Cuban Beef Picadillo with Potatoes is a classic Cuban ground beef dish and one of our absolute favorites from childhood! It’s made with a base of Cuban-style sofrito (Spanish for sauté or stir-fry) and other ingredients that combine to make a fabulously flavorful sweet and savory dish that can be enjoyed alone, with the traditional sides of white rice and black beans, plantains or potatoes, and in a myriad of other ways!
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Cuban Picadillo Fun Facts
Chopped-Chopped, It’s the Best!
The Spanish word picadillo, which is derived from the verb picar (to chop or cut), essentially means chopped bits. Accordingly, in the culinary sense, picadillo describes a dish made from various chopped ingredients. So as you might expect, although picadillo dishes are common in Spain and throughout Latin America, they take on many different forms. But in our opinion (and admittedly, while we may be – oh, just a tad – biased), Cuban Picadillo is the best!
It’s All About the Sofrito
Cuban Picadillo is usually made with ground beef (although sometimes pork and/or chorizo is added) with a base of sofrito (Spanish for sauté or stir-fry), a technique we described in our Cuban-Style Black Beans with Bacon post that is used in Cuban, Spanish and other Latin American cuisines to add layers of flavor and richness to food. In our Cuban Beef Picadillo and Potatoes Recipe, we use a deliciously savory Cuban-style sofrito comprised of a mixture of olive oil, onion, garlic, green bell pepper, tomato sauce, sherry, oregano and cumin. For the sherry, we like to use Palo Cortado or Oloroso for their richer body and nutty flavor.
Olives and Raisins Are A Must, Everything Else is Optional
In addition to a tasty sofrito, Cuban Beef Picadillo typically includes other ingredients that, at first blush, may seem oddly combined but work incredibly well together, including pimento-stuffed Manzanilla olives and raisins. The pimento-stuffed olives add a briny saltiness, color and texture to the dish. The raisins also add texture, but more importantly, they give the dish a pleasing sweet and savory quality. It’s also very common to incorporate fried potatoes, which is how our mother always made picadillo and how we’re accustomed to eating it (hmm, wonder why it’s one of our childhood favorites?) Some people add capers and even fried or chopped boiled eggs to the dish. The variations are truly endless! However, when it comes to making really great Cuban Beef Picadillo, we believe that most of these other ingredients (except for the olives and raisins) are optional – even the fried potatoes (sigh).
Cuban Beef Picadillo with Potatoes Recipe
- 1/4 cup extra virgin Spanish olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 medium green bell pepper, cored, seeded and finely chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 1 pound ground beef (93% lean)
- 1/4 cup dry sherry (preferably Palo Cortado or Oloroso)
- 1/4 cup prepared tomato sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- 1/4 cup dark raisins
- 1/4 cup pimento-stuffed Manzanilla olives, drained, whole or cut in half
- 1 dry bay leaf
- 1 large russet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes*
- vegetable oil for frying
- 1-2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, finely chopped for garnish
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper and sauté until onion is translucent (about 4-5 minutes). Stir in garlic and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.
- Add ground beef and cook until brown, stirring and breaking up large chunks with a wooden spoon (about 7-8 minutes).
- Stir in sherry, tomato sauce, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, one at a time until well combined. Stir in raisins, olives and bay leaf. Correct the seasonings as necessary. Reduce heat to low and simmer until almost all of the liquid is absorbed (about 10-15 minutes). Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, add vegetable oil (at least 3 inches deep). Heat vegetable oil over medium to high heat until flagrant and fry potatoes until golden. Stir fried potatoes into the meat mixture and continue to simmer for 1-2 minutes or longer until almost all of the liquid is absorbed. Remove bay leaf prior to serving.
- Transfer picadillo to a serving dish, or plate on individual plates, and garnish with chopped parsley.
- *To prevent the cubed potatoes from browning, place them in a bowl of water until needed. Pat them dry before frying.
We hope you love our Cuban Beef Picadillo with Potatoes as much as we do!
If you have any comments or questions, we would love to hear from you.
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