Portions: 4 portions Calories: 258kcal |
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.
Why I ā¤ļø it ⢠Recipe ⢠Ingredients ⢠Video ⢠Preparation
Beef picadillo.
Why I ā¤ļø it
This is a very versatile beef picadillo recipe. You can serve this rich stew as the main dish, as a filling for tortillas or empanadas, or serve it with rice and beans for a hearty meal. It is one of my most useful recipes, with a surprisingly short cooking time. and the great nutrition of loads of veggies.
And with this recipe, once you learn how to make beef picadillo, it will be easy to prepare it with other types of meats. Put a pin on this recipe, because you'll make it often.
Beef picadillo recipe
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Utensils and tools
- Large bowl
- Large skillet or pan
Ingredients
- 1½ pound [0.7 kg] of minced beef
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 white onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- ¾ cup of tomato sauce
- 1 carrot (wash, peel and cut into small pieces)
- ¼ teaspoon of cumin powder
- ¼ cup of pitted green olives, sliced
- 1ā teaspoons of salt, or to taste.
- ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper
- ¾ pound [0.35 kg] of waxy potatoes (wash, peel and cut into cubes)
- 1 stalk of celery, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, or green bell pepper, chopped
- ½ tablespoon of hot sauce, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon of parsley or cilantro, chopped
Video
Preparation
Before starting, please make sure you have all the ingredients and utensils ready.
Step 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.
Step 2: Sauteing onion
Add chopped onion and garlic, and cook, stirring until heated through. Add tomato sauce and ½ cup of water, and mix. Add bay leaf, and lower heat to medium-low and cover. Cook until it comes to a boil (5-7 min).
Step 3: Cooking potato and carrot
Add potatoes and carrots. Cook covered for 15 minutes, adding water as needed to maintain the same volume. Stir in cumin.
Step 4: Seasoning picadillo
Add celery, bell pepper, and olives. Season with salt, pepper, and olives. Cook covered for 5 minutes, adding water if necessary to maintain the same volume.
Step 5: Serve
Season with hot sauce and salt to taste. Toss with parsley.
Remove from heat and serve.
Top tips
- Russet potatoes are very easy to use, and work well in this recipe.
- To freeze the leftovers, place them in an airtight container and keep it in the freezer for up to a month.
- Cut the potato and carrot pieces in dice size and of uniform size so that they cook evenly and look more attractive.
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.
Variations
If you want to make picadillo de puerco (pork picadillo), you can perfectly substitute ground beef for ground pork and follow the recipe.
A lighter option is using 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). š Peas are a great substitute for raisins if you dislike them.
Nutritional information
Calories: 258kcal - Carbohydrates: 13g - Protein: 27g - Fat: 11g - Saturated Fat: 3g - Cholesterol: 70mg - Sodium: 862mg - Potassium: 844mg - Fiber: 3g - Sugar:3g - Vitamin A: 2450 IU - Vitamin C: 37.6mg - Calcium: 45mg - Iron: 5.1mg
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".
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This is just a printer-friendly summary, some useful details are found in the recipe above.
How to Make Beef Picadillo |+Video|
Ingredients
- 1½ pound minced beef. [0.7 kg]
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 white onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 bay leaf
- ¾ cup of tomato sauce
- 1 carrot wash, peel and cut into small pieces
- ¼ teaspoon of cumin powder
- ¼ cup of pitted green olives sliced
- 1ā teaspoons of salt or to taste.
- ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper
- ¾ pound waxy potatoes [0.35 kg] wash, peel and cut into cubes
- 1 stalk of celery chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- ½ tablespoon hot sauce or to taste
- 1 tablespoon parsley chopped
Instructions
Step 1: Brown the meat
- Heat theĀ oilĀ 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.
Step 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).
Step 3: Cooking potato and carrot
- AddĀ cumin,Ā bell pepper, andĀ celery. Season withĀ salt,Ā pepper,Ā andĀ olives. Cook covered for 5 minutes, adding water when necessary to maintain the same volume.Season withĀ hot sauceĀ and salt to taste. Toss withĀ parsley.
Step 4: Seasoning picadillo
- AddĀ potatoesĀ andĀ carrots. Cook covered for 15 minutes, adding water as needed to maintain the same volume.AddĀ cumin,Ā bell pepper, andĀ celery. Season withĀ salt,Ā pepper,Ā andĀ olives. Cook covered for 5 minutes, adding water when necessary to maintain the same volume.
Step 5: Serve
- Season withĀ hot sauceĀ and salt to taste. Toss withĀ parsley.Remove from heat and serve.
Nutrition
By Tia Clara
, published Jan 3, 2015 on
Adita
I made this beef picadillo and my whole family loved it. Thanks for sharing!
Tia Clara
Thank you very much, I am very glad you liked it.
Alberto
Fantastic dish!
Virginia
Love this, I made pork picadillo and added a Mexican chorizo to it and it was crazy good!
Tia Clara
Wow, that's an amazing idea. Thanks for sharing!
Juanita
Very easy recipe. Gracias tia Clara.
Tia Clara
I am glad to hear that!
Karen
Made this recipe without the hot sauce and still delicious and hearty. Thanks for the recipe!
Kevin
Outstanding! I used a Scotch Bonnet and Papaya hot sauce. It really adds a fruity flavour to the veg.
Tia Clara
That sounds amazing, thanks for the idea.
Mariella
This recipe was amazing, very easy, very flavorful, all natural. I love that iin your recipes! I'll make this picadillo again!
Tia Clara
Thanks to you for visiting, trying our recipes, and for your kind words.
El Padre
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 š