocado, destoned and sliced; 200 g feta, crumbled

Nopales are a type of cactus popular in Mexican cuisine and have a distinctly mild limey, pickled flavour which work brilliantly in these tacos.

By Georgie D'Arcy ColesPublished: 19 February 2024

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Nopales are a type of cactus popular in Mexican cuisine and have a distinctly mild limey, pickled flavour. They can be tricky to find in the UK but are worth the hunt – we bought ours from mexgrocer.co.uk.

Alternatively, you can use sliced green peppers or green beans. Corn tortillas are also authentic to Mexico, but you can use flour ones, if you prefer.

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Yields:

4 serving(s)

Prep Time:

30 mins

Cook Time:

20 mins

Total Time:

50 mins

Cal/Serv:

472

Ingredients

For the tomato salsa

150 g orange cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped, see GH TIP
1/2 onion, finely chopped
small handful coriander, finely chopped
juice 1 lime

For the filling

1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 onions, finely sliced
2 tsp. dried ancho chilli flakes, see GH TIPS
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 x 460g jars sliced nopales (nopalitos), drained and rinsed (500g drained weight), see intro

To serve

12 corn tortillas, we used Cool Chile Company
1 avocado, destoned and sliced
200 g feta, crumbled

Directions

1. Step 1For the salsa, in a medium bowl mix all the ingredients with some seasoning. Chill until needed.
2. Step 2Next make the filling. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and cook the onions for 10min, until softened. Stir in the chilli flakes, oregano and nopales. Fry for 10min, stirring occasionally, until the nopales are tender and slightly charred.
3. Step 3Meanwhile, heat a dry frying pan over medium heat and lightly toast each tortilla for about 20sec per side. Alternatively, briefly hold 1 at a time over a gas flame using tongs. Wrap in a clean tea towel (to keep warm) until ready to serve.
4. Step 4Serve the warm tortillas with the nopales filling, the salsa, sliced avocado and crumbled feta.

GH TIPS: Orange tomatoes are listed on the WWF Future 50 Foods to eat more of, but you can replace with red ones if you can’t find them. If you can’t find ancho chilli flakes, use dried chilli flakes instead.