This Cuban picadillo is made with ground beef that’s cooked in tomato sauce and flavored with aromatics, herbs and spices. It’s a simple dish that's easy to make and uses affordable, easy to find ingredients. This is a great weeknight meal, especially when time and money are little tight.
In this recipe we go all out and add little fried potatoes to the picadillo. Many folks add raisins and capers for that sweet and salty taste combination. We stick with Spanish olives for that salty bite and leave out the raisins altogether.
This is my version of Cuban picadillo, it’s a family favorite for sure. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Oh, and if you have leftovers, make baked beef empanadas.
Ingredients
- 2 Medium Russet Potatoes, cut into ¼ - ½ inch cubes (or 1 large potato about 10-12 ounces total)
- Canola Oil for frying, enough to cover the bottom of a skillet by about ½ inch
- 1 teaspoon Salt, plus a pinch or two, divided
- ½ teaspoon Dried Oregano
- ¼ teaspoon Cumin
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion, finely diced
- 1 Large Carrot, small dice
- 2-3 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 1 pound Lean Ground Beef, we used ground chuck
- ¼ cup White Wine
- 8 ounce Can Tomato Sauce
- ¼ cup Water
- ½ cup Pitted Spanish Olives, whole or sliced in half
Prep work
There’s not a lot of time in between adding the ingredients for this picadillo so it’s best to have everything ready to go before you start.
- Make a seasoning mix: combine the salt, dried oregano, cumin, and black pepper in a small bowl.
- Dice the onions and carrots. They will go into the skillet at the same time, so keep them in the same bowl.
- Then, mince the garlic.
- Next, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Measure out the wine, water, olives, olive oil and open the can of tomato sauce.
- The final step, peel the potatoes and dice them into ¼ to ½ inch pieces. Keep them covered with cold water if you’re not going to fry them right away. Keeping peeled, cut potatoes in cold water slows down the browning process. Just remember to drain really well before adding them to hot oil.
Fry the potatoes
Start with frying the potatoes. They go in at the end, but frying always requires your undivided attention. The potatoes will keep just fine, draining on paper towels while you make the picadillo. The tough part here is preventing your family from sneaking a few potatoes while your back is turned.
- Cover the bottom of a large skillet with about ½ inch of canola oil. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Test the oil by adding a couple of potatoes. If they start sizzling and the oil starts bubbling, it’s ready.
- Fry the potatoes until they’re golden and cooked through. This will take about 10 minutes, stir them frequently while turning to brown on both sides.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the potatoes from the skillet and place them on a sheet pan or plate lined with a paper-towel to drain. Sprinkle them with a pinch of salt.
How to make Cuban picadillo
- Heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet (preferably non-stick) over medium heat. When the oil is hot, but nowhere near smoking, add the onions and carrots.
- Cook the vegetables for 5 minutes until the onions are translucent, stirring frequently. Next, add the garlic and stir well to combine. Continue cooking for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
- Raise the heat to medium-high and add the ground beef and the prepared seasoning mix (1 teaspoon salt, oregano, cumin and black pepper) to the skillet. Stir, while breaking up any large pieces using a wooden spoon or a spatula.
- Cook the beef for approximately 5 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally.
- Add the white wine to the skillet. Stir and gently scrape any bits off the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking for 1-2 minutes until most of the liquid cooks out.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and add the tomato sauce, water and olives to the picadillo and stir well to combine.
- Cover the skillet and cook the picadillo for approximately 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep the picadillo at a simmer, if the liquid is boiling too vigorously, lower the heat a bit. You don’t want it to dry out; we want it a little bit saucy!
- Now, lower the heat to low and add the fried potatoes to the beef. Cover the skillet and cook another 10-15 minutes to allow the flavors to develop and combine. Once the potatoes are in, stir the picadillo gently so they don’t tear.
- Taste and add salt, if needed. As a reference, we did not add any extra to ours. Here we serve the picadillo with white rice and fried sweet plantains.
Variations and substitutions
- If you’re in a hurry and want to cut some of the cooking time, skip the fried potatoes.
- If you like raisins and a sweet and salty taste combination, add about 2 tablespoons of raisins to the picadillo. Add them in right before covering.
- Along with (or instead of) green olives, you can add capers. Just don’t add too many, they taste strong. A tablespoon should do it. Add them in right before covering.
- If you’re cutting down on red meat, try our turkey picadillo recipe that's super flavorful! Use a lean ground turkey but not turkey breast.
