• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
  • EspaƱol
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Tia Clara
  • Recipes
  • Tips
  • Ideas
  • Subscribe
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • Tips
  • Ideas
  • Subscribe
Ɨ

Easy Beef Picadillo Recipe

  • EspaƱol
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.

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

This free recipe contains Amazon affiliate links, and I receive a small commission when you purchase, at no cost to you. Thank you!

Easy beef picadillo, a delicious and tasty ground beef recipe perfect with rice and beans, to make tacos, or to fill the most delicious empanadas. Learn how to cook ground beef rich in vegetables and flavor.

Course: Dinner, Lunch
Inspiration: Cuban, Latino, Mexican
Category: beef picadillo, beef picadillo recipe, picadillo ground beef
Author: Clara Gonzalez

Prep Time10 minutes mins
Cook Time25 minutes mins
Total Time35 minutes mins

Utensils and tools

  • Large bowl
  • Large skillet or pan
Beef picadillo with potato and carrot.
Beef picadillo with potato and carrot.

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

Browning meat.
Browning 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

Sauteing onion.
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

Cooking potato and carrot.
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

Seasoning picadillo.
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

Beef picadillo.
Beef picadillo.

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.
Beef picadillo with rice.
Beef picadillo with rice.

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). šŸ™‚ 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

More meat recipes

  • Chicken ropa vieja.
    Chicken Ropa Vieja Recipe Easy and Quick
  • Chicken cream cheese dip with chips.
    Chicken and Cream Cheese Dip
  • Cuban ropa vieja.
    Cuban Ropa Vieja Recipe
  • Cabbage and ground beef dinner.
    How to Cook Cabbage and Ground Beef One-Pot Dinner

See more: meat recipes main dishes recipes dinner recipes

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".

Print card

This is just a printer-friendly summary, some useful details are found in the recipe above.

Print

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 choppedĀ onionĀ andĀ garlic, and cook, stirring until heated through. AddĀ bay leaf, pour inĀ tomato sauceĀ 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

Calories: 258kcal

By Tia Clara, published Jan 3, 2015 on Tia Clara

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Reader Interactions

Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Adita

    August 27, 2021 at 5:28 pm

    5 stars
    I made this beef picadillo and my whole family loved it. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Tia Clara

      August 27, 2021 at 10:11 pm

      Thank you very much, I am very glad you liked it.

      Reply
  2. Alberto

    August 07, 2021 at 5:41 am

    Fantastic dish!

    Reply
  3. Virginia

    January 29, 2021 at 5:44 pm

    5 stars
    Love this, I made pork picadillo and added a Mexican chorizo to it and it was crazy good!

    Reply
    • Tia Clara

      February 03, 2021 at 10:05 pm

      Wow, that's an amazing idea. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
  4. Juanita

    July 22, 2020 at 3:13 pm

    5 stars
    Very easy recipe. Gracias tia Clara.

    Reply
    • Tia Clara

      July 26, 2020 at 11:26 am

      I am glad to hear that!

      Reply
  5. Karen

    August 29, 2019 at 5:25 am

    5 stars
    Made this recipe without the hot sauce and still delicious and hearty. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  6. Kevin

    November 27, 2018 at 4:41 pm

    5 stars
    Outstanding! I used a Scotch Bonnet and Papaya hot sauce. It really adds a fruity flavour to the veg.

    Reply
    • Tia Clara

      January 09, 2019 at 7:06 pm

      That sounds amazing, thanks for the idea.

      Reply
  7. Mariella

    October 03, 2018 at 6:51 pm

    5 stars
    This recipe was amazing, very easy, very flavorful, all natural. I love that iin your recipes! I'll make this picadillo again!

    Reply
    • Tia Clara

      October 07, 2018 at 12:39 am

      Thanks to you for visiting, trying our recipes, and for your kind words.

      Reply
  8. El Padre

    August 22, 2015 at 5:59 pm

    5 stars
    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 šŸ˜€

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm TĆ­a Clara! I have been a recipe developer, and recipe writer for 20+ years, and here I share my easy recipes you'll love.

More āžœ

  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Don't miss

  • Arroz primavera vegetable rice pilaf.
    Arroz Primavera Vegetable Rice Pilaf
  • Cauliflower Spanish rice.
    Spanish Cauliflower Rice (Quick And Easy)
  • Pineapple rice.
    Easy Pineapple Rice Recipe
  • Avocado pasta salad.
    Avocado Pasta Salad Vegan and Healthy
  • Cheesy zucchini and potato bake.
    Easy Cheesy Potato Zucchini Casserole
  • Cranberry rice.
    Festive Cranberry Rice Recipe
  • PiƱa colada.
    PiƱa Colada Recipe - Rum, Pineapple, and Coconut Cocktail
  • Green split pea soup.
    Green Split Pea Soup Recipe

The newest Most popular

Footer

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Contact me | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Terms & Conditions | Accessibility Policy | Web Stories | Trending

Copyright Ā© 2022 Lunch Club Books, LLC

  • EspaƱol