Mexican Picadillo is fast, flavorful, and filling. Ground beef and potatoes simmer in a savory tomato sauce for the perfect 30-minute dinner. Serve over rice with tortillas on the side.
Author’s notes
All About Picadillo (and Why You’ll Love This Version)
Picadillo is a classic dish found in many Latin American countries, including Mexico and Cuba, as well as the Philippines. It’s made with ground meat, tomatoes, and whatever extra ingredients are common in that region. You’ll usually see it served over rice or stuffed into things like tacos, empanadas, and pastries.
This Mexican-inspired Picadillo is packed with incredible flavors. Like I do in a lot of my ground beef recipes, I like to bulk it up with a few extra veggies to stretch the meat.
I love eating this right out of the skillet, but wrapped in a warm, charred tortilla? So good!
Picadillo Ingredients & Substitutions
The full recipe is below, but here are a few quick tips:
- Yellow onion, carrot, and green bell pepper: Dice small so they cook fast and evenly.
- Lean ground beef: Keeps the dish hearty without too much grease.
- Potatoes: No need to peel if using golds; just cut small and even so they cook through.
- Jalapeño and garlic: Leave out the seeds for less heat or keep them for more kick.
- Beef bouillon powder: Adds a great beefy flavor without extra broth.
- Crushed tomatoes: I love the flavor that fire-roasted tomatoes bring.
How To Make Picadillo (Tips)
- Season as you go: Salt makes the flavors pop, so season at every step.
- Spice: I start with less jalapeño, taste as it cooks, and add more later if needed.
- Cut potatoes small: They’ll cook faster and give that crispy outside, fluffy inside.
- Add broth if needed: If the dish starts to dry out before the potatoes are tender, add 1/4 cup more broth and lower the heat.
Variations
Fun Ways to Switch Up Picadillo:
- Change the potatoes: Swap gold potatoes for diced sweet potatoes (peel first!).
- Add more veggies: Toss in a cup of frozen sweet peas right at the end.
Serving Suggestions
I love loading Picadillo on a plate and scooping it up with a warm, ripped tortilla.
Other ideas:
- Serve over Mexican rice, cilantro-lime rice, or white rice.
- Stuff into tacos, gorditas, or empanadas.
- Scoop with corn tortilla chips for a fun dip.
Storage
Keep leftover Picadillo in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Warm it up in a pan over low heat. Add a little broth if it looks dry.
More Easy Dinner Recipes:
Picadillo
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup finely diced yellow onion 1 onion
- 1 cup finely diced carrot 2-3 large carrots
- 1 cup finely diced green bell pepper 1 green pepper
- 1 pound lean ground beef 93/7, or use ground turkey
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cups diced baby gold potatoes see note 1
- 1 tablespoon finely diced jalapeño add to taste
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon beef bouillon powder
- 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1-1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1-1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes or diced tomatoes
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 bay leaf
- Serving suggestions see note 2
Instructions
- Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add oil, onion, carrot, pepper, and a small pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté, stirring often, until veggies start to soften, about 8 minutes. Push veggies to the sides and add beef in the center. Season with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Cook, breaking up the meat, until mostly browned.
- Add tomato paste, diced potatoes, jalapeño, garlic, and all seasonings. Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.
- Lower heat to low. Pour in undrained tomatoes, chicken broth, and add the bay leaf. Scrape the bottom to release any browned bits. Press potatoes under the liquid, cover with a lid, and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove lid, stir, and increase heat to medium. Cook uncovered for another 10 minutes, or until potatoes are fork-tender and most of the liquid is absorbed (see note 3). Remove bay leaf. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Serve hot with flour tortillas and/or rice. Add lime wedges and fresh cilantro if desired.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was tasty. I found it to be more tomato-forward than I like, perhaps next time I would use just the tomato paste OR the canned tomatoes, and then thin with the chicken stock. I also like the potatoes to be a little smaller dice. I am excited to have a healthier picadillo recipe that I can tweak to my tastes, thank you for sharing!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed!! You absolutely can do that to lessen the tomato taste! Thanks for your comment Kimberly! 🙂
Delicious. Made as written and it was sooooo good. I can’t Remember the last time I cooked with ground turkey and it was so great in this recipe. I served it with rice. My daughter who normally doesn’t eat cooked veggies ate this and requested leftovers for lunch tomorrow. She has celiac disease so this is such a great nutritious meal for her and our family. Thank you.
I am so thrilled to hear this! Thanks Christina! 🙂