• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Howe We Live logo

  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
    • By Category
      • Appetizers
      • Breads & Muffins
      • Breakfast/Brunch
      • Christmas
      • Desserts
      • Drinks
      • Main Courses
      • Sides
      • Soups/Salads
    • By Cooking Method
      • Air Fryer
      • Instant Pot
      • Meal Prep
      • One Pan
      • Sheet Pan
      • Slow Cooker
    • By Ingredient
      • Beef
      • Eggs
      • Pasta
      • Pork
      • Poultry
      • Seafood
      • Vegetarian
  • Resources
    • Book Recommendations
    • Cookbook Recommendations
    • Balanced Eating As a Family
    • Kitchen Hacks & Tips
    • Lifestyle
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • All Recipes
  • Resources
  • Shop My Favorites
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » By Ingredient » Beef » Ground Beef Picadillo with Cauliflower Rice

    Ground Beef Picadillo with Cauliflower Rice

    Published: Oct 14, 2019 · Modified: Dec 18, 2019 by Andrea Howe · This post may contain affiliate links.

    72 shares
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    If you’re looking to ramp up your tired ground beef cooking game, this recipe for ground beef picadillo will fit the bill. I love it because of it’s combination of flavors that hit you with every bite – the sightly sour tang of the olives and hint of vinegar, the sweet bites of plump golden raisins, and of course the warm savoriness of the ground beef and spices. Nothing makes me feel as competent of a home cook as ground beef, mainly because it was one of the first things I learned to cook growing up. But also because it’s just so dang versatile and forgiving, and you can play around with it and there’s almost nothing you can’t add to it without it tasting great. So if you’ve been stuck in a rut and worry this recipe may be a little too wild for you, I promise you’ll be glad this pushed you out of your comfort zone.

    Ground beef picadillo over cauliflower rice with plantain chips, in a white bowl on a gray backgroundWhat is Picadillo?

    Picadillo is simply translated as “hash”, and so a picadillo dish is one in which a bunch of ingredients are thrown together to create something yummy. It’s mainly a Latin American dish in which a mixture of meat and vegetables are mixed together, and it varies by region and country.

    Different Types of Picadillo

    Picadillo dishes are mainly found in Latin American countries as well as the Philippines. In Costa Rica, it is often a mix of bell peppers, onions, herbs & spices and stock, but not always meat. It is most often served with tortillas or rice.

    The Cuban version includes olives and raisins and sometimes capers and potatoes, and is typically served with black beans and rice.

    In the Philippines, it is more of a soupy dish and often includes potatoes or chayote, but there are also drier versions of the dish that is similar to the Latin American renditions.

    From my research, it appears the version we’re making today closely resembles the Cuban style, with the inclusion of the olives and raisins, but I’m not going to make any claims that this is authentic Cuban style since a), I’m not Cuban and b) regional culinary debates can get heated haha. So with that, let’s get going making our non-classified ground beef picadillo 😉

    Ground beef picadillo in a white saute pan with a bowl of cauliflower rice and a bowl of plantain chipsIngredients Needed to Make Ground Beef Picadillo

    Luckily the ingredients to make this fun dish are pretty basic and you may already have in your pantry. You’ll need ground beef, crushed tomatoes (you could also used diced but they will be more pronounced in the dish), vinegar, onions, olives and some of their brine, cumin and chili powder, garlic and any type of raisins, although the plump golden raisins really stand out.

    Why These Flavors Work

    Chefs say that for a dish to really shine, it must have salt, acid and heat (and Samin Nosrat would add fat). The olives in this case fit the bill for the acid, the ground beef is the salt and the spices are the heat. So the raisins then are the star ingredient that mellows out this otherwise salty, tangy dish. The sweet of the raisins makes the salty ingredients taste less salty, and the sour taste less sour, without actually reducing the salt or acid in the recipe. This means you get a really flavorful dish that overall, tastes mellow without being too pungent in any one direction.

    ground beef, raisins, green olives, onions, garlic and spices in a white bowl and tomato sauce in a glass cylinderMaking the Picadillo

    I hate to break it to you guys, but this dish is really complicated and messy to make.

    Ha! I’m totally kidding!! Did I already mention to you guys that this is a one pan dish? Well it is!

    You basically saute up your meat so it’s cooked thoroughly, drain and set aside in another bowl while you cook up your onions and garlic. And from there, you just start adding in all your other ingredients, beginning with the spices, then the tomatoes and vinegar, and then the raisins and olives, and finally, mix your ground beef back in and you can call it done.

    Serving Ground Beef Picadillo

    If you want to be authentic, you’ll need to serve up with some beans and rice. But since I didn’t make any authenticity claims, I can tell you that it tastes really good topped over some cauliflower rice and will also keep it low-carb if you’re watching your intake. For me though it’s all about balance, since I wanted to save my carbs for the plantain chips to scoop this dish up with haha 😉

    Making Cauliflower Rice

    It’s so simple to make cauliflower rice now that every single store carries it either fresh or frozen. I like to make mine by heating some olive oil in a large skillet, adding in the cauliflower and mixing in a generous amount of salt and pepper, letting it all cook together for a few minutes. Then I add in about ¼-1/2 cup of liquid like stock or coconut milk, cover and simmer for another 5-10 minutes till cooked through, making sure I don’t overcook it so it’s mushy.

