Delicious Catcus Pineapple Orange Juice made with fresh cactus leaves, cucumber, pineapple and orange juice no sugar added.
This is simple yet nutritious Catcus Pineapple Orange juice made with fresh ingredients from fresh cactus (Nopal) , orange juice, cucumber and pineapple. Excellent diabetic friendly drink you can make at the comfort of your home.
When I used to live in Kerala, India, I have seen Cactus/ kalli chedi/kallimullu chedi being used for protecting the fence between two houses. I haven’t seen anybody eating it, but in Ayurveda it is considered to have medicinal properties, especially to fight against dosha called pita (fire & water – "bile).
If you don’t know Ayurveda, it is one of the oldest traditional medicinal systems practiced and is still practiced in India, especially in Kerala, which is the land of Ayurveda.
Just like Amazonian medicinal system, it uses natural plants, herbs and roots. However it is not strictly controlled like modern medicine, so it has its own drawbacks too.
Whenever, I visit Fiesta, grocery store, I have seen cactus whole leaves kept for selling. People usually buy them. I always think what they are going to do with it. Then I saw this recipe for Nopales, that is what they call edible cactus in Spanish, on my friend Mely’s blog. I came to know they are staples in Mexican cuisine, nopal leaves is used fresh, boiled, grilled, or with eggs as Huevos con Nopales (Eggs and prickly pear), or as salad Ensalada de Nopales (Prickly pear salad) etc.
If you want to see the picture of Nopals cactus click here
I was curious to buy them, but still was afraid of their thorns and hence would not buy them. But one day I didn’t go with my hubby to grocery shopping, and on that day, they are making a juice with cactus plants, he took picture of ingredients (with his iphone) that were kept on a table to show what else is needed to make the juice.
He tried a sample of the juice and liked the taste, and without asking me bought a packet of cleaned cactus leaves and come home with a wide smile. He told me that he had found out that cactus can be combined with cucumber, celery, pineapple and orange to make a tasty and healthy juice.
I found that cactus leaves has lot of health benefits too, it reduce high blood pressure, lowers cholesterol, also rich in vitamins like vitamins A and C and trace amounts of foliate and vitamin K.
Minerals include calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium and phosphorous etc. Read more here.
The anti-inflammatory effects of cactus fruit juice were shown to reduce the symptoms of alcohol hangover according to a study published in the journal Alcohol (May 2012).
Juice they had made at Fiesta has celery, cucumber, cactus, and pineapple. However he didn’t buy celery along with cactus so I made a juice with whatever in my hand. To my surprise it turned out be delicious.
Grab the following ingredients.
In a blender, mix in peeled seeded cucumber, orange juice, and chopped pineapple and chopped cleaned cactus plant, strain it and added 1 tablespoon of sugar so that my princess can enjoy the juice. Instead of sugar try splenda to make it diabetic version . I will make this at any time from now onwards.
I have another idea of making some curries with cactus leaves; I will wait and see how it turns out.
If you can find fresh cactus, you too can enjoy this delicious juice now.
Cactus pineapple orange Juice/ Agua de Nopal, Piña con naranja : A diabetic Friendly Juice
Delicious Catcus Pineapple Orange Juice made with fresh cactus leaves, cucumber, pineapple and orange juice no sugar added.
Servings: 2 servings
Calories: 143kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped fresh cactus leaves/Nopales
- 1 cucumber
- 2 cup Chopped pineapple
- 1 orange
- 1 cup Water
- 1 tablespoon sugar/ splenda optional
Instructions
- Peel the skin of cucumber and deseed and chop it into big pieces.
- Add all ingredients into a blender along with water. Blend it well for about 5 minutes or until you get a thick juice.
- Enjoy with or without sugar
Nutrition
Calories: 143kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 20mg | Potassium: 613mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 548IU | Vitamin C: 123mg | Calcium: 139mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @nidhinikhil or tag #zestysouthindiankitchenrecipes!
Other diabetic friendly juice recipes are
Carrot Blood Orange Oatmeal smoothie: Diabetic Friendly
This is Swathi ( Dr. Ambujom Saraswathy Ph.D) from Zesty South Indian Kitchen who loves to explore cuisines from all over the world. Whenever possible I try to to give an Indian touch to several of the world cuisine, and has weakness for freshly baked bread. All the recipes you see here are created by me and approved after taste-test by my family.
Laverne Cooper says
Hi am writing from the Bahamas, where Cactus is , and never heard about it medically wise, until I went on the website to research Aloe, and eat that a lot, and their was this guy in the desert ,demonstrating with Aloe and Cactus ,and Orange Juice, I tried it just now ,and its awesome, yea, a little bitter taste afterwards , but its good, and refreshing. Now am going in the backyard tomorrow, and get some fresh leaves and try, the cucumber ,orange, and pineapple ,it looks great!!!!!!!!!!
maryellen1952 says
I live in Baja Norte so nopal is available in all stores. Most research I've found indicates that you should buy the WHOLE nopal leaf (rather than cut up) as sources state that once the nopal leaf is cut up it loses a lot of moisture and the benefits. So just buy the whole leaf and cut it up when you make the juice.
maryellen1952 says
The whole leaf should be purchased rather than buying already cut up as many benefits are lost once the leaf is chopped.
maryellen1952 says
I live in Baja Norte so nopal is available in all stores. Most research I've found indicates that you should buy the WHOLE nopal leaf (rather than cut up) as sources state that once the nopal leaf is cut up it loses a lot of moisture and the benefits. So just buy the whole leaf and cut it up when you make the juice.
