This post is also available in Spanish
Picadillo Cubano is a simple, but satisfying popular Cuban dish. I like it because it’s easy to prepare and tastes brilliant. The flavors of this dish are incredibly intense and rich. You’ll just have to go and make it yourself to see what I mean.
You’ll love every bite of this dish, I promise.
Buen provecho!
Ingredients
(About 4-6 servings)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 pound ground beef
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, crushed
- Salt and pepper, to your taste
- 1 cup of tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
- 1 cup of white wine
- 1/2 cup of stuffed Spanish olives, cut in half
- 1/3 cup of raisins
Directions
- Place a sauce pan on medium-high heat and add the olive oil.
- Add the beef and brown, stirring occasionally, then add the cumin, oregano, bay leaf, onion, bell pepper, garlic and season with salt and pepper.Cook for about 10 minutes more.
- Add the tomato sauce, white wine, olives and raisins. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring often.
- Remove the bay leaf and serve over plain white rice.
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This was printed from MyColombianRecipes.com
Comments
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Chris says
This may be simple but it sounds so delicious! Great post Erica.
Lori says
Not all Cubans put raisins in their Picadillo. It depended on what area of Cuba one was from. Some others would cut up potatoes like french fries & then dice them and fries them.and too the Picadillo & Rice with the Little Fries!
Jenn and Seth (@HomeSkilletCook) says
i have some leftover ground beef from our 4th of july party – and now i know what to do with it 🙂 sounds so tasty!
Amber @ The Cook's Sister says
What an interesting combination of flavours! I would not have thought to combine olives and raisins in the same dish. Looks fantastic!
Miriam says
All of the flavors in this make it magical 🙂
Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters
Belinda @zomppa says
Brilliant is a great description.
Brandy says
Do you think I could throw all of this in a crockpot for a couple hours & really let the flavors meld? Sounds yummy!
Erica says
Great idea!
Ricardo says
I think letting the flavors (and textures) meld would detract from all the variety of tart and sweet and spicy and acidic and starchy. Yum!
Juliana says
Wow Erica, such a tasty dish…
Have a wonderful weekend 🙂
Joanne says
I’ve made a vegetarian version of picadillo before with lentils instead of beef! Love the flavor profile.
Ang says
You can also use soyrizo and vegan ground beef
Diane says
love this recipe! especially with yellow rice and black beans!
Joanne, thanks for the lentil version
Heydel says
Diane, I see people say things like that all the time but, in Cuba we never mix yellow rice with beans. We found that kind of weird. just FYI. thnx
Jen says
Made this yesterday. It is TO DIE FOR!!!
Norma-Platanos, Mangoes and Me! says
I also use it for empanadas….love your version…
Salazar says
Hola Erica – Lo prepare anoche, quedo delicioso. Muchas gracias por estas recetas.
Anne says
I learned how to make picadillo from my Cuban college roommate back in the 60s. I’d forgotten how good it is and made it for dinner tonight. Big hit and great recipe.
Veronica says
I made it the other day and it was supper good!!! Thank you for sharing!!!
Anonymous says
where is the tomato paste in the recipe?
Susan
Ang says
Add it with the tomato sauce and wine
Rose says
I didn’t have raisins or olives but made the recipe with the remaining ingredients. My husband loved it! He had a second helping and then packed the leftovers for lunch the next day. Thank you for sharing!
Ruby Hume says
This is delicious. I’ve made it so many times with Arroz con Coco, avocado and sweet plantains or patacones. Uhmmmm…. just like my Mom’s.
Miriam says
Hello Erica,
I have been looking for something like this recipe for ages! thank you!
could you please clarify; stuffed olives- what are they stuffed with (is it pimiento rojo) and also the tomato sauce – do you mean ketchup or is it liquidized tomato or tomate frito?
Many thanks and looking forward to trying this recipe
Miriam xx
Erica Dinho says
Green olives stuffed with pimento and it’s not ketchup…..you can find tomato sauce next to canned tomatoes at the grocery store.
Julie warner says
I would like to try this recipe but I don’t have the wine can you use beef broth and serve the wine? Thanks Julie
Erica Dinho says
Yes.