    I highly recommend picking up a bag of plantain chips to eat alongside this dish, as the crunch adds a whole other amazing level, but if you don’t have them on hand, no worries.

    As always, let me know if you’ve got any questions and of course I’d love to know if you made this dish and what you thought. Leave a comment and rating below to tell me! Thanks so much for reading and cooking alongside me!

    In good health,

    Andrea

    Ground Beef Picadillo with Cauliflower Rice

    A flavorful Cuban-style ground beef picadillo. With the unexpected tang of green olives and a hint of sweetness from raisins, this comforting beef dish cooks up in one pan and in under 30 minutes, making for a quick clean-up!
    5 from 5 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes
    Servings: 4
    Author:Andrea

    Ingredients

    • 2-3 tbsp olive oil
    • 1 lb ground beef
    • 1 small onion diced or thinly sliced
    • 5 garlic cloves minced
    • 2 tsp each chili powder & ground cumin
    • 1 14.5 ounce can crushed tomatoes
    • ¾ cup golden raisins
    • ½ cup green olives either sliced or pimento stuffed, in about ¼ cup of their own brine of olive juice
    • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
    • Cauliflower or white rice and plantain chips to serve
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and salt & pepper, and cook through, making sure to break up the ground beef into crumbles.
    • Drain and set aside.
    • Add in another tbsp of olive oil and cook the onions and garlic for 3-5 minutes till translucent.
    • Stir in the chili powder and cumin till well combined.
    • Add in the tomatoes, red wine vinegar and stir till combined.
    • Add in the raisins and the olives & the brine, stirring till combined.
    • Lastly, add back in the ground beef and stir till combined. Sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste.
    • Serve over white or cauliflower rice and plantain chips.
    Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @Howe.We.Live or tag #HoweWeLiveRecipes!
    « Easy Sheet Pan Steak Dinner
    Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce Over Stuffed Shells »

    About Andrea Howe

    Andrea Howe is the recipe developer and photographer of Howe We Live. She is also a seasoned home cook of over 20 years, for her family of 5. Andrea has spent over 10 years in the food industry, writing for various publications including Babble and Disney. Her work has appeared in Real Simple, Taste of Home, Yahoo, Buzzfeed and ABC News.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. S says

      January 19, 2020 at 8:33 pm

      I tried this! The picadillo is absolutely delicious. I followed all the instructions, except I added 1 tsp of chilli powder and 1 tsp of paprika instead. I used store-bought cauliflower rice and plantain chips from Trader Joe’s.

      Reply
      • Andrea Howe says

        January 20, 2020 at 5:42 pm

        that’s great, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for letting me know 🙂

        Reply
    2. Emily Bruno says

      November 01, 2019 at 8:15 am

      5 stars
      The flavors in this were all sooo good together!

      Reply
    3. Karri says

      October 26, 2019 at 8:39 am

      5 stars
      Such a great flavor profile. Even my kids who don’t like green olives or raisins ate it and thought it was good.

      Reply
    4. Lauren Grant | Zestful Kitchen says

      October 21, 2019 at 5:53 pm

      5 stars
      Ahhh I can’t wait to try this! I love that you serve it with cauliflower rice, this WILL be on the meal plan next week!

      Reply
    5. Susie says

      October 17, 2019 at 11:28 am

      5 stars
      I absolutely love the combo of sweet, salty and savory. Plus olives are my fave. Saving this recipe!

      Reply
    6. Tawnie Kroll says

      October 17, 2019 at 9:54 am

      5 stars
      This was SO good and incredibly easy. I love the raisins!

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Caucasian women sitting on a kitchen counter smiling, holding a glass of white wine

    Welcome to Howe We Live. I’m Andrea, a passionate home cook and mother of 3. I’ve been cooking and writing about healthy eating for almost a decade, and my number one goal here is to help you develop the tools needed to throw together a great meal at home that is both delicious, and healthy-ish. All eaters are welcome here! Read More

    Latest Posts

    • 6 Sweet and Savory Cottage Cheese Toast Ideas
    • Miso Butter Salmon – Quick & Easy!
    • Nourishing Fiesta Salad Recipe
    • Easy Creamy Protein Hummus
    • Creamy Spicy Ranch Dressing
    • Homemade Air Fryer Taquitos

    Top Posts

    • picture of 2 glasses filled with coconut pineapple margarita
      Coconut Pineapple Margarita Recipe
    • white plate with top sirloin steak tips and potatoes served on top, with a fork set to the side
      Beef Sirloin Tip Steak With Garlic Butter Potatoes
    • brown rice and turkey meatballs in a cast iron skillet
      Skillet Turkey Meatballs & Rice
    • A piece of chicken cutlet cooked in air fryer dipped in ranch dressing
      Chicken Cutlets In the Air Fryer

    As Featured In:

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Accessibility Policy
    • About

    Newsletter & Contact

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates
    • Contact

    Notable Links

    • Recipes by Category
    • Shop Clean Beauty

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 · Howe We Live · Privacy Policy