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Home » All » By Course » Main dishes » Cuban Beef Picadillo {Picadillo Alvarez}

Cuban Beef Picadillo {Picadillo Alvarez}

By Layla Pujol 37 Comments

Recipe for Cuban beef picadillo, a traditional dish made with ground beef, potatoes, onions, garlic, cumin, bell peppers, white wine, tomato sauce, raisins, olives and capers.

Cuban beef picadillo

En Español

Back in April we spent spring break in Austin, it was the first time we had gone back to Austin since moving to Seattle. One of the great things about the visit, in addition to trading 40 degree rainy weather for 70 degree sunny weather, was catching up with family and friends. I met Carolina, from Guayaquil, during my first year in Austin, she was visiting a mutual friend and came to my New Year’s Eve party – she brought a delicious shrimp ceviche to the party. She eventually moved to Austin with her husband Joe. They invited us for a yummy lunch when we were visiting Austin and Joe made this amazing Cuban style beef picadillo.

Beef picadillo with rice and salad


Of course, I had to ask for the recipe and Joe was kind enough to share the recipe – and he did such an awesome job writing it that I barely adapted it before sharing it with you. This picadillo recipe is very easy to make and is a perfect comfort food dish. Picadillo is also very versatile, Joe suggested that the leftovers can be used to make pastelitos de carne or Cuban style empanadas – or any kind of empanadas.

Ground beef picadillo with potatoes

He also mentioned that if you make the beef picadillo without potatoes you can use it as a filling for papas rellenas, which are stuffed mashed potato balls that are rolled in a mix of bread crumbs and then fried – I will definitely try those soon. I served the picadillo with rice, a tomato and onion lime pickled salad, and fried ripe plantains.

Cuban picadillo
Ground beef picadillo with potatoes

Cuban beef picadillo

Cuban beef picadillo is a traditional dish made with ground beef, potatoes, onions, garlic, cumin, bell peppers, white wine, tomato sauce, raisins, olives and capers.
4.69 from 816 votes
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Course: Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: Caribbean, Cuban, Latin
Keyword: Beef, Beef picadillo, Cuban beef picadillo, Picadillo, Potato beef picadillo, Potatoes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 6

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 medium large yellow onion diced
  • 6 garlic cloves finely chopped
  • ½ bell pepper diced
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 3 small potatoes peeled and cut in small pieces
  • ¾ cup dry white wine
  • ½ cup whole green olives stuffed w/ pimentos
  • ½ cup raisins
  • ¼ cup capers drained
  • 16 ounces of tomato sauce 2 8 oz cans
  • Salt and pepper to taste

To serve:

  • Latin style white rice
  • Fried ripe plantains
  • Tomato and onion curtido

Instructions

  • In a medium-size frying pan, brown the ground beef with a dash of cumin and pepper, drain off any excess grease, and set aside.
  • In a large frying pan, heat 2 tbs of olive oil over med-low heat and cook the diced onion until soft
  • Add the chopped garlic and cook until almost golden.
  • Mix in the bell pepper, cumin, pepper and a little salt – not too much as the olives and capers are salty.
  • Add the potatoes pieces and cook for about 5 minutes.
  • Add the ground beef and the wine, let the liquid reduce.
  • Add raisins and tomato sauce when the potatoes are about half-cooked (a knife can easily through the first part but the center is still very firm).
  • Cook for 5 more minutes and then add the olives and capers.
  • Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are ready. If the sauce thickens too much, you can add some more wine or a little bit of water. Taste and adjust any seasonings: salt, pepper, cumin or additional olives/capers.
  • Serve with rice, fried ripe plantains and a small salad.

Notes

You can also use ground chicken or turkey in place of the ground beef.
Picadillo recipe
Beef picadillo recipe

Step by step preparation photos for Cuban style beef picadillo

 
 
 
 
 
 
Beef picadillo
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Filed Under: Beef, Caribbean, Comfort food, Latin America, Main dishes, Meat, Potatoes, Quick

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jasmin says

    October 6, 2020 at 7:17 am

    This was absolutely delicious! I left out the raisins and olives (husband isn’t a fan) and I topped it off with fresh cilantro and scallions. Wow wow wow soooo good. Thank you for this recipe.

