Jicama is a lot like a cross between a white potato (except that you can eat them raw) and a crisp pear. They are crisp and moist with minimal flavor and accept spices and flavor well. These factors make it fairly easy to use in jicama recipes.

Jicama is found in most grocery stores here and can grow very large at times like the one above in the picture. Imagine what you can do with 7 ILB. (3.18 Kilos) of jicama! Since they are very affordable and can be big, we thought it would be nice to show you some of the things you can do with jicama so you can enjoy this local food.

If you want to try them on the street in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, there are fruit sellers in Park Fundadores (the park near the Cozumel Ferry Pier). For about 15 pesos (less than $1USD) you can get a cup of them with a mild chili and fresh lime.

Tip: Large and small jicamas taste the same. They also store for a long time. They may even sprout a green stem; this will tell you that you should use it soon.

Preparation

Rinse off the jicama, this will get dirt off and prevent the inside from getting dirty when you slice through. Be very careful cutting them. They are very dense and hard to get a knife through them. Have a firm hold on it and a sharp knife when cutting. Larger jicamas are especially hard to start cutting into smaller pieces. Cut the skin off the jicama. You do not eat the skin. It can peel off once you get it started but that will leave a tough second layer. Cutting the peel, it takes off all the tough skin.

Jicama Recipes

Jicama Snack

The most popular use of jicama is cutting it into strips and adding Tajin chili spice to it (Tajin in the most popular name brand here and is most typically used). Cut the jicama into strips, squeeze fresh lime juice on and sprinkle with Tajin.

Tip: Refrigerate before for eating. Jicama taste much better and is more refreshing when chilled.

Jicama recipes — Slices of jicama with tajin.

Jicama Recipe for Margaritas

Want to impress your friends with a new flavor of margarita? Jicama margaritas are nice because they have just a hint jicama flavor. Versions of this can be made with cucumber and or pineapple juice.

Take your tequila of your choice, triple sec and lime juice and add 1/2 a regular sized jicama, cut the jicama into small pieces and add to the blender. Blend until liquidized. Then use a fine strainer to pour the liquid through. Then take the strained liquid and blend with ice to make frozen margaritas. An extra special touch is adding Tajin chili and salt to rim the glasses. This will give the rim some color and extra flash of taste.

Tip: Cucumbers go great in this as well, just add it to the blender and strain it as well.

Jicama and Avocado Salad Recipe

Salads with jicama are great and there many recipes to incorporate jicama into different salads. Here is one recipe for a simple yet delicious salad. This serves 4. Directions: Cut the jicama into small strips, half the avocados and remove the pit but keeping the halves intact. Make a bed of jicama on four plates, place half of an avocado on each place, sprinkle with chopped onions, then mix together everything else and pour dressing into the avocado pit, like a bowl. This gives it a nice presentation and when people slice into it the dressing will flow over the salad. Tip: Make this salad fresh or use lime juice to keep the avocado from browning if you make it a little in advance.

1 small jicama

2 ripe avocados

1/2 small red onion chopped

Juice on one lime, fresh cracked pepper and salt to taste

3 Tbsp. of Balsamic vinegar

6 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil

Pineapple Jicama Salsa

This jicama recipe makes for a perfect side to a meal or as a salsa with corn chips. Here are directions and what you will need:

2 Tbsp. finely chopped red onion

Juice of one lime, add this to the red onion and let stand for 10 minutes and then add the following:

1 small pineapple diced into small cubes (3 cups)

1/2 a small jicama diced into small cubes (1 cup)

1 Tbsp. light brown sugar

3 Tbsp. chopped cilantro

1 jalapeno stemmed and seeded and then finely shopped

1 scallion thinly sliced

Add everything together and enjoy, it can be refrigerated overnight but bring to room temperature before serving.

Conclusion

We hope these jicama recipes has given you a few ideas for the use of jicama. It makes for a unique and healthy meal. It is also very economical. So, if you are in the store and see a huge jicama, think of just some of the uses for it and if you get a huge one you just might be able to make everything mentioned here and still have some jicama left over!

Do you have some good jicama recipes you would like to share? Let us know in the comments below. We would love to hear from you.