This Picadillo recipe is an easy, warm and comforting Mexican dish made from ground beef and potatoes cooked in a flavorful sauce. Great in tacos, gorditas and tostadas!
Picadillo is a Latin American dish made from ground beef, potatoes and some type of tomato sauce mixture. Every country and region has it’s own unique variation on the meal (for example, the very popular Cuban picadillo is made with olives and raisins), but today I’m going to share the way my family has always made it!
(Just for context, my family is from the central/northern part of Mexico in the state of Zacatecas.)
On nights when I’m not quite sure what to make for dinner, this picadillo recipe comes to the rescue!
What Makes This Picadillo Recipe So Good
- It’s so easy to make! Everything cooks together in one pan.
- This Mexican picadillo is warm and filling, perfect comfort food.
- It’s really versatile! Eat it with Mexican rice, low carb cilantro lime caulilflower rice, in tacos, or stuffed in gorditas.
Variations
- Give it a healthy twist by substituting ground turkey for the ground beef!
- Use sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes to add a subtle sweetness.
- Try green beans in place of the peas to switch things up!
Tips for making the best picadillo
- Don’t be afraid of salt! You want to liberally season this Mexican picadillo with it. The salt helps to bring out the flavors of the tomato sauce mixture and really makes the meat and potatoes one big happy family.
- Taste as you go! Add another jalapeno or more salt in the sauce if needed. The spice level of jalapenos can vary so much, from not spicy at all to insanely fiery, so take a little teeny bite and testing it out. Also make sure you don’t over-salt – your tastebuds will thank you for that.
- If the meat starts to get dry during the cooking process (when the lid is removed), add 1/4 cup of water to keep it moist and continue cooking.
How to make Mexican Picadillo
The first thing I do is make the flavorful tomato sauce mixture.
Add tomatoes, onions, garlic, a jalapeno pepper, oregano, cumin, salt and some water to a large blender, then puree until smooth and set aside.
Next comes the meat, potatoes, peas and carrots.
Cook the ground beef in a large skillet with some diced onions until the meat is lightly browned. Add the potatoes, carrots, and peas and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the pureed tomato sauce mixture, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Uncover and cook for another 10 minutes to help the sauce reduce a bit and get the flavors super concentrated. When the potatoes and carrots and tender and soft, it’s time to eat!
Recently I served this beef picadillo with some white rice that I had in the fridge, but there are plenty of other ways to eat it!
Way to enjoy this picadillo recipe
- alongside my Mom’s authentic Mexican rice
- in tacos
- stuffed inside gorditas (one of my favorite memories is going to visit my grandparents in Mexico and buying gorditas stuffed with spicy picadillo on the street corner!)
- served on top of sopes (delicious thick corn cakes)
- keep it low carb with some cilantro lime cauliflower rice
And of course, you can always eat it by itself with some corn tortilla chips, my personal favorite!
I hope you love this quick and simple recipe – be sure to give it a review below! To get more easy Mexican recipes delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for my weekly email newsletter. You can also follow Isabel Eats on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest!
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 4 plum tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 medium white or yellow onion
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
- 1 jalapeno pepper, stem removed (Remove the seeds if you don't want it spicy. I like to keep them in.)
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
For the meat
- 1 teaspoon cooking oil
- 1/2 medium white or yellow onion, diced
- 1 pound ground beef
- salt, to taste
- 1 medium white potato, diced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1/4 cup frozen peas
Instructions
For the sauce
- Add all sauce ingredients in a large blender and puree until smooth. Taste and season with more salt if necessary. Set aside.At this point, I also like to make sure the spice level is to my liking. If it's not spicy enough for me, I'll half a jalapeno, blend and adjust until it's perfect.
For the meat
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the cooking oil, onion, ground beef and a generous pinch of salt. Use a wooden spoon to break up the meat into smaller chunks. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes, until beef is lightly browned.
- Add the potatoes, carrots and peas. Mix together with the meat and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the pureed sauce to the skillet, mix together and cover with a lid. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove the lid and continue cooking for 10 more minutes, until the potatoes and carrots are soft and tender. If the meat starts to get dry, add in 1/4 cup of water and continue cooking.
- Remove from heat, taste and season with more salt if necessary. (I always tend to add another generous pinch or two of salt at this step.)
- Serve with Mexican rice, in tacos, gorditas, sopes, on tostadas or on it's own in a bowl.
