Portions: 4 portions Calories: 583kcal |
See how easy this Latin beef picadillo recipe with potatoes and carrots is. A dish full of flavor, economical, and will please the whole family. I give you ideas for serving it, reusing the leftovers, and some useful substitutions.
By - Revised . Original Jan 3, 2015.
Ground Beef Picadillo [Video+Recipe].
Why we ❤️ it
- This is a very versatile beef picadillo recipe.
- You can serve this delicious stew in many ways: as a main dish, as a filling for tortillas or empanadas, or with rice and beans for a hearty meal.
- It's one of my most useful recipes, with a surprisingly short cooking time and the great nutrition of lots of vegetables.
- And with this recipe, once you learn how to make beef picadillo, it will be easy to prepare with other types of meat. Put a pin on this recipe, because you'll make it often.
Ground Beef Picadillo [Video+Recipe]
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Utensils and tools
Ingredients
- 1½ pound minced beef., [0.7 kg]
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 white onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- ¾ cup tomato sauce
- 1 carrot, wash, peel and cut into small pieces
- ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
- ¼ cup pitted green olives, sliced
- 1⅓ teaspoons salt, or to taste.
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¾ pound waxy potatoes, [0.35 kg] wash, peel and cut into cubes
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- ½ tablespoon hot sauce, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
Video
Preparation
1. Brown the meat
Heat the oil in a large skillet or pan over medium-high heat.Add the meat and simmer, stirring until all the liquid has evaporated and the meat is browned.
2. Sauteing onion
- Add chopped onion and garlic, and cook, stirring until heated through. Add bay leaf, pour in tomato sauce and ½ cup of water, and mix. Lower heat to medium-low and cover.Cook until it comes to a boil (5-7 min).
3. Cooking potato and carrot
- Add the potatoes and carrots. Cook covered for 15 minutes, adding water as needed to maintain the same volume.Add the cumin.
4. Seasoning picadillo
- Add the celery, bell pepper, and olives. Season with salt, pepper, and add the olives.Cook covered for 5 minutes, adding water if necessary to maintain the same volume.
5. Serve
- Season with hot sauce and salt to taste. Mix in parsley.Remove from heat and serve.
Top tips
- Potatoes: Russet potatoes are very easy to use, and work well in this recipe.
- Cutting potato and carrot: Cut into dice size and of uniform size so that they cook evenly and look more attractive.
- Pork picadillo: If you want to make picadillo de puerco (pork picadillo), you can perfectly substitute ground beef for ground pork and follow the recipe.
- Lighter option: Use lean ground beef or making a turkey picadillo with ground turkey and vegetables, or you can even prepare it with ground chicken.
- To fill empanadas: You can make it with this minced meat with potatoes and carrots, or without potatoes and carrots, or add raisins (which is a popular and controversial ingredient in empanada filling). 🙂 Peas are a great substitute for raisins if you dislike them.
- To freeze the leftovers: Place them in an airtight container and keep it in the freezer for up to a month.
Serving suggestions
This is a dish that goes great with White rice, but you can also serve it with corn tortillas, or flour tortillas in tacos, with cilantro lime rice, or you can fill empanadas with the leftovers. Fried plantains are also a fantastic side dish if served with rice.
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FAQs
What is picadillo meat?
Picadillo de carne is a minced or ground beef dish with vegetables, spices, and herbs. There are different variations of picadillo in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and several other countries in Latin America.
How many people eat a kilo of picadillo?
One kilo of picadillo (2.5 lb) is recommended for 5 people (½ lb per person). If the picadillo contains potatoes or other vegetables, you can serve 6 people.
What does picadillo beef mean?
When there was no machinery to grind meat, ground meat was made by chopping it or mincing it very finely until it had a texture similar to (but not the same as) ground meat. To mince in Spanish is "picar", and picadillo is the Spanish word for "mince".
Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated automatically based on ingredients listed. Please consult your doctor if you need precise nutrition information.
I cannot have tomatoes or tomato sauce - any suggestions for substitution?
Made this the other night with a flank steak & it was lunch next day then dinner following day. This meal goes on forever, served over Jasmine rice & added fresh corn tonight. WOW!!!
A very good dish, Tia Clara, easy to make even if you don't have a lto of experience cooking. Now I have to go learn how to make the rice 😀
I made this beef picadillo and my whole family loved it. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you very much, I am very glad you liked it.
Love this, I made pork picadillo and added a Mexican chorizo to it and it was crazy good!
Wow, that's an amazing idea. Thanks for sharing!
Very easy recipe. Gracias tia Clara.
I am glad to hear that!
I have a vegan version that you might want to try.
Fantastic dish!
Made this recipe without the hot sauce and still delicious and hearty. Thanks for the recipe!
I love mushrooms, I approve! 🙂
Outstanding! I used a Scotch Bonnet and Papaya hot sauce. It really adds a fruity flavour to the veg.
That sounds amazing, thanks for the idea.
This recipe was amazing, very easy, very flavorful, all natural. I love that iin your recipes! I'll make this picadillo again!
Thanks to you for visiting, trying our recipes, and for your kind words.