Picadillo
What exactly is picadillo? This Mexican staple combines hearty ground beef with potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes to form a delicious, melt-in-your-mouth filling for any vehicle of your choosing.
This recipe is not only highly adaptable, but most of the cooking is hands-off. Just be sure to set a timer to check it every hour! It is a great way to sneak in vegetables for the picky eaters in your life, and it offers a large serving size with minimal ingredients. I hope you try it and find a new favorite dinner!
- 1 pound Ground beef
- 1 Yellow onion (diced)
- 1 Red bell pepper (diced)
- 1 White potato (diced)
- 4 cloves Garlic (minced)
- 8 ounces Tomato sauce
- 1 1/2 cup Beef broth
- 3 tablespoons Taco seasoning (or to taste; my favorite brand is Sugar N’ Spice Taco Mix)
- 2 Bay leaves
- Step 1
Heat a large, deep skillet over medium heat and cook the ground beef, breaking it up, until mostly brown. Drain the grease and return the beef to the pan.
- Step 2
Add the garlic, onion, bell pepper, potato, tomato sauce, beef broth, taco seasoning, and bay leaves to the skillet. Give it a good stir then cover and let cook on low for three hours. Check every hour to make sure there is enough liquid for it to cook down. If the liquid evaporates too quickly, continue to add ½ cups of water until it reaches the three-hour mark (you want it to be nice and melty).
- Step 3
Serve in tacos, burritos, salads, rice, or any other vehicle and enjoy!
Servings 6
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 252.3kcal
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 15.47g24%
- Saturated Fat 5.77g29%
- Cholesterol 53.67mg18%
- Sodium 602.65mg26%
- Potassium 543.55mg16%
- Total Carbohydrate 12.43g5%
- Dietary Fiber 1.89g8%
- Sugars 3.98g
- Protein 15.14g31%
- Vitamin C 31.06 mg
- Calcium 33.99 mg
- Iron 2.43 mg
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Adaptations
If you aren’t a fan of beef, consider substituting it with beyond meat, ground turkey, chicken, or even ground tofu. The cooking times will be different for these proteins, however, so make sure to keep a closer eye on it as you cook it down.
If you want to add even more veggies to this recipe, I have seen folks add zucchini, pumpkin, peas, and corn! Put about a cup of these veggies into the mixture and you’re set!
The tomatoes are also adaptable in this recipe. If you don’t have tomato sauce, you can use three Roma tomatoes (diced) or two to three tablespoons of tomato paste.