How to Make Prickly Pear Jelly
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Prickly Pear Jelly – The Flavor of Arizona
Life feels sweeter when Mother Nature hands you a gift. In the Sonoran Desert, midsummer to early fall is prickly pear season, and this desert treasure grows wild, waiting to be transformed into stunning, ruby-colored jelly. Sure, it comes with a few stickers attached, but what’s a little effort for something so special?
For centuries, Native Americans have relied on the prickly pear cactus for food, medicine, and more. Today, the pads make nopales, while the fruit, called tunas, becomes jelly, syrup, vinaigrette, candy—even margaritas. My mom freezes the juice into ice cubes to brighten iced tea. You can even drink the juice straight—it’s as refreshing as it is nutritious.
A Taste of the Desert
Prickly pears are packed with antioxidants and are said to help with blood sugar, cholesterol, and inflammation. But we’re here to talk about jelly—not exactly health food, but undeniably delicious on buttered toast or flaky biscuits. Its flavor is as unforgettable as Arizona itself. Some say it hints at watermelon, but I think prickly pear tastes uniquely like… well, prickly pear. You have to try it to understand.
A Family Tradition
My love for prickly pear jelly started in the 1970s, thanks to my grandmother. Originally from Vermont, she discovered the recipe in the Phoenix Gazette and shared it with us. Every summer, we’d venture into the desert near Kearny with tongs and buckets, braving the heat and stickers to gather the juicy red fruit. Back home, we’d burn off the spines over a flame—a tedious but satisfying task—before juicing the fruit for jelly-making.
How to Harvest Prickly Pear Juice
There’s more than one way to process prickly pears, but here’s the method I use:
Gather the fruit: Use tongs and a hard bucket to collect ripe, deep red prickly pears that come off the plant easily.
Remove the stickers: Hold the fruit over a gas flame with tongs to burn off the glochids. A campfire or blow torch works too.
Cook the fruit: Slice off both ends, halve the fruit, and cook in a pot with about an inch of water. Stir often to prevent burning.
Extract the juice: Mash the cooked fruit, then strain through damp cheesecloth to remove spines, seeds, and skin. Avoid squeezing too hard to keep the juice clear.
The Jelly Recipe
Jelly-making can be tricky, especially with low-pectin, low-acid fruits like prickly pears. After many attempts, I found the winning formula: 4 cups of juice, 5 cups of sugar, and 2 boxes of Sure Jell pectin. Timing is everything—boil the mixture for exactly one minute, then check for gelling with the sheeting test.
Enjoy your prickly pear jelly! Its garnet glow and unforgettable flavor capture the heart of the desert. Let me know how yours turns out!
How to Make Prickly Pear Jelly
Ingredients
Instructions
- Wash prickly pears and remove spines and glochids by either burning them using tongs to hold fruit over a gas flame or scrubbing them off with water and a green scrubby. (Wear thick gloves if scrubbing!)
- Prepare canning jars by boiling them for, at least,10 minutes in a large stockpot or metal canner fitted with a canning rack or something to keep the jars off the bottom of the pan. Wash jar lids and rims in hot soapy water, rinse, and set aside.
- Slice off both ends of prickly pear and discard. (Use gloves no matter the method you used to take the glochids and spines off the fruit. Inevitably, you will miss some.) Cut fruit in half lengthwise and put in a large pot with approximately 1 cup of water. Cook over low medium heat, stirring frequently, until prickly pears are soft and juice has nearly or completely covered them. Mash fruit with potato masher.
- Ladle fruit and juice into a colander or sieve lined with two layers of damp cheesecloth placed over large bowl or saucepan and allow to drain. While draining, place a few metal spoons and/or a saucer in the freezer.
- Place four cups of juice into a 4 quart or bigger saucepan. (Bigger would be better, because when the syrup starts to boil it rises to the top of the pan.) Stir in two boxes of commercial pectin, making sure there are no lumps. Bring to a boil while stirring.
- Add 5 cups of sugar and stir constantly. Ensure there are no lumps of sugar.
- Bring mixture up to a hard boil that cannot be stirred down. Stir constantly. After one minute test mixture with a cold spoon from the freezer by scooping up some of the syrup in the spoon and tilting the spoon to the side to allow the mixture to run back into the saucepan. If it’s still runny, keep cooking, and keep testing. Cook until the drops coming off a new cold spoon congeal into one large drop and the jelly slides off the spoon.
- Using canning jar lifter, place hot jars from canner on a towel on the counter. Ladle the jelly immediately into the hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace at the top of the jar. Using a wide mouth funnel will make filling the jars much easier. Wipe the rims of the jars to ensure there is no jelly spilled on them and place a jar lid on top of each jar. Screw jar bands onto jars over lids tightening just until you meet resistance.
- Again, using canning jar lifter, place jars back into canner with still boiling water and ensure the water covers the jars by one to two inches. Boil the jars of jelly for five minutes or by the time indicated in the chart in the pectin directions based on your elevation. (In Phoenix, we are just over 1000 feet in elevation and so here we must boil our jars for 10 minutes.)
- Turn off the heat and allow jars to rest in the water bath for 5 minutes. Then, remove them and place them on a towel on the counter or other sturdy surface and allow to cool. Do not disturb them.
- Once cool test jars to see if the lids have sealed by pressing down in the center of the lid. If the lid pops when pressed, it is not sealed and should be stored in the refrigerator and used within a few weeks. Sealed jars can be stored in a cool, dark place for up to 18 months.
Notes
- Be sure to place the jars on a towel after removing from water bath to keep them from cracking due to the difference in the temperature between the jars and the countertops.
- If you’re a little short on the four cups of juice, you can add up to 1/2 cup of water to make up for it.
- If you get a glochid stuck in your skin and can’t get it out, cover it with white school glue. After the glue has dried, peel it off. The glochid should come out in the glue.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
62Fat
0 gSat. Fat
0 gCarbs
16 gFiber
0 gNet carbs
16 gSugar
14 gProtein
0 gSodium
4 mgCholesterol
1 mgThe nutritional information provided is automatically generated and is intended as a general guide. While we strive for accuracy, the values may not be exact due to variations in ingredients, preparation methods, and portion sizes. For precise dietary needs or concerns, please consult a qualified nutritionist or dietitian.
