Warm Nopalitos with Sauteed Corn and Guajillo
Nopales con Elote y Guajillo Salteado
Recipe Yield
8 servings
Cooking time
45 minutes
Rate this recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons safflower or corn oil separated
- 3 pounds fresh nopales rinsed, cleaned and diced
- 1 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt or to taste
- 2 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped white onion
- 2 ounces (about 7 or 8 chiles) guajillo chiles cleaned, seeded and chopped
- 2 cups fresh corn kernels from about 3 cobs, or thawed from frozen
- 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
To Prepare
- Heat two tablespoons of the oil in a large heavy skillet (that has a lid) over medium-high heat. Add the diced nopales, sprinkle the salt and stir for a minute or two. Place the lid on, reduce the heat to medium and let the nopales cook and sweat for about 20 minutes, stirring once or twice. They will have exuded a gelatinous liquid that will begin to dry out. Take off the lid, stir and make sure most of the liquid has dried up; if it hasn’t, let them cook for a couple more minutes until it does.
- Pour in the third tablespoon of oil, mix with the nopales and incorporate the garlic, chopped onion, guajillo chiles and corn. Mix well and let it cook for about 3 to 4 minutes. Squeeze in a tablespoon of fresh lime juice, mix and place the lid back on. Let the nopales cook for another 3 to 4 minutes and turn off the heat. Taste for salt and add more if need be.
- If you have any leftovers, they make a wonderful filling for quesadillas.
Comments
53comments inWarm Nopalitos with Sauteed Corn and Guajillo
Linda
Jun 13
Hi Patti
I made this for a party I had. Was the favorite dish of the night. I love your food. Thank you for making me look like a good cook. 🙏
Pati Jinich
Jul 04
I am sure you are a great cook, thanks to you Linda!
Irma Lopez
Mar 12
Hoy preparé esta rica receta de nopalitos con chile guajillo y elote… me encantó, muy sabrosa.. Muchas gracias
Pati Jinich
Mar 14
Que alegria, gracias a ti Irma!!!!
Kate
Sep 03
Since my guajillos were a little older and drier, 8 equalled just 1 oz, so I stuck with that number and put them in earlier so they’d soften a bit more. Delicious!
Pati Jinich
Sep 04
Glad you liked this nopalitos Kate!
Andy Montiel
May 24
Definitely a keeper!
To be included on our family menu, this recipe is a winner.
Muchas gracias Pati.
Pati Jinich
Jun 04
Gracias a ustedes Andy, que bueno que les gusto!
Sandra Jimenez
Dec 15
Hola Pati! I made this recipe but used it as filling for tamales with some cheese! It was great!
Pati Jinich
Dec 26
What a great idea Sandra, yummy!!!!
Antonio
Sep 22
Hi Pati, we made this for dinner last night it was great. Only difference was we added cubed beef tenderloin and 1/2 cup of broth! Super yummy, kids even had a second serving. Thank you Pati!
Pati Jinich
Oct 05
Yay Antonio! What a wonderful way to make this a full meal, so glad everyone enjoyed it 🙂
Adriana Cervera
Sep 05
Delicious I love all your recipes thanks for sharing 😊
Pati Jinich
Sep 27
My pleasure Adriana, un abrazo 😉
Sandra Knau Jimenez
Jun 16
Can you use the store bought nopales in this recipe?
Pati Jinich
Jun 20
Yes you can, just make sure you rinse them perfectly 😉
Brad
May 27
Hola Pati! I made this recipe for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I didn’t quite have enough corn on hand so I added some chayote which turned out to be a great addition! It was a great side to the enchiladas verdes. Can’t wait to try the leftovers in a quesadilla!
Pati Jinich
May 28
Great idea Brad! Chayote works perfect with the nopales and corn, yumm 😉
Rose
Jul 22
Hi Pati,
I too have difficulty eating dried guajillo Chile’s. Based on your suggestion to soften the guajillo chiles by boiling them, I did just that. Then, I went one step further. I chopped the Chile’s in 1/2 “ pieces so I could easily pick them out before serving. I got all the flavor without the worry. Thank you Pati for sharing your delicious recipes!
Pati Jinich
Jul 22
I’m so glad you made the recipe your own, Rose!
Larry
Sep 30
Wow, haven’t had nopales since my Mom and Grandmother use to make. I was just too small to remember their recipes, too bad. It’s all in how you prepare them to make a great dish, I can’t wait to make this for the family tomorrow!
Pati
Oct 06
I hope the family loves them, Larry!
Patricia
Jul 21
The taste is good BUT the chile juajillo gets stuk in my throat. It is very hard to chew and is like plastic!
Pati
Aug 02
I am so sorry about that! I love their crunch there, but you can pre soak the stemmed and seeded guajillos in boiling water for 10 minutes. Give that a try!
