Cuban Picadillo
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Deeply savory with a touch of sweetness, Cuban picadillo is an easy, satisfying dinner that’s great over rice.
Cuban picadillo is a comforting, family-friendly dish that’s perfect for a busy weeknight. It’s a quick, saucy beef dish made with ground beef simmered in a savory tomato sauce with onions, garlic, warm spices, briny green olives, and raisins—and it’s ready in about half an hour. If raisins sound unexpected, trust me—they add little pops of sweetness that really make the dish. Spoon it over rice and dinner’s done.
What You’ll Need To Make Cuban Picadillo
- Meat: ground beef, baking soda (for tenderizing)
- Aromatics: yellow onion, green bell pepper, garlic
- Sauce & seasoning: Spanish-style canned tomato sauce, beef broth, sazon seasoning, ground cumin, brown sugar, salt
- Add-ins & finish: raisins, pimento-stuffed green olives, red wine vinegar
- Cooking staple: olive oil
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1. Tenderize the beef. In a large bowl, mix the ground beef with the baking soda and water until evenly combined. Let sit for about 20 minutes to help keep the meat tender.
Pro Tip: Don’t skip the baking soda step. It might seem unconventional, but it raises the beef’s pH and helps it stay juicy as it cooks in the sauce—especially helpful since picadillo simmers rather than browns.
Step 2. Cook the aromatics. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, being careful not to let it brown.
Step 3. Simmer the picadillo. Add the tomato sauce, broth, raisins, sazón seasoning, salt, cumin, brown sugar, and olives, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low, pinch off loose 1-inch clumps of the beef, and scatter them over the sauce. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally to break up the meat, until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, then taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Pro Tip: Pinching the beef is important. Adding it in loose clumps (instead of dumping it in all at once) gives picadillo its signature texture—small, tender pieces suspended in the sauce rather than a uniform crumble.
Step 4. Serve or store. Serve warm over rice. The picadillo can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen for up to 3 months.
Pro Tip: Like many saucy dishes, the flavors deepen after a night in the fridge—making it a great make-ahead option for busy weeks.
More Ground Beef Recipes with Big, Bold Flavor
Cuban Picadillo
Ingredients
- 1¼ lbs 85% lean ground beef
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 small green bell pepper, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (8-oz) can Spanish-style tomato sauce (such as Goya)
- ½ cup beef broth
- ½ cup raisins
- 2 packets Sazón seasoning (2 heaping teaspoons; see note)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1½ teaspoons light or dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup chopped pimento-stuffed green olives
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, baking soda, and water. Mix until evenly combined, then let sit for about 20 minutes—this step helps tenderize the beef.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onion and pepper and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more; do not brown.
- Add the tomato sauce, broth, raisins, sazon seasoning, salt, cumin, brown sugar, and olives. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Pinch off loose 1-in (2.5-cm) clumps of the beef and scatter them over the sauce. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally to break up the meat, until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes.
- Stir in the vinegar, then taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Serve warm over rice.
Notes
- Sazón is a Latin seasoning blend that typically includes salt, garlic, cumin, coriander, and annatto, which gives dishes a warm yellow-orange color and savory depth. It’s widely available in most supermarkets—look for it in the international foods aisle, often near other Latin or Caribbean products. I use Goya Sazón with Coriander and Annatto, but Sazón con Azafran works too.
- Make-Ahead/Freezing Instructions: Picadillo can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator; reheat gently on the stovetop, adding a splash of water or broth if it thickens. It also freezes beautifully. To freeze, let it cool completely, then transfer to freezer-safe containers or zip-top bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and warm on the stovetop before serving.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
Comments
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I don’t eat red meat so do you think ground turkey or chicken would work instead and also chicken broth? The recipe sounds delicious!
It won’t have quite as much flavor, but it should still be delicious – I would just avoid anything too lean. And you can skip the baking soda/tenderizing step. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it. 🙂
I can’t eat olives or raisins. If I leave out the raisins, I know it will affect the sweetness—would the recipe still work, or is there a good substitute?
Hi Leona, I would increase the brown sugar to 1 tablespoon. It will still be delicious.
Hi Jen! Can’t wait to try this recipe. Can you please tell me how many ounces of sazon to use? I have it in bulk and I can’t quite figure out how much a Goya packet weighs. Thanks!
Hi Christina, Great question – each packet contains about 5 grams or 1 heaping teaspoon, so you’d need 10 g or 2 heaping teaspoons total. I will update the recipe to include that info. Hope you enjoy!
Looking forward to making this with pantry items I have on hand. That baking soda step always gives a great result. What could I add to a can of regular tomato sauce to make it “Spanish” style?
Thanks, Jenn—love your recipes and cookbooks.
Hi Mary, You can use regular tomato sauce with no adjustments – there is enough other seasoning that you won’t miss it. Hope you enjoy!