Frequently asked questions
Ideally, you want to use ground meat that has a low fat content. But, not totally lean so you can get some flavor in there! Try for around 85-90% lean 10-15% fat. Good choices include: Ground sirloin – 90-92% lean to 8-10% fat, Ground round – 85-90% lean to 10-15 % fat, Ground chuck – 80-85% lean to 15-20% fat.
Traditional side dishes served with picadillo include white rice and sweet plantains or green plantains. It's also delicious with mashed potatoes.
If you like this recipe try these other Cuban classics:
📖 Recipe
Cuban Picadillo
Ingredients
- 2 Medium Russet Potatoes peeled and cut into ¼ - ½ inch cubes (or 1 large potato about 10-12 ounces total)
- Canola Oil for frying enough to cover the bottom of a skillet by about ½ inch
- 1 teaspoon Salt plus a pinch or two, divided
- ½ teaspoon Dried Oregano
- ¼ teaspoon Cumin
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper or to taste
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion finely diced
- 1 Large Carrot small dice
- 2-3 Garlic Cloves minced
- 1 pound Lean Ground Beef
- ¼ cup White Wine
- 8 ounce Can Tomato Sauce
- ¼ cup Water
- ½ cup Pitted Spanish Olives
Instructions
- Cover the bottom of a large skillet with about ½ inch of the canola oil. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the potatoes and fry until golden and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Stir frequently to brown on all sides.
- Remove the potatoes from the skillet and place them on a pan or plate lined with a paper-towel to drain. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
- Heat the olive oil in a large, deep, non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots to the skillet. Cook the vegetables for 5 minutes until the onions are translucent, stirring frequently.
- Add the garlic, stir well to combine. Cook 1 minute, stirring frequently.
- Raise the heat to medium-high, add the ground beef, 1 teaspoon salt, oregano, cumin and black pepper. Stir well while breaking up the meat using a wooden spoon or a spatula. Cook the beef for about 5 minutes to brown, stirring occasionally.
- Add the white wine and cook for 1-2 minutes until most of the liquid evaporates.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and add the tomato sauce, water and olives, stir to combine.
- Cover the picadillo and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep the picadillo at a simmer, if the liquid is boiling vigorously, lower the heat a bit.
- Lower the heat to low and add the potatoes to the picadillo, cover and cook another 10-15 minutes to allow the flavors to develop and combine, stirring occasionally.
- Taste the picadillo and add salt, if needed. As a reference we did not add extra salt to ours.
Nutrition
The nutritional information above is computer generated and is only an estimate. There is no guarantee that it is accurate. This data is provided as a courtesy for informational purposes only.
Cassandra
I made this tonight with ground chicken, cause that's what i had defrosted and it was sooo good. I added more oregano and a couple shakes of dried thyme and a bit of the olive juice instead of adding salt (same thing right.lol) but it was soo good. Definitely a new staple in my household.
Gail Debardeleben
I do add golden. Raisins and bay leaves with sazon pkg.
To the sauce...huge hit everytime..
Thank you
Julie
I'm Cuban I've never heard of adding carrots to Cuban picadillo.
Elizabeth
Hi Julie,
It is unconventional. I use carrots instead of bell peppers. They mimic the sweetness in the peppers without overtaking the other flavors like peppers can do. It's just the way I do it. Thanks for stopping by!
Greg Divine
I made this tonight for dinner and everyone absolutely loved it ! I didn’t have ground beef so I used ground turkey and it was still wonderful. I’ll make this again without a doubt and next time I’ll use beef . Excellent recipe and I’m so glad you shared it with us. Now I’m going to pick another recipe of yours to make next . Once again it was outstanding Elizabeth!
Elizabeth
Hi Greg,
Thank you for your kind words. Ground turkey is a great substitute for beef, I use it often. I'm happy to hear you all enjoyed it!
Nicky
I added peas and next time I’d add golden raisins. Good recipe!
Erica
We’re team raisins so we added some to ours!! Yummy!!
Elizabeth
Glad you enjoyed it!
Emilie Wagar
When do we add the olives?
Elizabeth
Hi Emilie,
When you add the tomato sauce and water.
Rhonda
Yummy wish I could take a picture. I added capers too
Elizabeth
Hi Rhonda,
A lot of people add capers to picadillo they go great. Really glad you liked it! Thanks for stopping by.
Gigi
Looks yummy! This may be a dumb question, but what kind of potatoes do you use? Red?
Elizabeth
The potatoes need to be fried before they are added to the picadillo so it is best to use russet/Idaho potatoes.
Vicky Pino-Brito
Your recipes are the best. I love all your posts! Thank you so much!
Elizabeth Rodriguez
Thank you Vicky, that is very kind of you! I'm really glad you enjoy them!