Picadillo (pee-cah-DEE-yo) is an Latin American dish that combines ground or finely chopped beef, vegetables, olives and dried fruit. It’s easy to make and there are so many ways to enjoy this flavourful dish, including with tostones!

Depending on the region and personal customs, picadillo serves as a main dish, often accompanied by rice and beans, or as a filling for empanadas, chiles rellenos, tamales, tacos, stuffed potatoes and more.

Since tostones have been a hot menu item for me lately, I decided to pair this dish with these delicious golden bites on the side. Tostones not only make this dish hearty, but they also do a great job of soaking up the sauce! A great complement to this dish, if I do say so myself 🙂 Find my recipe for Tostones here.

Here are a few other healthy ways to enjoy picadillo:

• Serve as a main dish with cauliflower “rice” or vegetable mash
• Fold a couple spoonfuls into a gluten & grain free coconut wrap or tortilla
• Stuff bell peppers or baked sweet potatoes with picadillo
• Serve over spaghetti squash
• Use leftovers to make scrambled eggs

What you need for Picadillo:

• Ground beef
• Yellow onion
• Red bell pepper
• Garlic
• Smoked paprika
• Cumin
• Oregano
• Chili powder
• Green olives
• Bay leaf
• Avocado oil
• Chicken stock
• Dates

Looking for more wholesome dinner recipes? You’re going to love these …

• Sloppy Joes with Sweet Potato Buns
• Paleo Nachos
• Egg Roll in a Bowl
• Tostone Taco Bites

Picadillo with Tostones

Picadillo (pee-cah-DEE-yo) is an Latin American dish that combines ground or finely chopped beef, vegetables, olives and dried fruit. It’s easy to make and there are so many ways to enjoy this flavourful dish, including with tostones!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Keto, Latin American, Low-Carb, Paleo

Servings: 2

Ingredients

 

• 1 lb grass-fed ground beef
• 1/2 large yellow onion, julienned
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 3/4 cup green olives, sliced & pitted
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tbsp avocado oil
• 3/4 cup organic chicken stock
• 1/8 cup dates, pitted & sliced (omit for Keto/Low-Carb version)

Instructions

 

• In a pot, heat avocado oil over medium-high then brown meat. Set meat aside in a bowl.
• Reduce heat to medium and add onions and peppers. Sauté until onions are slightly caramelized. Add garlic and cook for a minute.
• Add paprika, cumin, oregano, chili powder, salt and black pepper--stir for a minute until spices become fragrant. Add chicken stock and stir, scrapping off brown-bits at the bottom of the pot. Add in the browned beef, bay leaf, olives and dates. Mix to combine ingredients.
• Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover with a lid and cook for 1-hour. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
• When the picadillo is 20-minutes from being ready, prepare the tostones (get the recipe here) OR other choice of side.
• Serve picadillo in a shallow bowl and place tostones around.

Notes

Get the recipe for Tostones HERE.

Keyword cuban, dairy free, gluten free, grain free, ground beef, healthy dinner, Latin American