Iviaria
Nov 07
Qué ricos nopalitos!!!! Gracias Pati, eres una inspiración para mis hijas que les encantan tus recetas!!
Pati
Nov 08
Mil gracias, Iviaria!
Cynthia
Oct 23
I’m trying to eat healthy and getting away from the typical “garnachas”. I had recorded your show and decided that was delicious Mexican food and it was healthy! Bueno a ver cómo me sale!
Pati
Oct 26
Super!!!
teri
Jul 30
Once again, your recipe made me want to lick my plate!!! This was the first time I’ve made nopales. It won’t be the last. Thank you so much!
Pati
Jul 31
I’m so happy to hear that you will be making them again Teri!
Jesica
Apr 20
What if I’ve already boiled the nopales?
Pati
Apr 24
Jesica, you can warm the nopales in a pan and once they have warmed through follow the recipe from there, adding the garlic, corn, etc.
Janie
Mar 16
Hello, I am making this tonight, ( I can’t wait 🙂 About how much is 1 serving? would it be about 1 cup?
Pati
Mar 17
It depends…the whole recipe makes 8 servings.
Nanovar
Mar 08
OMG. This recipe is just as you described on your TV show. I suspect it will become a favorite here too. Once the nopales were cooked down, that nasty substance disappeared. My significant other absolutely adores corn so I can’t wait to surprise him tonight with your recipe. Thank you.
Pati
Mar 09
Yay! Hope your significant other love it.
Wendy
Jan 21
The print version is full of typos, mainly missing spaces between words, etc. Please fix it! Thanks.
Pati
Jan 23
Oh no Wendy… let me see what is going on, we will try to fix it ASAP. Thanks so much for giving us the heads up…
Theresa Sandoval
Apr 30
Thank you Pati..Super yummy..I made this today. Followed the recipe exactly and came out perfect. Can’t stop eating it!!!!
Pati
May 04
Thank you, Theresa!
Don Farmer
Oct 10
Hi, Pati, In the recipe for nopales with corn and guajillo, are you using dried chilies or fresh? Your book is fantastic!
Pati
Oct 15
Hola Don! They are dried! They reconstitute as they cook with the other ingredients. =) Thank you for your kind words!
Amanda
Jun 27
Hi Pati! I’m a huge fan of your show. I just saw the episode for this recipe in fact. I now live in Alaska and don’t have access to fresh nopales but I can get them in a jar already diced. Do you think the recipe would be good with them?
Pati
Jul 05
Absolutely, Amanda. Just rinse and drain well, and take into consideration that they will be ready much faster than if they were fresh. They wont let out that much viscous liquid at all, and just wait for them to sear, a few minutes, then follow recipe along.
Carl
Jun 04
what? you mean there’s a kitchen gadget i don’t already own?!
thanks, i may try that altho there’s no room in our drawers for anything more. i thot of using a food processor or cutting the chiles into small pieces and using a coffee “grinder” (with spinning blade) like the one i use for cumin seeds. seeking of speeds, i always think it’s funny when cooks remove these altho i did try this with the guajillos. next i was thinking of using the leftover chiles to make the tomatillo salsa. i like green sauces in restaurants but haven’t been able to make a decent one yet myself and heating tomatillos on cast iron just sucked up all the pan’s seasoning. i was also disappointed to discover that guajillos apparently are not available organically.
salad? i didn’t even see that one! still wish videos of your shows were available online.
Carl
May 28
i thot i had located videos of your recipes but now can’t find them anywhere.
i was curious how to chop guallios. apparently i can’t get our knife sharp enuf to handle either this or the nopales but i’m going to try this and see if it comes out ok.
Pati
May 29
Hola Carl, I sometimes use kitchen scissors to cut the chiles. I hope you try the salad!
Pati
Jun 04
You can also use scissors!
Norma
Apr 25
Love your show, Pati! I’ve made this recipe twice since I first saw it. Love the tender nopales mixed with the sweetness and crunch of the fresh corn – so yummy! The second time I made it, I tweaked your recipe just a little – I softened and blended the guajillo chiles before adding to the mix. So happy with the results! Thanks for always bringing such interesting and delicious recipes! You inspire me to cook!!
Pati
Apr 29
That sounds like such a great adaptation, Norma!
Maria
Jul 24
Pati,
Hijole Los nopalitos me quedaron riquísimos!!!! La modifique un poco dore los chiles con ajo y los moli en la liquadora y le agregue Chile de árbol. no me pierdo tu programa. Y tus niños están muy lindos y son bien educaditos. En hora buena por tus logros y que sigas enseñando mucho de tu rica cocina.
Maria, en Laredo, TX.
Pati
Jul 28
Gracias Maria, que bueno que te quedaron ricos!! Muchas gracias por ver mi programa 🙂
Rachelle T.
Apr 23
Great recipe. Super easy.