Cuban Picadillo recipe is my family’s favorite! It’s really quick and easy to make, a delicious recipe for ground beef.
Cuban Picadillo
Cuban PicadilloGrowing up, this was one of my favorite dishes to eat that my Mom made all the time. She learned it from a Cuban friend who was more like a grandma to me. My friends loved eating over on the nights my mom had this on the menu. I have so many different versions of this recipe on my blog, like this Slow Cooker Picadillo, Instant Pot Picadillo, and Turkey Picadillo when I want a lighter meal. It really is a favorite!
How to Serve Picadillo
I make picadillo a few times a month and make enough so we have leftovers. It’s perfect for meal prep because it’s so quick and easy to make. Plus, there are so many great ways to eat the leftovers that you won’t get tired of eating the same meal all week. Below are some of my favorites, but leave a comment if you come up with another way to serve it!
- Empanadas made in the air fryer
- Picadillo Quesadillas
- Slow Cooker Picadillo Stuffed Peppers
- Serve this as tacos or tostadas with red onions and shredded cheddar cheese
- Rice bowl with a quick cabbage slaw and avocado or over cauliflower rice for a low-carb option
- Served as a main with sweet plantains or air fryer tostones on the side
- Add the meat to scrambled eggs and top with hot sauce
- Taco Bell-style mexi melt with cheese, and pico de gallo
You can refrigerate the leftovers for four days or freeze it for up to six months.
Variations:
- If you’re not a fan of cilantro, omit it.
- Swap ground beef for ground turkey or chicken.
- Use capers if you don’t like green olives.
- Add some diced potato.
- Add raisins to make it more traditional.
More Cuban-inspired Recipes You’ll Love:
- Quick and Delicioso Cuban Style Black Beans
- Instant Pot Garlicky Cuban Pork
- Cubano Chicken
- Arroz Congri (Cuban Rice and Black Beans)
- Cuban Sandwich Quesadilla
Cuban Picadillo
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 tomato sauce, 1/2 can
- kosher salt
- fresh ground pepper
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1-2 dried bay leaves
- 2 tbsp pitted green olives or alcaparrado, capers would work too
Instructions
- Brown meat on high heat 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 to the meat and continue cooking on a low heat. Add olives or alcaparrado and about 2 to 4 tbsp of the brine (the juice from the olives, 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 20 minutes.
Love this recipe! I don’t see the WW points on this one?
My family loves this recipe! I make this first and use leftovers for empanadas!
Just made this. It tastes great. Question – it the dish supposed to be “wet”? I would have thought the liquid would have evaporated when I let it simmer for 20 minutes but it didn’t. Did I do something incorrect? Thanks.
Yes, it’s best over rice
I made this today using ground turkey. I absolutely love this recipe! Made it just as written but added a bit of crushed red pepper flakes! This has been a favorite of mine for years when we go for Cuban food! I’ll definitely make this again!
This was so delicious and super easy!!
I omitted cilantro and added a bit of diced cooked potato. Served with yellow rice for non dieters and cauliflower rice for dieters. Everyone loved it
What type of pepper? Jalapeño? Anaheim?Â
how much capers does this recipe call for?
how much capers does this recipe call for? and when do we add the potatoes if we choose to add it? steps? thank you.
2 tbsp pitted green olives or alcaparrado, capers would work too.
Is the cilantro supposed to be cooked with the recipe, or added fresh on top? The picture indicates its fresh, but the recipes indicates it should be cooked?
Cook- add with the onion mixture and of course you can garnish with as well if you wish.
Really tasty and easy! Followed the recipe but swapped petite diced tomatoes with their juice, almost a full can, instead of the tomato and the sauce because I didn’t have them. Fantastic!
How much ground beef?
1 and 1/2 pounds
We love serving the Picadillo over baked potatoes! Delicious!!!
Yum!
So good and fantastic as leftovers! I’ve made quesadillas with the leftovers and this morning I scrambled eggs right in with them (like I sometimes do with chorizo).Â
I pulled the last of this out of the freezer for tonight and am planning to cook a batch of this next week. I like the idea of the baking soda, I’ll try it! I am not an olive or a capers person, but the last time I made this, I added some diced pepperoncini. It probably was not the same effect, but it gave it a nice twist, we really liked it, thanks for a great recipe!Â
Baking soda?????
This was sooooooo good! I can’t wait to try it in a quesadillas. Thank you so much for all the mean plans and amazing recipes.
Great recipe! It is much better cooked on the stove as opposed to a slow cooker. For tender ground beef I mix 1/2 teaspoon baking soda with the beef, massage it in and let stand about 10 minutes. While I was skeptical about it the first time I tried it , I found that it does make a difference.
Thanks for another wonderful recipe.
I made this last night. It was big hit. I used manzanilla olives because I didn’t have the mentioned olives on hand. I did add 1 tablespoon of capers as well. With the rest of the tomato sauce, I cooked minute rice in it (along with some water to make up the fluid amount). I will be making this again. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Could this be made with impossible burger meat?Â
Sure
My very first Skinny Taste recipe. I’ve wanted to try it for years and finally I did it. So did my family. I will be doubling every time I make this. Thank you.Â
Your recipes are consistently good but this one… omg I could have eaten what was left by myself.  The olives and brine are the keys to the delicious flavor.  This one is going on my menu rotation.Â
Yes, agree its essential, so glad you enjoyed it!
I made this with ground turkey and half cauliflower rice, half brown rice. It was very good!