Cuban picadillo

Cuban picadillo recipe – A delicious, slow cooker Caribbean ground beef hash stewed in tomato sauce with an abundance of regional Latin American spices. 

I remember the first time I tried this Cuban picadillo recipe, it was when I visited Cuba a few years ago. They say the best food to eat is outside of the tourist area and this definitely rings true. Even though part of my heritage is Cuban, I don’t know a great deal about that side of my family so in some respects I feel like I’m on the outside looking in. Latin American food is a new learning curve for me, but one that I enjoy immensely.

What is Cuban picadillo

Cuban picadillo is a hash cuisine made from ground meat – pork, beef or turkey. The generously seasoned is slow cooked in tomato sauce and wine with capers, olives and raisins. The flavours are bold and unforgettable if I do say so myself so stick around if you want to make the best Cuban picadillo recipe.

 Picadillo is actually a Spanish cuisine that was brought to the Spanish colonies including Puerto Rico. Similar to the other Caribbean islands, each island has their own version of how to make this wonderful dish.

How to make Cuban picadillo 

This is a Cuban style picadillo which has its own adaptation to suit. Keep in mind these are modifications that don’t stray too far away from the traditional recipe and using ingredients that you will most likely have in your pantry/spice rack.

Sofrito is a must – As with many Latin American dishes, sofrito which is an aromatic sauce consisting of bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, garlic and herbs form the base of almost any dish. The softrito will need to be prepped before browning the ground beef.

Adobo seasoning

What really gives this Cuban style recipe a kick, along with the sofrito is adobo seasoning which I have included below. Adobo seasoning is a combination of commonly used Latin American herbs/spice including garlic, cumin and oregano.

Although most picadillo recipes tend to use individual herb and spices as opposed to pre-blended seasoning I found a few tablespoons of the homemade adobo seasoning really helped to deepen the flavour.

Adobo seasoning mix –

• 2 teaspoons himalayan pink salt,
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

Cuban picadillo without the wine

Red or white wine is added near towards the final stage of cooking, I rarely cook food with alcohol, it’simply a personal decision.

More often than not I’ve found grape juice is a really good foolproof substitute and in this case I successfully used red grape juice. I feel that by not using alcohol keeps the recipe in the constricts of what a healthy picadillo should be.

If alcohol isn’t an issue with you that’s perfectly okay, simply go ahead and use as per instructions.

What to serve Cuban style picadillo with

• Potato
• Black beans
• Rice
• Plantain

More healthy latin recipes

• Dominican mangu
• Arroz con coco
• Cuban black bean soup

Cuban Picadillo – Watch the video!!

How to make picadillo (with pictures)

Season the minced beef with the adobe dry rub then heat coconut oil in a skillet along with the bay leaves, garlic and onion and sautee

Proceed to slowly incorporate all of the beef into the skillet and brown.

Once seared, add the green bell peppers, tomato and the rest of the herbs.

Finally add the olives/capers, raisins and grape juice before leaving to simmer.

 

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