Isabel’s Tips:
Nutrition Information
Yesterday..i told my family that dinner was on me today and i will be the chef for this evening…i told them it is one of my jefitas (my beloved mother) from San Luis Potosi, Mexico authentic tradition that we ate when we where young….my mother passed away 7yrs ago and her tradition dishes were deeply missed….so here i am carrying on the tradition for my family… My wife is a country girl and she always admired my moms cooking…So here ..i ran into your recipe and i just needed to know the add ons…and you nailed it perfect…i just wanna say thank you for sharing this with us…and i am looking forward on completing this dish…💚👍
I love your recipes!!!!! Getting ready to make your Picadillo later today and really excited. I enjoy reading your comments and recommendations. Brings back memories of when my mom was living and enjoyed making all these dishes and reading your comments, I see her making your food….
i am so glad I found you! You have brought back so many memories from when I was home eating my moms Mexican food. My parent were from
Sonora, Mexico.
I love all your recipes.
Thank you so very much,
Dolores
We retired to Ecuador and even during the pandemic we have a couple of friends over now and then. We had a couple friends over and had Chile Colorados (a big hit), sopapillas, Mexican rice, and Boracho beans for dinner. The beans didn’t go over so well but everything else was very good. It seems the chile powder overwhemled the beans? I followed the recipe? We retired from New Mexico so I am addicted to green chile and New Mexican and Mexican food. Many ingredients are impossible to get here so I either have to grow my chile in my greenhouse or get dried chile and spices mailed here. You do what you have to do! I enjoy your recipes…thank you
I cooked this recipe and it was a total hit! Everyone enjoyed it and loved it!
Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!
I’m excited to cook and try your recipe for picadillo! I’ve been reading through your recipes and I honestly can’t wait to try each and every one of them. I’m Jewish and black and the love of my life is Mexican so I will be visiting your page often. Thanks, Lily.
I have tried so many Picadillo recipes and liked most, but THIS!!!! is by far the most delicious I have ever, ever eaten. I have fixed it 3 times this week already as Pacadillo is one of those dishes of which I never tire. Easy to fix and love the moist but not drippy texture. You are my hero (ine).
I made this for my husband and he loved it! I had to leave the peas out. Next time I will put them in for him.
I’m so happy he loved it! Thank you so much 🙂
Just like my dad used to make it! And I am old so that is saying something! My family inhales this when I make it! I used lots of onions, tomatos, veggies, 3 potatoes, and garlic salt! It comes out chunky over white rice with peas and carrots.
I make my picadillo completely different is more like soup and I use tomillo instead and with some Mexican rice, I will try yours and probably be another recipe more in my menu.
Thank you for sharing
I just lost my paternal grandmother last week and my maternal grandmother about two years ago. My maternal grandmother used to make piccadilly like this – except she added picked instead of the carrots! Yum…thank you for sharing this recipe. I have this sudden urge to make all the dishes both grandmothers used to make.
Loved this version of picadillo. The carrots and peas gave a nice twist added additional jalapeno for extra kick YUM
I’m so happy you loved it, Todd. Thank you!
I loved this recipe! It turned out as delicious as my mother’s picadillo! I highly recommend it!
BTW, I’m very picky when it comes to Mexican recipes since I grew up in Mexico and my mom is an excellent cook.
I’m so happy you liked it. Thank you so much!
I made this recipe last night! It was YUM!!
I made a few substitutions because I did not want to go to the grocery store after work…
Instead of the fresh tomatoes and jalapeno (picky eaters at my house, so not a lot of fresh veggies live in my frig), I used a can of rotel and then added spice with ground red cayenne pepper, and I did not add the carrots or peas. I am not one to measure, but I know I added way more cumin than the recipe called for as I love cumin!!
I did over salt a little, but I am known to do that 🙁
My husband liked it, but I LOVED it!! We are empty-nesters, so no kid-tested approval yet!!
Great recipe!! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Aw I’m so happy you two loved it! And it’s good to know that it’s still good with rotel – it also works in a pinch!
I made this for dinner tonight and my 2 picky eaters loved it. They are generally suspicious of vegetables, so I blended the carrot in with the sauce and left out the peas. It was delicious! Thank you!
Blending the carrots in is such a great idea. Genius! So happy you liked it 🙂
What can be used to flavor this besides cumin. I don’t like the taste of just cumin. Would a pkg of taco seasoning mix work? This looks very delicious!
I would just leave the cumin out, but taco seasoning could worth. It’s worth a shot!
Hi, I made this recipe and everyone loved it! My son ate it 3 nights in a row. It’s a keeper!
Yes! That’s so great to hear!
I learned to make this in Northern Mexico when we lived in Monterrey. This is nearly the same as my friend taught me, but we used leftover salsa or pico de gallo for the tomato sauce. And no peas, so I’ll have to try that timeouts when I make it! Picadillo is my favorite comfort food from Mexico, and I use it now back in Michigan for tacos, grilled burritos, and even as the base layer for shepherds pie!
Timeouts =tomorrow, sorry.
Nice! Yep, I love it as the base of so many foods like tacos and gorditas too 🙂