Bring a little taste of Cuba into your home with an easy and family-friendly recipe for Skillet Picadillo, made in just 30 minutes!
Picadillo is one of my families favorite dinners! If your tired of making the same old dinners week after week then it’s time to get a little out of your comfort zone and channel the inner Cuban in you. I would love to introduce you to an easy ground beef dish that your whole family will love. Best of all it’s made in a skillet and in a half hours time.
My toddler loves Mexican food (and I do too). But my husband can only eat so many tacos in one week. I use to make this easy Skillet Picadillo recipe for my husband and I when we were first married some 9 years ago. Like most recipes you make often you take a break and then somewhere in the mix Picadillo just left our monthly dinner plan.
Earlier this year, after our new baby arrived I felt like I was making the same old meals week-after-week. You might wonder how that’s possible for a food blogger, but we too get in dinnertime ruts. We develop delicious tasting recipes but at the end of the day we want easy too.
That’s when I had the ah-ha moment and remembered that way back when I use to make picadillo once a month and we loved it. Since my picky threenager loves ground beef and loves Mexican food I figured he probably would love this.
Boy, was I right! He loved the ground beef and he felt like it was a big treat that there were olives in the meal. He loves olives and whenever we serve salad with dinner he always steals all the olives off our plates (despite my effort of putting a few on his plate).
Ingredients
Here are all the ingredients you need to make this classic Cuban dish.
- Ground Beef
- White Onion
- Bell Pepper
- Garlic
- Plum Tomato
- Cilantro
- Canned Tomato Sauce
- Ground Cumin
- Bay Leaf
- Manzanilla Spanish Olives
- Salt
- Pepper
Directions
- In a large skillet brown the lean ground beef on medium heat. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat apart (for about 5 minutes) until its just about cooked and no longer pink.
- Then add in the onion, bell pepper, garlic, diced fresh tomato, and cilantro.
- Mix well then add in the tomato sauce, ground cumin, bay leaf, and Manzanilla Spanish olives.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer for at least 20 minutes with the lid on. *If the picadillo is looking a little thick you can add in ¼ cup of water to thin out the sauce. Stir occasionally. Once the picadillo is done, divide evenly among plates and serve on top of rice.
This is a pretty low prep type of meal. I would suggest chopping and dicing all the fresh ingredients and setting them to the side. You could even do this a night in advanced if you really wanted to make this even easier dinner prep (minus the cilantro—I would recommend doing that once it’s time to cook).
Skillet Picadillo
Equipment
- Stove Top
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Lean Ground Beef
- ¼ cup White Onion, chopped
- ¼ cup Red Bell Pepper, chopped
- 2 Garlic Cloves minced
- 1 Plum Tomato diced
- 2 tablespoon Cilantro minced
- 1-15 oz. Canned Tomato Sauce
- 2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1 Bay Leaf
- ¼ cup Manzanilla Spanish Olives
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large skillet brown the lean ground beef on medium heat. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat apart (for about 5 minutes) until its just about cooked and no longer pink.
- Then add in the onion, bell pepper, garlic, diced fresh tomato, and cilantro. Mix well then add in the tomato sauce, ground cumin, bay leaf, and Manzanilla Spanish olives.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer for at least 20 minutes with the lid on. Stir occasionally. Once the picadillo is done, divide evenly among plates and serve on top of rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Published on September 28, 2017 / Updated with new text and recipe card on April 21, 2020
Lilly
Do you have a recipe for the plantains as well? I’ve never cooked those before.
Katie
Hi Lilly, thanks for reaching out. I do not, but it’s something I cook often in my home. The key to sweet plantains is a dark black spotted skin. Peel them and cut into 1-inch pieces. Then heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes on each side until golden in color. Remove and place on a paper towel lined plate. Repeat until all your plantains are cooked. Hope this helps! Happy Cooking!
Justina Donley
I cant wait to try your recipe! Your picadillo look like it has that delicious sauce that you can find at authentic cuban restaurants. Do you only use tomato paste for the sauce? Ive seen some recipes have white wine as well. Im trying to make a picadillo thats pretty saucy! Thanks!!!
Katie
HI Justina, I use a 15-ounce can of tomato sauce. We like ours really saucy too!
Tasha @thatssoyummy
We LOVE picadillo at our house. The ease of making it all in one pot and the smell of the house while cooking makes me drool just thinking about it! Yours looks absolutely delicious!
Katie
Thank you–it’s one of our favorites too!
MEAl5
I love bean, it’s healthy. thanks for your recipes!
Kevin Pickron
This should be a good choice for my very picky 6 year old and 10 year old. I will give it a try tomorrow.
Katie
Kevin–I hope they love it as much as my picky 3 year old does!
cheryl larimer
I am always looking for a new gluten free dish to include at family events. This one is on my list for the next get together.
Jane Boice
Looks delicious! What is on the plate next to it?
CHIGOZIRI NWACHUKU
Plantains
Katie
Plantains go great with this dinner!