How to Cook Delicious Puerto Rican Picadillo

Puerto Rican Picadillo. The picadillo meat is used in various Puerto Rican recipes. Traditional recipes include alcapurrias (a popular fried finger food using masa dough and picadillo as a filling), pastelillos de carne (meat turnovers using a flaky dough surrounding the picadillo meat), and many other island recipes. A classic, home-style, Latin American dish.

Great with rice, or as a filling for empanadas, papas rellenos and tacos! (Popular in Cuban and Latin American cuisine). My Puerto Rican recipe series continues. The first is for Puerto Rican Picadillo, which is a ground beef hash. You can cook Puerto Rican Picadillo using 17 ingredients and 6 steps. Here is how you cook it.

Ingredients of Puerto Rican Picadillo

1. It's 3 of lbs. Ground Chuck.
2. Prepare 2 Tbsp of Olive Oil.
3. Prepare 6-10 Cloves of Minced Garlic (your preference).
4. Prepare 1 of Medium / Large Onion Cubed.
5. It's 1 of Green Bell Pepper Cubed.
6. It's 1/3-1/2 Cup of Sofrito (I have a recipe for this).
7. It's 1 packet of Sazon with Culantro and Achiote.
8. Prepare 1/3 Cup of toasted Almonds.
9. It's 2/3 Cup of halved Green Olives.
10. Prepare 1/3 Cup of Capers.
11. Prepare 1/2 Cup of Raisins.
12. You need 1 tsp. of each Salt and Pepper.
13. Prepare 1 tsp. of Ground Cinnamon.
14. Prepare 1 tsp. of Ground Cloves.
15. It's 2 of Bay Leaves.
16. Prepare 1 can of Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes.
17. You need 2 Tbsp of White Vinegar.

If you're used to American cuisine, the best way to describe picadillo or Carne molida is to call it a hash. The ingredients vary depending on where you're dining but often contains ground beef, tomatoes, olives, and raisins. Puerto Rican picadillo uses sofrito, which is a traditional, flavorful condiment of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican Picadillo Recipe - fragrant, flavorful ground beef stew with olives and raisins.

Puerto Rican Picadillo instructions

1. In 1 Tbsp Olive Oil, sweat the Onion, Bell Pepper, Garlic, Sofrito, and Sazon for 5-6 minutes. Remove and set aside in bowl..
2. Add remaining Tbsp of Olive Oil and brown Ground Chuck. When browned, drain fat and add Onion, Bell Pepper, Garlic and Sofrito mixture to skillet and set aside..
3. In small skillet, simmer Vinegar, Olives, Capers, Raisins, Salt and Pepper, Cinnamon, Cloves and Bay leaves for up to 10 - 12 minutes stirring to distribute flavors..
4. In separate skillet, toast the almonds. You want them brown, but not burned. These add a very nice texture!! When done, add them to the meat mixture..
5. At this point, add the Olive and Caper mixture (in step 3) to the Ground Chuck mixture. Add Almonds and Diced Tomatoes. Bring up to heat and turn to simmer for approximately one hour. You're going to LOVE how your house is smelling..
6. There's just something about my Caldero that makes this so much better. Not necessary though..

Makes an easy and no-fuss lazy weeknight meal or for parties served as stuffing for bell peppers, tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and empanadas. This Puerto Rican Picadillo is a delicious blend of ground meat, peppers, onions, potatoes, olives, cilantro and spices in a savory tomato based sauce. It is very similar to a Cuban, Dominican and Mexican Picadillo recipe with slightly different spices and ingredients and is used in a variety of Puerto Rican dishes. In Puerto Rico picadillo is used for stuffing, which needs to be moist but not runny, so not a lot of tomato sauce is used. But if you are serving it as a side dish use more tomato sauce.