When most people think of New Mexican cuisine, the first thing that comes to mind is chile. Red or green, it’s the state’s signature flavor. But look closer at fields, mesas, and family tables across New Mexico, and you’ll find other ingredients just as special and rooted in our history.
At Sadie’s of New Mexico, we believe the local cuisine here is a reflection of our vibrant community and culture. That’s why, while chile remains at the heart of our cooking, we also appreciate the other flavors that shape our state’s rich food landscape.
In this post, we’ll explore three ingredients beyond chile that are welcome on every New Mexican table: prickly pears, piñon nuts, and squash blossoms. Along the way, we’ll share traditional uses, preparation tips, and ideas for bringing them into your own home kitchen.
The Versatile Prickly Pear Delight
Across the desert landscapes of New Mexico, prickly pear cactus has long been more than just a spiky plant. Since ancient times, families have relied on it for food, medicine, and flavor.
Both its fruit (called tunas) and its paddles (nopales) have fed families for generations, showing up in everyday meals and seasonal celebrations alike.
Let’s explore the different parts of this unique plant and answer some common questions along the way.
The Tunas
What do prickly pears look like? The answer comes in two parts: the tunas are the fruit of the cactus, while the nopales are the cactus paddles themselves. When people say prickly pears, they likely are referring to the fruit.
When ripe, the cactus fruit turns a deep magenta or red, dotted with tiny spines. Inside, it’s bright, juicy, and packed with seeds.
You might also wonder, what do prickly pears taste like? Most describe the flavor as a cross between melon, berries, and a hint of bubblegum. It’s sweet and refreshing with just a touch of tartness, unlike anything else you’ll find in the desert.
So, what to do with a prickly pear once you’ve got it? After carefully peeling and handling the spines, you can juice the fruit for syrups, aguas frescas, and lemonades, and cocktails. Others turn it into jams, jellies, or even drizzle it over pancakes and ice cream.
The Paddles
The paddles, or nopales, offer a completely different experience.
Curious about what to do with prickly pear cactus beyond juicing? Try cactus fries: battered, fried strips of nopales that are crisp, tangy, and addictive. It’s one of the most creative answers to what to do with prickly pear beyond the sweet applications most people know.
When cooked, nopales are tender with a tangy, green-bean-like flavor. You’ll often find them diced into huevos con nopales or tossed into a fresh nopalitos salad.
Preparing them takes care. Gloves and a sharp knife are essential for handling the spines, but once cooked, the reward is worth it.
The fruit and paddles remind us that the desert isn’t empty. It’s full of resilient, flavorful ingredients that have always had a place at the New Mexican table.
From the cactus fields of the desert, we move to the piñon pine forests of New Mexico where families have long harvested piñon nuts as a fall tradition.
The Rich & Buttery Piñon Nut
Harvesting piñon nuts from New Mexico is a seasonal ritual that connects families to the land and to each other. These small treasures from the piñon nut tree are part of autumn’s rhythm across the Southwest.
Let’s dive into this ingredient and answer some common questions about them.
Piñon Nuts as Local Gems
Piñon pine nuts are a local variety of pine nut, smaller than the ones you’ll find in stores but richer in flavor.
They’re buttery, slightly sweet, and carry a deep earthiness that makes them prized in New Mexican cuisine. Eating them straight from the shell is common, but they also shine in both savory and sweet recipes.
Roasting Traditions
Curious about how to roast piñon nuts?
Roasting piñon is a common technique that boosts flavor. At home, it can be as simple as spreading the nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toasting at 325°F until the shells crack.
Roadside roasters often use small tumblers and open flames, which add a smoky richness that locals crave.
Either way, roasted piñon nuts are a seasonal treat unlike any other.
The Harvest Season
Piñon nut season typically begins in late summer and runs into fall, depending on rainfall and climate.
For many families, this is a time of gathering and foraging. Heading into the forests, filling bags, and bringing the harvest home is a fun activity meant for everyone.
Just like how chile roasting signals the end of summer, the sound and scent of roasted piñon is a sign of autumn in New Mexico.
Cooking With Piñon
In savory dishes, they can be tossed with seasonings and proteins or blended into sauces like a rich pesto.
In sweets, they’re unforgettable. The classic piñon Mexican wedding cookie is crumbly, rich, and nutty. A sprinkle of toasted piñon elevates custards, cakes, and even ice cream with its buttery rich profile.
For many New Mexicans, the taste of roasted piñon is as nostalgic as chile. It’s a flavor that marks the passing of seasons and ties us to our landscape.
If piñon marks the taste of autumn, squash blossoms are a reminder of summer’s abundance. Delicate and subtle, they carry their own place in New Mexican kitchens.
The Delicate Squash Blossom
Squash blossoms are the true taste of fruitful summers. These edible flowers, often from zucchini and other squash plants, are bright orange and fleeting.
They’re treasured in both Mexican and New Mexican kitchens as a seasonal delicacy and can be difficult to find. Rather than at a standard grocery store, they can be found in gardens or at farmer’s markets.
Their short life makes them feel almost ceremonial, something to savor when they arrive.
Let’s get into how to cook with them and what they’re used for.
Cooking Squash Flowers
Many home cooks wonder how to cook squash blossoms and what they taste like. Their flavor is mild, slightly floral, with a tender texture that pairs beautifully with cheese, corn, and chile, but they’re slightly delicate to handle.
In gardens across New Mexico, cooks pick them fresh and bring them straight to the skillet or comal.
Recipes for Squash Blossoms
One of the most beloved dishes is the stuffed squash flower. These flowers are filled with queso fresco or ricotta, dipped in a light batter, and fried until golden. The result is a crisp outside and a creamy within, a recipe that feels both rustic and elegant.
Others prefer them simple. You can sauté them quickly with garlic and butter and have fried squash flowers as a side dish, or folded into tortillas with cheese for squash blossom quesadillas.
You’ll also find recipes for tossing blossoms into soups, or even baking them into breads for a hint of floral sweetness.
Frying Zucchini Flowers
Because zucchini is a type of summer squash, you’ll often see fried zucchini blossoms in many Southwestern kitchens.
Zucchini flowers have a grassier taste and firmer bite than other blossoms, making them ideal for stuffing and frying. Stuffed squash blossoms, by contrast, are sweeter but a bit more delicate in handling.
Regardless of what you use, in the end, it’s a beautiful flower turned into something rich, celebratory, and deliciously edible!
Like piñon and prickly pear, blossoms carry the taste of the rhythm of harvest and stories passed down through generations in New Mexico.
Check Out New Mexican Cuisine Beyond Chile
At Sadie’s of New Mexico, chile has been the cornerstone of our cooking for generations. But ingredients like piñon nuts, prickly pears, and squash blossoms remind us that our table is full of desert treasures.
From the desert cactus to the mountain pines to the summer garden, each ingredient ties us to the land. Together, they show that New Mexican cuisine is more than a single flavor, it’s a whole landscape of tastes and seasons.
Stop by Sadie’s of New Mexico today and celebrate New Mexican culture, traditions, and ingredients!