    Reply
  2. Anna says

    January 15, 2020 at 3:34 pm

    I boiled my potatoes for a bit to speed up the cooking. Turned out great

    Reply
  3. Diana says

    December 22, 2019 at 11:49 am

    To make ground turkey taste better in any recipe I add about 2 teaspoons of better than bouillon beef flavor (or chicken depending on if you’re using it) when browning the meat.
    No one will know you used the turkey! Don’t add salt until you taste this recipe because of the pickled items

    Reply
    • Layla Pujol says

      December 22, 2019 at 12:19 pm

      That’s a great tip, thanks!

      Reply
      • Mary Caldejon says

        January 8, 2021 at 8:24 am

        My family enjoyed this dish (Puerto Rican husband approved, but he could detect something was a smidge off)…. it was the turkey. I went with the tip of turkey + better than beef bullion… it was ok, but next time I’ll go with beef… certainly will repeat! Thank you for a new “go to” family meal.

        Reply
  4. Ellen says

    June 4, 2019 at 10:41 am

    This reminded me so much of the picadillo I had in Havana. In fact it’s better than the picadillo recipes in my Cuban cookbooks! Thank you.

    Reply
  5. Lacey says

    November 13, 2018 at 7:12 am

    This looks delicious! I have never put potatoes in Picadillo, but I have cut them in little cubes and fried them and served on top. Have to give this a try.

    Reply
  6. Melanie says

    October 30, 2016 at 8:46 am

    I made this last night and it turned out perfect. Followed the recipe to a tee. Like the previous poster, I also had a little difficulty getting the diced potato pieces to soften…had to triple the cooking time & some of them were still hard. It was the strangest thing! :) never seen that happen before! But in the end, it was SUPER DELICIOUS!!!! I can’t wait to get up & eat another plate of it. I served with white rice, plantains, & ensalada de aguacate.

    Reply
  7. Becca says

    August 31, 2016 at 12:19 pm

    My 2 year old was a big fan! This dish stretched for almost three nights for our family of three. I let it simmer for almost two hours and even though I diced my potatoes in tiny pieces, they were still a bit crunchy. So I think the potatoes need to be pretty cookd through before moving to the next step. Great recipe, we wil make again!

    Reply
  8. Sulay says

    August 30, 2016 at 4:34 pm

    Second time making this delicious recipe! I used the golden raisins and it was so tasty! Being married to a Cuban man, making this was always intimidating but not anymore. He is a Cuban man trapped in a Mexican’s body, he made a taco with this and he was beyond ecstatic:)

    Reply
  9. Kari says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:44 pm

    This was amazing! I did however leave out the raisins, used sweet white wine ( as that’s all I had, added a little garlic salt and cayenne pepper for heat, but other than that I stuck with the rest of the recipe exactly. Thank you for sharing this delicious meal…

    Reply
  10. Gianna says

    May 9, 2013 at 4:32 pm

    Just have to say, this was amazing! Delicious recipe!

    Reply
  11. Shannon says

    March 28, 2013 at 10:32 am

    Can you tell me how you made that salad?! It looks delish as the whole plate does!! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
    • Laylita says

      March 28, 2013 at 10:41 am

      Yes, it’s a tomato and onion curtido (pickled in lime juice) over lettuce, recipe is here: https://www.laylita.com/recipes/2008/01/04/curtido-de-cebolla-y-tomate-pickled-red-onion-and-tomato-salad/

      Reply
  12. [email protected] says

    January 29, 2013 at 5:23 pm

    Not the same when made with ground turkey.

    Reply
    • Laylita says

      January 29, 2013 at 6:00 pm

      True, but I bet ground turkey picadillo tastes better than ground turkey cooked in many other ways :)

      Reply
  13. Karen says

    January 22, 2013 at 4:23 am

    I’m looking forward to making this recipe. About how long, start to finish, does it take to prepare?

    Reply
    • Laylita says

      January 22, 2013 at 8:57 am

      About 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours. If you want you can do all the vegetable prep (peeling, chopping, dicing) ahead of time and have it ready. You can make the rice, plantains, salad while the potatoes cook.

      Reply
  14. Mary Lu says

    December 26, 2012 at 6:07 am

    Can someone tell me how many this recipe serves?

    Reply
    • Laylita says

      December 26, 2012 at 4:45 pm

      This will serve 4-6 people.

