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This quick and easy Mexican Picadillo dinner recipe comes together with minimal ingredients and only 30 minutes. Ground beef and potatoes are simmered in a seasoned tomato sauce. Serve this dish up with some rice and fresh flour tortillas for a complete meal.
What is Mexican Picadillo?
A classic, nostalgia inducing meal with ground beef and potatoes. This is one of those dishes that is so easy to customize, and everyone has their own way of making it. It’s pure comfort food. This recipe is a basic version, with some ideas of ways you can easily customize it to make it just right for you and your family.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Tomato Sauce: Swap the canned tomato sauce for 4 Roma tomatoes blended or finely diced.
- Beef Broth: Use a low or no sodium version, you can also use bone broth. Substitute with beef bouillon if you prefer.
- Potatoes: If you want a twist, try our Sweet Potato Picadillo.
- Bell Pepper: For more heat swap this out for a jalapeño or other chili pepper of choice.
- Extra Veggies: Add in peas and carrots or other vegetable of choice to customize for your family.
Find the complete recipe card below with measurements and full instructions.
How to Make Mexican Picadillo
- First, heat a large skillet over medium heat, add ground beef. Cook over medium heat while breaking up the meat. Cook until mostly browned, drain grease and return to heat. The beef doesn’t need to be cooked completely through at this point.
- Add in diced onion, green bell pepper and potatoes. Continue to cook over medium heat until onion and peppers are softened. Add garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds.
- Next, pour in tomato sauce and beef broth. Add in seasonings: salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander. Stir to combine. Add the bay leaf.
- Bring this mixture to a simmer, cover and let cook for 10 minutes.
- Finally, remove the lid, stir, and continue cooking with the lid off for an additional 10 minutes or until potatoes are softened and most of the liquid is gone.
Serving
Serve this Mexican Picadillo on tortillas. I love loading this into fresh flour tortillas. But it’s also good in fried corn tortillas. Or served over some cilantro lime rice.
Storage
Store leftover picadillo in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Freeze for up to 3 months, thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
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Mexican Picadillo
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- ½ cup onion diced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 2 cups potato peeled and diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 8 ounces tomato sauce*
- 1½ cup beef broth
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add ground beef. Cook over medium heat while breaking up the meat. Cook until mostly browned, drain grease and return to heat.
- Add in diced onion, green bell pepper and potatoes. Continue to cook over medium heat until onion and peppers are softened. Add garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds.
- Pour in tomato sauce and beef broth. Add in seasonings: salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander. Stir to combine. Add bay leaf.
- Bring mixture to a simmer, cover and let cook for 10 minutes.
- Remove lid, stir, and continue cooking with the lid off for an additional 10 minutes or until potatoes are softened and most of the liquid is gone.
- Serve warm with flour tortillas and rice.
Video
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe first published April 10, 2020. Updated April 4, 2024.
Photography by @KJandCompany.co
Great taste
i tried this recipe and it was great. my family came for lunch and i thought Id have some for dinner there was nothing left. Kiddos
This was delicious! It’s a rare, 5 star from all 5 of us! I added some red ppper flakes for a touch of heat. In the instructions, number 2 says to add the onion, potatoes, and green pepper and cook until the onion and pepper are soft. You really can’t cook them until soft because there’s no fat or anything to cook them in. Everything was just sticking to the pan so I just added them and the garlic and went straight to the next step.
What is the size of a serving…….Why do almost all recipes not have a serving size. The nutrition values are worthless if the serving size is not known. Please what is the serving size of this recipe.
Hi ma’am, I’m assuming we’ve got to make it, divide it into six portions, then measure it ourselves. You are correct though, serving size is for six is all it states. Hope this helps.
Love, love, LOVE this! I grew up in San Antonio (moved away a long time ago though), and this reminds me so much of home. I’ve made it a few times now, and I only use a cup of beef broth. It still comes out perfect. Thank you so much for this recipe!
I made a vegan version of this tonight and it came out great. I sautéed the veggies in olive oil til the onions and peppers were soft and then added a pkg of Boca crumbles. Cooked that for 3 minutes and then added the tomato sauce, spices, and a cup of vegetable broth. My vegan kids absolutely loved it!
Holy moly, this was absolutely delicious! We had potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers fresh from the farm, so this was the perfect recipe to use them up. I unfortunately didn’t have any coriander, but it was tasty and flavorful without it. I’ll definitely be making this again, thanks for the recipe!
This is DELICIOUS! This recipe will be added to my “go-to” dinners. Flavorful and easy! Thank you!
Excellent recipe! I added some chipotles and adobo sauce with the tomato for a bit of spice … my husband and I ate for dinner and breakfast the next morning!
This was LITERALLY the best thing I’ve ever tasted. I knew I wanted to make it because I had most of the ingredients at home and it was so easy and so delicious. I’m going to make it all the time.
So good. My wife had been looking for a meat and potatoes recipe like this and I made it with a few changes and omg it was so yummy!!