Ashley says
You can also make it all with out white wine. I grew up knowing my grandparents never use white wine in the traditional Cuban style Picadillo good luck with it. 🙂
Richard says
Very good, no white wine decided to mix red wine and water. Add 1 tbs of capers . Too good, trop bon
Elizabeth Innaco says
I read all the reviews but I was wondering after you saute olive oil with the ground beef do you drain the excess oil out from the
ground beef? If not won’t it taste greasy?? Would love to make this
recipe, will wait for your reply first.
Thank you
Richard says
I ground my beef so I use only extra lean beef.
Chris says
I thought it might as well. It tasted fantastic without draining and I used 80% lean ground beef. Certainly its higher in fat, but its the carbs that get you in trouble no? 😉
Whatever the case it did not seem overly fatty/oily to me, especially when served over rice. Just rich and deeply flavorful with a much subtler meld of tastes than I would expect from ingredients like green olives and raisins.
Victoria says
Why raisins?feeding finicky eaters…if they can see the raisins, may get wierd-ed out?
Zandra says
I grew up on this since I’m Cuban. But the only thing I leave out are the raisins, Not a fan.
Kristen says
This might be stupid but when do I put the tomato paste in?
Richard says
Step 3
Chuck says
Very delicious meal..thanks for sharing it tool me back to Miami where I used to get this meal frequently from Cuban restaurant’s and the taste was spot on!
Ajit says
very nice recipe.
great idea!
LKCooker says
I found it rather bland and tripled or more the cumin, oregano and pepper. The best bites are the ones with a combo of olives and raisins, so don’t skimp.
Sue says
Attracted to the recipe because of the green olives which I love and am always looking to use in cooking. I hesitated and decided to cut the recipe in half since I was just cooking for hubby and me. Problem was I forgot to halve the tomato sauce and wine. I left it simmering uncovered until the extra liquid reduced and it was wonderful! We ate it with cauliflower rice (we are watching carbs) and black beans and it was delicious!
Jorge Como says
Used to eat it growing up my Cuban born stepfather used to make it sometimes and other times mofongo or black beans and rice mixed or separate
Jakub says
Is there a possibility that I could make this and it still turn out great if I skip the wine, and sub the tomato paste for ketchup? I ran it by my food safety & nutrition teacher who said it would probably still be good but she’s also never made it.
Jorge Como says
Just looked up a meal to make using groundbeef following directions but missing bayleaf and white wine but making up for it except bl put some a shot of hot damn and a corner of Hennessey to make up for wine tastes good and hot waiting for the white rice to get done
Karma says
Picadillo is one of my favorite dishes. But I have a question: I’ve looked at the directions and can’t see this anywhere. What is the tablespoon of tomato paste for?
Janice Hull says
This was a smashing hit with my family. I omitted the raisins, not much of a raisin person. I shared some with my coworkers and everyone wanted the recipe.
Rosemary says
Could you use yellow raisins instead of dark?
Cathy says
Delicious recipe and a family hit (kids normally don’t eat anything with onions and peppers). This is also a great empanada filling with cheese, ah-mazing!!!
Rocky Butler says
Thanks for the recipe, just started cooking because of the covid virus. Can no longer take wife out for Friday night. So I guess it’s up to me to make something happen. This meal worked out great, I and everyone else no loved it …
Vivian says
Have someone who cannot have rice. could I sub.
Orzo or egg noodles instead?
Erica Dinho says
Yes
K says
My friend with Cuban parents got me eating this! Their recipe adds a chopped tart apple and a pinch of thyme. And I add sliced black olives (Kalamata when I can find them. I make nachos, tacos or quesadillas with it. It’s always a huge hit!
Thank you!
Amber says
This turned out great! I was craving picadillo and this came out exactly like what I was looking for. As for the salt & pepper “to taste” I used 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper and it was perfect. My fiancé said it was delicious as well. It’s just the two of us but I am SO glad that we have leftovers haha. Thank you!
Taharra says
Can I add diced potatoes to it?
Erica Dinho says
Yes