      Reply
  15. Valerie says

    December 23, 2012 at 1:11 pm

    Just made this dish for the first time, very yummy and super easy. Great recipe, thanks! Will be making for New Year’s this year :)

    Reply
  16. Janet says

    October 30, 2012 at 7:44 pm

    I love Picadillo! I have tried several different recipes and this is, by far, the best. I made a double batch yesterday and delivered it to a sick friend and his family. They RAVED about it and gave the ultimate compliment – they said it was as good as what their grandmother used to make. I just smiled and said I was glad they enjoyed it. Thanks for making me shine!

    Reply
  17. Roberto says

    October 3, 2012 at 8:21 am

    Same delicious recipe as my Grandmother’s with the exception of cumin.

    Reply
  18. nakedape1000 says

    July 24, 2012 at 2:13 pm

    substituted TVP for the beef & it turned out delicous. thanks for the recipe.

    Reply
    • Janet says

      May 2, 2013 at 5:09 pm

      How much TvP did you use? this looks delish!!

      Reply
  19. Deana says

    July 23, 2012 at 12:41 pm

    Made this last night and turned out great! I really like the raisins though, so I tossed in a handful more. Also added some garlic powder bc felt that there wasnt enough garlic. Next time will cut up more cloves.

    Reply
  20. Jenny says

    July 10, 2012 at 6:30 am

    I was searching online for a Cuban recipe (I’ve never cooked a Cuban dish in my life) I came across a lot of picadillo recipes. I decided to go with your recipe and I am soooooo glad I did. Everyone in my family loved it! Even the kids! It was such a nice blend of flavors…this recipe is a keeper! Thank you!

    Reply
  21. Jess Ica says

    July 3, 2012 at 5:32 pm

    I made this tonight. :) I would recommend not adding any salt until everything is basically done, and its time for a taste test. The capers, and olives are very salty. Also, if you are using canned tomatoes its likely to already have salt in it. Other wise…DELICIOUS!! :)

    Reply
  22. Susanne says

    May 7, 2012 at 11:26 am

    Looks yummy! I’ll have to try making this soon.

    Reply
  23. Kelly says

    April 21, 2012 at 7:40 pm

    Just discovered your website – love it. Can you suggest something to substitute the wine – no alcohol. Thank you!!!

    Hi Kelly – You can substitute the white wine with beef stock or chicken stock, add a dash lemon juice or cider vinegar to it (to mimic the acidity of the white wine).

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      May 13, 2012 at 12:35 pm

      Perfect thank you making it again!

      Reply
  24. Lianne says

    December 21, 2011 at 4:23 pm

    Succulent — can hardly wait to try it.

    Reply
  25. Sherry says

    December 17, 2011 at 6:44 pm

    The pictures on this website makes me want to make everything on it … I thank you for that…. As soon as I saw the pics for this picadello recipe I made it immediately… Uhhh wow… It brings me back to a little restaurant in Brooklyn called Georges where they stuff a maduro with this meat sauce which is almost exactly like this picadello recipe…. To my delight I no longer crave Georges stuffed maduros thanks to you!!! I cannot wait to make it for my mother!!! Keep these great recipes coming!!ll

    Reply
  26. Fernanda says

    December 14, 2011 at 8:28 am

    I loooove this website and ALL the recipes you post!!! You really make me feel like standing up and start cooking right away!!!! THANK YOU!!

    Reply
  27. Platanos, Mangoes and Me! says

    December 14, 2011 at 12:24 am

    It’s funny how we all ave our own picadillo recipe. I always ejoy the Cuban version and yes, pastelitos sound good right about now. Great pictures.

    Reply
  28. Marina says

    December 14, 2011 at 12:07 am

    This really does look like empanada filling! We filipino’s eat something very similar but im not sure what the correct name is for the dish. We put fish sauce in it instead of salt and is truly delicious.

    Reply
  29. juepucta says

    December 13, 2011 at 9:13 pm

    Now i am very hungry. Very. :)

    Reply

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 Layla Pujol is an Ecuadorian modern-day nomad who loves to cook and travel. She lives in Seattle and is currently working on her first cookbook, which will focus on delicious Ecuadorian and Latin recipes (adapted to her style). More

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