Picadillo, Puerto Rican Style

Picadillo is a staple in Puerto Rican culture when it comes to food. It’s a versatile cooked ground meat that is used for many recipes such as empanadas, alcapurrias (stuffed plantain fritters) and rellenos de papa (stuffed potatoes balls) among other foods. You can vary the recipe depending on the meat and how much you use. You can use ground beef, chicken, pork or mix them up. I figured picadillo deserved to have it’s own separate post. Here’s my process. Serves 4-8 depending on how much meat you use.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef (you can use any other kind of meat)
• 2 Tbs sofrito
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 Tbs garlic powder
• 1 tbs onion powder
• 2 Tbs Tomato paste or 4 oz tomato sauce
• 1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 10 green stuffed olives (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 envelop of Goya Ham flavor
• 1 envelop of Sazon

1. Cook the meat on medium high heat until all pink is gone and drain most of the oil from it.

2. Remove from heat so it won’t burn and add sofrito and all powdered ingredients, return to medium high heat and mix thoroughly into meat. Add tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce. Continue to cook over medium heat. Add the olives. Cook for another 3-5 minutes on low.

3. Turn off heat and set aside to cool a bit if you plan to use it as a stuffing. Otherwise, it is ready to enjoy as you please.

I made mine with beef and used it for the air fried empanadas I made. before. If you only want to make this, it can be used as a side dish with rice, noodles, tacos or nachos, etc. I hope give it try and what type of variations you used. Thank you for stopping by and Buen Provecho!