How to Cook Cactus Flowers

Cooking cactus flowers is as easy as cooking okra or fresh fruit. According to the website Garden Guides, cactus flowers of the genus Opuntia (prickly pear) are edible. The entire flower, though, is not used for food. Once you remove the thorns from the tuna (flower), add cactus flowers to dishes as you would other vegetables or make a cactus flower jelly.

Things You'll Need

• Sharp knife
• Rubber gloves
• Cactus pear (flowers)

Instructions

1. Collect unopened cactus flowers (tuna or pears) by knocking them off the leaves with a stick. Wear rubber gloves. Cactus flowers are prickly. The website Garden Guides recommends stripping or thrashing the thorny buds by rolling the flower with a thick bundle of leaves until the thorns stick to the leaves.

2. Slice off the top and the bottom of the flower. Make sure all thorns are removed. Peel the skin from the fruit.

3. Cook cactus flowers in a variety of ways. Garden Guides suggests chopping the flowers and adding to conventional stir-fry recipes, dipping in batter and sauteing, or using them as an ingredient in soup.

4. Make cactus jelly. The Succulent Plant Page offers a Cactus Jelly recipe. Boil and peel the cactus flowers. Chop the fruit and boil again. Strain thoroughly. Bring cactus juice, sugar and lemon juice to a full boil. Add liquid pectin and cook for 12 minutes. Can as you would any other jelly or preserve.

References

• Garden Guides: How to Cook Cactus
• The Succulent Plant Page: Cactus Recipes