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This Cuban Picadillo is a hearty, flavor-packed dish made with ground beef, tomatoes, olives, and a hint of sweetness from raisins. It’s the perfect blend of savory and sweet, bringing a taste of Cuban comfort straight to your dinner table.
Pure Cuban Comfort Food
Picadillo is taking over our kitchen lately, and I’m not mad about it. This Cuban classic is everything I crave in a weeknight dinner: bold, comforting, and bursting with flavor. It’s savory with just a hint of sweetness, a bit tangy, and absolutely irresistible.
Think ground beef (or turkey, if you’re feeling lighter), simmered with tomatoes, onions, and garlic, and then leveled up with briny olives, and sweet raisins. It’s got that perfect mix of savory and sweet, tangy and rich, and the way it all comes together in one big skillet? Well, let’s just say, we’re smitten.
And if you want to swap in ground chicken or load it with veggies with some hearty beans, zucchini, or sweet potatoes, go for it! Picadillo is all about making it your own, and no matter what, you’re in for a bowl of pure comfort.
Ingredients Needed
Find the complete recipe card below with measurements and full instructions.
Let’s Make Cuban Picadillo
- In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté the onion and bell pepper in extra virgin olive oil until softened.
- Add in the ground beef and continue to cook over medium heat while breaking up the meat. Cook until all the meat is browned and no longer pink. Drain excess grease.
- Stir in the garlic, let this cook for 30 seconds. Then add the tomato paste and stir to combine.
- Add in the crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, cumin and oregano. Stir to combine. Continue to cook on medium heat for 10-15 minutes to let the flavors develop.
- Finally, stir in the green olives and raisins.
Serving
Picadillo is traditionally served over white rice. But you could also serve it in a warm tortilla as a picadillo taco, or as a filling for picadillo empanadas. You can also toast some French bread and serve as a picadillo sandwich, similar to Sloppy Joes.
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Cuban Picadillo
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup onion diced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 15 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 cup green olives diced
- 1/3 cup raisins diced
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the onion and bell pepper in extra virgin olive oil until softened.
- Add in the ground beef. Cook while breaking up the meat. Cook until meat is browned and no longer pink. Drain excess grease.
- Stir in the garlic.
- Add the tomato paste and stir to combine.
- Add in the crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, cumin and oregano. Stir to combine. Let cook on medium heat for 10-15 minutes.
- Stir in the green olives and raisins. Serve warm over white rice.
Video
Equipment
Notes
- Tomatoes: I find it easy to grab a can of crushed tomatoes. Or you can use fresh tomatoes, peel, de-seed and chop them up and let them cook in the meat. They will soften and mash as they cook.
- Tomato Paste: A small amount mixed in will add a bit of thickness and a more pronounced tomato flavoring.
- Green olives– I use green olives with pimentos. Chopping them creates a more consistent texture that my kids will eat. But you can add these in whole or simply sliced if desired.
- Raisins– Chopping the raisins creates a consistent texture. But they can be added whole if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What is Picadillo?
Picadillo is a traditional dish of Latin America. Every region and area has their own way of making it. This particular recipe is geared towards Cuban Picadillo. I read a quote that compared Cuban Picadillo to be the equivalent of American Sloppy Joes. Not gourmet, but pure comfort food!
Typically it’s made of ground beef and tomatoes. The additions change according to the area, most often you will see green olives, raisins, capers or potatoes being added in. Some recipes I’ve seen call for the addition of cinnamon and cloves also.
More Bold Family Dinner Ideas
Recipe first published October 1, 2019. Updated August 27, 2024.
Photography by KJandCompany.co
I posted a review on Pinterest and wanted to post a picture, hhhmm. The dish was delicious! I added bay leaves and made a batch of rice. My hubby was not sure about raisin n olive, he came around! Thank you, first and not the last time making this.
I grew up eating picadillo being born and raised in Key West, FL. Mom didn’t put in raisins or tomatoes – probably because we would not have eaten it! She used tomato sauce. We served it over yellow rice and black beans on top of that! Sooooooooo good! We are having it tonight.
My Grandmother (and mother) also didn’t use raisins or tomatoes, but always tomato sauce. We ate it next to white rice with black beans and she always used a little ham in the beans, too. Delicious! Have some in my fridge right now.
Picadillo is a wonderful dish. I like to serve with some Cuban Black Beans and fried ripe plantains too!!!!
Agree! It’s not the same without Cuban black beans and rice.
The flavor was unique and flavorful, but I thought it was a little bit dry. If I make again I will keep recipe the same but cut back to 1.5 ground beef
What percentage of ground beef are you using? 70-30 would give you more moisture. I used diced canned tomatoes undrained, 15 oz, the tomato paste and it was plenty moist.
This was easy and delicious!
Have you tried making this in a crockpot?
I haven’t. If you are needing to use a slow cooker, simply cook the ground beef before adding to the slow cooker, drain the grease, and add the remaining ingredients. Cook over low for maybe 2-3 hours to let it come together. You might need to add a bit more liquid since it’s cooking longer. Maybe a small amount of beef broth.
This was delicious & easy to make added a bit more raisins & olives. Served with rice. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Will this taste as good with ground turkey?
Yes it will. Ground turkey does taste different than ground beef, but it’s a great lighter alternative.
Hello Serene!
This recipe is so delish and both my Hubs and I are such big fans. I will be featuring your recipe on my February Favorites this coming Friday, the 28th. I’d love for you to hop over and have a look.
Hugs,
Paula
Thank you so much Paula! I’m so happy y’all like it, this is such a tasty dish. And I will come by and see, I popped over to your site just now and it looks so fun!!
That’s interesting that the picadillo has raisins in it. I feel like that would add a nice little bit of sweetness to all the salty things like the beef and the olives. I am trying to expand my tastes when it comes to food, so I might have to try that at a restaurant or something to see if I like it and want to make it at home.
The raisins do add a perfect amount of sweet. I know it seems weird..but it’s really good!!
I don’t like raisins but would substitute cranberries!