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 (paleo option)
- Cuban black beans (gluten free)
- Rice (gluten free)
- Plantain (gluten free, keto)
- Vegetables (keto, gluten free)
More healthy latin recipes you may like
- Dominican mangu
- Arroz con coco
- Cuban black bean soup
- Besitos de coco(vegan coconut macaroons)
- Moros y cristianos
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. This are the ingredients to form the sofrito.
Finally add the olives/capers, raisins and grape juice before leaving to simmer.
Cuban picadillo
Learn to make the best Picadillo recipe – paleo, gluten free
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main entree
- Cuisine: Caribbean
Ingredients
- 1 lb of minced beef (washed)(grass fed if possible)
- Adobo seasoning (see post, use all)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 small can of chopped tomatoes
- 1/3 cup of olives or capers
- 1/2 cup of raisins
- 1/2 cup of red grape juice (see post, can use red wine)
- 2 tsp parsley (optional)
- 3 tbsp coconut oil (can use olive oil if you prefer)
Instructions
- Start by placing the ground meat in a large bowl. Use your hands to work in the adobo seasoning. Really work the dry rub in by breaking down the slab of minced beef then set aside. Melt the coconut oil in a large skillet/pan on medium heat, then add the onions, garlic and bay leaf and sautee for 1 minute.
- Add the beef and proceed to seal and brown the meat with the other ingredients. This should take 4-5 minutes.
- Once the meat has darkened add the green bell pepper then pour in the chopped tomato and evenly coat the minced beef in the sauce.
- Sprinkle the cumin, oregano and parsley into the pan and stir.
- Add the raisins and olives to the pan again, giving another good stir.
- Finally pour the red grape juice to the entire pan and bring to a rolling boil before reducing the flame to low.
- Cover the pan with lid and simmer for 15-20 minutes (checking periodically).
- Serve accordingly
Nutrition
- Calories: 460
- Fat: 259
- Carbohydrates: 29g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 25g
I made picadillo years ago. But it’s time to do it again with THIS recipe. Love that you included the bonus recipe of homemade Adobo!
You are SO welcome Serena.
Oh man that looks so tasty! I love Latin spices and you have really done a nice job incorporating them!
Thank you Beth 😉
This looks so flavorful and healthy! My kind of meal!!
Thank you!
We are huge fans of cuban flavors! Love the combo in this dish!
Yay!! Happy to have you on board 😉
This looks and sounds really wonderful! How fun that you’ve travelled to Cuba. I’d love to take a weekend trip once they start flying there!
Thank you! I highly recommend visiting, it’s a historical beauty.
Just stumbled across your site and I love it! You have great recipes and this one looks so yummy!
Thank you so much Brianne
SIGN THIS GIRL UPPPP! YUMMMM!
★★★★★
Thank you!
I don’t usually leave comments, but thus recipe was so good, I had to say thank you! I will make a double batch next time. I used low sodium chicken stock instead of grape juice (because that is my usual substitution for wine and I didn’t have grape juice). So delicious! Thanks again.
★★★★★
Thank you so much Stefanie
where does the sofrito come in? I don’t see where it is added or listed in the ingredients.
The sofrito are what form the base ingredients that are sauteed at the first stages of the recipe. That’s the onion, garlic, bell peppers and tomato.
I made this last night and the whole family LOVED it! I sauteed the onions, peppers and garlic together before adding the meat. I omited the raisins (not allowed on my diet) and used capers instead of olives. Subbed beef broth for the wine and it was devine!! I will be making this regularly!! I thought the adobo made too much seasoning but I used it all like you said and so glad I did. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Karen. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe even with your own modifications, sounds really tasty. I’m happy to hear you were able to follow the recipe instructions in respect to your initial question about the sofrito and enjoyed the finishing result.