Mar 21, 2008

Cuban Picadillo


 

Picadillo is a Cuban dish that I grew up eating. If I ask my daughter what she wants for dinner, 9 out of 10 times she'll ask me to make picadillo. I probably make this once a week because it's easy and quick and everyone loves it. These are perfect with baked tostones! Leftovers make a great filling for my baked empanadas.



Cuban Picadillo
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 6 servings Serving Size: 1/6th Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 4 pts
Calories: 160.7 • Fat: 5.8 g • Carbs: 5.2 g • Fiber • 1.0 • Protein: 18.8 g • Sugar: 1.3

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 large chopped onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • 1/2 pepper, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp cilantro
  • 1-1/2 lb 93% lean ground beef
  • 4 oz (1/2 can) tomato sauce
  • kosher salt
  • fresh ground pepper
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1-2 bay leaf
  • 2 tbsp alcaparrado (capers or green olives would work too)

Directions:
    Brown meat on medium flame in large sauté pan and season with salt and pepper. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat up into small pieces. When meat is no longer pink, drain all juice from pan.

    Meanwhile, while meat is cooking, chop onion, garlic, pepper, tomato and cilantro.

    Add sofrito (onion mixture) to the meat and continue cooking on a low flame. Add alcaparrado and about 2 tbsp of the brine (this adds great flavor) cumin, bay leaf, and more salt if needed. Add tomato sauce and 1/4 cup of water and mix well. Reduce heat and simmer covered about 15-20 minutes.
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    43 comments:

    1. I love picadillo and I add raisins to mine along with brown rice. It's delicious!

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    2. Wow, I like picadillo a lot, I just had my supper but this makes my hungry again.

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    3. Seeing this recipe does bring back many memories for me. My grandmother used to make this dish just for me. She passed 3 years ago, and I have not had it since. I may have to make some. Thanks for the warm memories ")

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    4. I made this tonight...so yummie!! Thanks for the recipe.

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    5. I love picadillo and would love to try this 6 pt version!

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    6. I love that your picadillo doesn't have raisins in it. The raisins are what kept me from trying it before. Also, what is alcaparrado? I will probably use green olives in mine, but I was just curious.

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    7. Hey Gina!

      Could I use turkey meat with this ? I want to make the empanadas, but i wasnt sure if A) it would ruin the taste, B) if it brings the points down?

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    8. @Lisa - I have made turkey picadillo and I like it, but I prefer beef to turkey. If you buy very lean beef, the points are just about the same.

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    9. when it calls for 1/2 pepper, is it green pepper or red?

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    10. Red or Green pepper is fine. I usually use whatever I have.

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    11. Has anyone ever made this with chicken?

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    12. I've made it with chicken as well but my family prefers beef. I agree beef tastes better, but I sometimes use turkey.

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    13. Can you please tell me what the actual serving size is?

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    14. I made this last night and it was excellent! I ate it with crisp romaine lettuce leaves, which I used as "taco shells". Loved the flavors. My husband loved it too. I missed the pepper when shopping, so I added one green chilie (canned), which I diced up. It gave it a slightly hot flavor, which we liked. After I made this, I placed everything into a bowl which was on top of a scale and weight it. It came to 2lb, 5 ounces, which divided, came to 6.16 per 6 servings. Oh, I didn't have 1.5 pounds of beef (I had 1.13), so I added turkey sausage (Shady Farm brand) to make up the difference. Again, delicious!

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    15. Thanks Monica!!! Very creative using turkey sausage and chili peppers. Probably tasted close to a chili!

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    16. No, not really a chili taste, but still delicious! Next time I may add sliced mushrooms to help fill the meal.

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    17. Don’t mind my drooling thank you very much. lol

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    18. Gina, I love your blog!

      I made this last night and served it with your Scallion Cilantro Rice with Habaneros and Lime (substituted serranos and white onion for scallions and habaneros) and it was DELICIOUS! I really enjoyed making it. It was very flavorful. Thank you for the great recipe!

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    19. We love picadillo in my house! Great in tacos as well. It's so easy to make, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

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    20. Eating this right now and it is SO GOOD! I accidentally chopped a jalapeno for the 1/2 pepper, and then realized and added the bell pepper as well. There's a tiny bit of added zing from the jalapeno, and I love it! Can't wait to use leftovers for stuffed peppers :)

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    21. @Sarah, I've never thought of adding jalapeño, although not traditional, I'm sure it's good!

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    22. Can you use Goya Sofrito in the jar or is it better to make the sofrito fresh?

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    23. Fresh is always best but you can use it from the jar if you wish. Saves time!

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    24. Gina, I will be making this tomorrow! I cannot wait. Being Puerto Rican its a must to try this. I will be using it to make the empanadas.

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    25. This is great. I seriously make this once a week because it's easy and everyone loves it in my house!

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    26. I am making this tonight for the first time. I had never heard of it prior to reading your recipe. I'm excited to try it!

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    27. I am new to the site (which FYI - I AM IN LOVE WITH), but this recipe does not have the new Points+ or nutrition information. I know it is old, but I was hoping you could help :-)

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    28. I put this recipe in the Weight Watchers online recipe builder as written. The recipe builder calculates points based on ingredients and number of servings. The points plus total as written with six servings calculated was five.

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    29. I made this tonight, and I'm gonna attempt chiles rellenos tomorrow night with the leftovers. I also may do a few empanadas if I have enough left!

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    30. I just made this last night, and it was delicious. I'm not sure it tasted quite like the stuff I've gotten at a Cuban restaurant before; it almost had more of a sloppy joe flavor, but still very good. It was great with a side of rice and also on a bun as a sloppy joe. All your recipes that I've tried have been real winners. Thanks!

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    31. Hi! I wanted to use 93% lean beef instead of 95%, so I used WW Recipe Creator to see the difference in points. The odd thing is it's showing me that this is only 4 points plus per serving which doesn't make sense as you're listing at six points plus. Are you getting 6 points plus when you put it in the WW recipe creator? Thanks!

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    32. You're right, I had an error in the amount of servings when I calculated. It's 4 points plus :)

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    33. First, I love your blog.

      Second, my husband made this for dinner tonight. DELICIOUS!

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    34. Thanks you, we love this in my home!

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    35. Hi, I'd like to try and make your recipe this weekend but where do you find the brine?

      thanks

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    36. That's just the liquid from the olives.

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    37. Oh whoops, thank you!! Can't wait to try it. I've tried a few of your recipes and loved them all!!

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    38. It is fantastic! The men were eating the left over meat mixture directly out of the pan - they couldn't help themselves, hahaha!

      This makes wonderful omlettes the next morning, too. Topped with some of your pico de gallo and a touch of reduced fat cheese :)

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    39. What's in the photo behind the tostones?

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    40. White rice, terrible photo I guess!!

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    41. Made this recipe last night and it was delish! I was in a time crunch so I used the Goya store bought Sofrito and it worked great. I add cubed potatoes to my picadillo which is great too. I don't care for capers so I just use green olives and the brine. It's so hard to find Latin food recipes that are slimmed down and as a Latin food lover, your sight is greatly appreciated, thanks!!!

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    42. Yummy, I made this for lunch today with brown rice and tostones. I really love food with great flavor and this fit the bill. Thank you so much for sharing, I love what you do.

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