Cindy Gordon says
How neat! I have never had cactus juice! Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂
Thanks for linking back to the Gluten Free Fridays post!
See you at the link up this week!
Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com
The 21st Century Housewife© says
This is so interesting Swathi! I have never tasted cactus, but your juice looks so beautiful and fresh. I like the idea of combining it with pineapple and orange too - delicious and healthy! Thank you for sharing this lovely juice with us at The Gallery of Favorites.
I'm so glad your little boy enjoyed his birthday - and that your little girl enjoyed it too 🙂
joel antonio borja duenas says
i love all this natural juices ..
Srimathi says
Hi Swathi,
Good that your kids had a blast. I was just told my a natural healer that no pal is great for people with muscular arthritis and a does of it everyday helps. Glad that you had the energy to try something new after a big birthday party. I was told that cactus is very popular in mexican cuisine and they use it all the time. Pineapple with anything would taste good. Nice work.
Nivedhanams Sowmya says
Wow that is such a healthy and new dish to me!!! lovely writeup!!! and very very informative!!!
Sowmya
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Reeni Pisano says
I always wondered what to do with the cactus too! This is a great idea! Sounds refreshing and delicious!
Amrita Vishal says
such a unique and healthy drink
Ruchira Hoon says
So interesting. I must have a go at this
Treatntrick Treat and Trick says
I never heard of cactus leaves but this fabulous drink looks interesting and good for health....
Julie says
unique combination,haven't tried cactus though have seen it here..Yummy green color juice!
Tried your recipe of munthirikothu,came out very good..have posted today,Swathi 🙂
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Peggy G. says
I've never used cactus leaves before, but this juice sounds delicious!
PT says
healthy and refreshing drink..
Navaneetham Krishnan says
Cactus? New to me but I need to check out because this will be great for my other half and his diabetic. The color is awesome and very inviting.
Archana Potdar says
Wow this is totally new to me. Love the colour of the juice.
Arthy Suman says
Healthy and delicious thirst quencher...
cookingvarieties says
hi swathi. very interesting and healthy fruit juice drink- love the medicinal cactus- ia have to surf the net to see how the cactus looks like- i only know aloe vera 🙂
Angie's Recipes says
Such a lovely and delightful drink!
kala says
Yummyy + tastyyyyy
Maha Gadde says
yummmmmy and very tempting..nice cliks
Sangeetha Priya says
what a healthy combo, will try this for sure, bookmarking Swathi!!!
Asiya Omar says
New! what a colour! Look FRESHHHHH...
Candace says
I have never tried cactus before. My dad was from Texas and talked about how much he enjoyed them. I really should try it sometime. Your drink looks refreshing and healthy!
divya says
yummmmm :)))...very tempting *drool*...
Julia Gonzalez says
Wonderful!!! What fantastic juice.!! I love it!!
Shailaja Reddy says
Lovely n interesting juice.
Priya says
Wat a catchy and beautiful green juice, never had a chance to see those cactus leaves here.
Balvinder Ubi says
Napolese, you said is it similar to Aloe Vera? Because I have seen my mom used to make all sorts of things with Aloe Vera but I never tried to taste any of that.
Dipti Joshi says
So healthy and nutritious recipe. I am going to try this. I have this plant in my backyard.
Divya Pramil says
Refreshing drink Swathi.. Looks delectable 🙂
Kaveri Venkatesh says
Very interesting recipe Swathi...Lovely color.
Guru Uru says
That is such an awesome new combination!
Cheers
CCU
Sanoli Ghosh says
Very unique juice Swathi. Nice presentation too..
Hema says
Very new and interesting drink, the last two clicks are awesome..
Veena Theagarajan says
healthy juice..very nice
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runnergirlinthekitchen.blogspot.com says
I would have loved to have this Swathi.. its such a cool drink 🙂
Latha Madhusudhan says
Wow this is very interesting and looks so tempting to try it.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
I am definitely going to try it. What kind of store is Fiesta? Is it a regular grocery store or a speciality store? Let me see where I can find them here and give it a shot 🙂
Swathi Iyer says
Fiesta, grocery store specialized in Hispanic food.In your place, looks for Hispanic stores, or whole foods.
DivyaGCP says
Glad to know that the party went on well.. 🙂
Healthy and refreshing juice.. it has got an attractive color. Very nice..
Hamaree Rasoi says
Lovely and healthy juice. Looks very tempting sa well.
Deepa
Ramya Krishnamurthy says
lovely.wonderful idea.healthy juice.