Prickly pear syrup is a sweet, vividly colored syrup made from the fruit of the Opuntia cactus, commonly known as prickly pear or tuna. To produce the syrup, the fruit is peeled to remove the outer skin and glochids, then the pulp is cooked down — often with sugar and sometimes lemon juice — until it reaches a thick, pourable consistency.
The resulting syrup retains the fruit’s characteristic magenta hue and offers a mildly sweet flavor with notes of melon, berry, and citrus. Prickly pear syrup is used in a variety of culinary applications, including as a topping for pancakes or desserts, as a flavoring for cocktails and sodas, or as an ingredient in sauces and glazes. It is especially popular in regions of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where Opuntia species grow abundantly.