Easy Cuban Beef Picadillo

Cuban beef picadillo is the ultimate comfort food, and it is ready and on the table in 30 minutes. Enjoy the tasty one-pan meal as-is, or use the ground beef mixture as a filling for casseroles, soup, or pastries like empanadas. 

What is Beef Picadillo?

Picadillo, pronounced [pi-kuh-di-yo], is a traditional dish in the Philippines, Caribbean, and Latin America. While the spices and some ingredients vary by region, the building blocks are mostly the same.

• Cuban picadillo recipes typically include capers, green olives, and wine. 
• Puerto Rican picadillo features raisins.
• You will find potatoes and other vegetables like peas in Mexican-style picadillo.
• Picadillo has more broth in the Philippines, and they serve it over rice.  

For another variation, try Mexican picadillo con papas or picadillo soup!

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Olive Oil: Saute the onions, bell pepper, and garlic in olive oil.
• Sofrito: I prepare a quick homemade sofrito made with onions, bell pepper, and garlic. You can also purchase store-bought sofrito to avoid all the chopping.
• Tomato Paste: Adding a spoonful of tomato paste intensifies the flavor and deepens the color of the dish.
• Ground Beef: Picadillo means minced in English, so take your time mincing the beef. You can do this with a spatula, but I recommend using a meat chopper. I use ground beef for this recipe, but you can replace it with chicken or turkey. 
• Tomatoes: I use a can of diced tomatoes, but you can use three Roma tomatoes.
• Chicken Broth: For added flavor, include chicken broth for the ground beef to absorb as it simmers.  
• Red Cooking Wine: I use red cooking wine to boost the flavor, but you can replace it with more chicken broth.
• Spices: Flavor the dish with sazon, ground cumin, dried oregano, salt, and black pepper.
• Potatoes: Potatoes aren’t a traditional ingredient in Cuban beef picadillo, but I like to add them to make it a complete meal. Use one large potato or two smaller potatoes cut into 1-inch pieces.

Additions and Substitutions

I love how customizable the picadillo is. Here are some suggestions to customize ingredients based on your family’s taste.

• Use ground pork, turkey, chicken, or a plant-based alternative. Many Cuban homestyle recipes also include chorizo, along with ground beef. Adding hard-boiled eggs is a common practice in Peru and the Dominican Republic.
• Some regional recipes prioritize a sweeter flavor by stirring sugar, honey, or raisins into the ground beef mixture.
• Try salty capers in place of green olives. 

Expert Tips

• We make homemade sofrito using traditional Cuban ingredients to create the foundation for the dish.
• Cut the potatoes into 1-inch pieces to ensure they cook at the same rate.

Searching for More Like This? 

If you love this recipe, try one of these dinner favorites!  

Boliche (Cuban Pot Roast)

Sudado De Pollo

Instant Pot Pozole Rojo

Instant Pot Ropa Vieja

Serving Suggestions

• Rice: Yellow Rice, White Rice, Cilantro-Lime Rice, Quinoa, Brown Rice
• Beans: Moro, Black Refried Beans
• Appetizers: Air Fried Plantains

What to do With the Leftovers

• Refrigerate – Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4-5 days.
• Freeze – Let the dish cool and transfer leftovers to a freezer-safe container or bag. Beef picadillo freezes for up to 3 months.
• Reheat – Warm the leftovers on the stovetop or in the microwave.
• Repurpose – Use the leftovers to fill casseroles, empanadas, quesadillas, or tacos. You can also remove the potatoes and add the filling to papa rellenos.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Ground Beef Recipes:

• Vegetable Beef Soup
• Homemade Tacos with Ground Beef
• Ground Beef Lettuce Wraps

Easy Cuban Beef Picadillo

Tressa Jamil

Cuban beef picadillo is the ultimate comfort food and it's ready in 30 minutes. The tasty one-pan meal is versatile and delivers a ton of flavor! 

5 from 5 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Cuban

Servings 6 Servings

Calories 271 kcal

Equipment

• Saute Pan or Skillet
• Meat Chopper

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 white onion, finely diced
• 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 packet sazon seasoning, coriander and annatto
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes, 14-ounce
• 1 cup chicken broth
• ¼ cup red cooking wine
• 2 potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces (1 large potato or 2 small potatoes)
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 cup green olives with pimento,
• 1 tablespoon green olive brine

Instructions

 

• Warm oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions, red bell pepper, and garlic. Cook until the onions soften and become translucent, for about 10 minutes. Then, stir in the tomato paste and cook for 30 seconds.
• Add the ground beef, breaking it up with a meat chopper until minced. Cook until brown and heated through. Then, nestle the potatoes into the mixture.
• Stir in the sazon, cumin powder, oregano, salt, and black pepper. Continue cooking for another minute.
• Deglaze the pan with diced tomatoes, chicken broth, and red cooking wine. Add the bay leaves, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Then, remove the lid and add the olives. Continue cooking for 5 minutes.

Notes

Expert Tips: 

• We make homemade sofrito using traditional Cuban ingredients to create the foundation for the dish.
• Cut the potatoes into 1-inch pieces to ensure they cook at the same rate.

Nutrition Disclosure:

• The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for professional advice.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 Serving | Calories: 271 kcal | Carbohydrates: 19 g | Protein: 18 g | Fat: 14 g | Sodium: 1025 mg | Fiber: 3 g | Sugar: 5 g

Did you make this recipe? Let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and follow @thejamilghar or tag #thejamilghar on Instagram!