30 Minute Puerto Rican Style Picadillo

This 30 minute Puerto Rican style Picadillo is the perfect weeknight meal. Ground beef is cooked with traditional spices like adobo and sazon, colorful sofrito, pimento olives, and tomato sauce.

This popular dish takes ground beef and gives it that classic Puerto Rican flair with sofrito, lots of fresh veggies, and traditional spices. The result is a super rich and flavorful dish that is lick-your-plate addictive.

If you’ve tried many Puerto Rican recipes, you know Picadillo is super popular. Both as an entree, and as a main ingredient in recipes like these papas rellenas, piononos, pastelón, empanadillas and alcapurrias.

Ingredients

The Puerto Rican style Picadillo gets its name from the Spanish word Picar, which means to chop or mince. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:

• olive oil
• yellow onion, diced
• red bell pepper, diced
• sofrito (this can be homemade or store bought)
• ground beef (lean)
• sazon seasoning (this can be homemade or store bought)
• adobo seasoning (this can be homemade or store bought)
• bay leaves
• can of tomato sauce
• pimento stuffed olives, sliced in half
• water
• salt to taste
• cilantro to garnish

See recipe card for exact quantities.

Instructions

Tip: making your sofrito ahead of time makes this recipe come together even faster! It can be made up to a week in advance. Remember you can also buy it at the store or online.

Raisins & Potatoes in Picadillo?

Raisins and diced potatoes are traditional ingredients many Puerto Ricans like to include in their Picadillo.

While I’m not a huge fan of raisins in general, I can admit that they add a sweetness that can help to balance out all the richness from the ground beef. For me, the potatoes add a heaviness I’m not always a fan of.

If you like potatoes and/or raisins and you’re into the idea of adding them in this recipe, feel free to add a half a cup of the raisins in when you add the tomato sauce. The diced potatoes should be added with the onion and bell pepper.

What to Serve with Picadillo

The options for what to serve with your picadillo are truly endless. Here are some classic puerto Rican pairings:

• Rice – serve with a generous spoonful of warm rice and let the sauce do it’s thing!
• Tostones or Mofongo or Maduros – pairing your picadillo with plantains is about as Puerto Rican as it gets! Feel free to try one of my popular plantain recipes as a side to this savory dish.
• Pan de Agua – the Moroccan in me just loves a good bread and meat pairing, so this one makes me extra happy. Pan de Agua is really fun to make and makes an excellent vehicle for scooping up any leftover sauce on your plate.

If you have leftover picadillo or aren’t sure how to use it, there are also many traditional Puerto Rican recipes that use it as a filling.

Puerto Rican vs Cuban vs. Mexican vs. Filipino Picadillo

If you’re familiar with Picadillo, chances are you’ve noticed there are many different variations. This popular ground beef based dish has roots in countries all over the world from Cuba to Mexico, to the Philippines.

What’s interesting about Picadillo is that despite the various origins, the base of dish remains the same. It’s always ground beef with a blend of alliums (usually onions and garlic), usually with some kind of pepper.

From there you will notice ingredients vary in seasonings and vegetable add ins (think potatoes, peas, and even sometimes things like white wine).

Here’s what makes Puerto Rican Picadillo stand out from the rest:

• seasonings: we use a blend of classic Puerto Rican spices (adobo and/or sazon) to give this dish that signature island flavor.
• sofrito: this dish wouldn’t be Puerto Rican without our not-so-secret ingredient, sofrito!
• raisins: many Puerto Ricans like to use rum soaked raisins to add a bite and sweetness to this rich dish.

Picadillo in the Instant Pot / Crockpot

If you’re looking for a way to make picadillo in one of your handy-dandy counter top appliances… I’ve got you covered! Here are my tips:

• Crockpot Picadillo: follow the directions as instructed up until step 4 (just before lowing the temperature to a simmer and covering). At this step, transfer everything to your crockpot and cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours.
• Instant pot Picadillo: follow the directions as instructed, sautéing everything directly in your Instant pot. At step 4, cover the Instant pot and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.

Picadillo as a Filling and Ingredient

Some of my favorite Puerto Rican recipes use this Picadillo as a filling or ingredient. If you do have leftovers or just feel like getting creative in the kitchen, here are a few ideas for how to use it:

Storage

This Puerto Rican style Picadillo stores great in an airtight container in your fridge for up to 5 days.

Buen Provecho!

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