Quick & Easy Puerto Rican Picadillo
A quick one-pot version of Puerto Rican Picadillo
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- ¾ cup puerto rican sofrito
- ¼ cup Spanish olives
- 1 packet sazón with achiote equivalent to ¼ tbsp
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ tsp adobo all-purpose seasoning with pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
If you don't have sofrito on hand:
Instructions
- Preheat pot over medium heat.
- Add the ground beef to the pot.
- Season the ground beef with the adobo, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Break up the ground beef as much as possible with the mixing spoon and cook through. Ground beef will be brown when it is fully cooked.
- Create a well in the middle of the ground beef, and add the sofrito. Sauté the sofrito quickly before mixing it into the ground beef.
- Stir in the olives.
- Stir in the tomato sauce.
- Stir in the sazón and bay leaves.
- Simmer for 5 minutes to thicken, occasionally stirring, so the picadillo doesn't burn and stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Serve with rice, like tacos, over pasta, or as a filling for empanadas or lettuce wraps.
Pro Tip:
- Finely mince the olives and sofrito for picky eaters.
- Like any stew, refrigerate the leftovers; it's even better the next day!
No Waste:
- Save all the seeds, stems, and skins; freeze the scraps to make vegetable stock another time. Use the search bar to find a no-waste vegetable stock recipe!
- Add a little bit of water to the tomato sauce can, swirl, and add it into the picadillo. Don't worry if it's a little watery; it'll thicken, and you'll have used all the tomato sauce!
Notes
How to include your child(ren): Your younger chef(s) can sharpen their fine motor skills by measuring out ingredients and setting up your mise-en-place. If you do not have sofrito on hand, let them get in some sensory play by ripping the green pepper, cilantro, culantro leaves and peeling the garlic and onion. Be sure to give them a pair of goggles if they're handling the onion to avoid a meltdown during the cooking process!
Depending on the age and your comfort level, allow your little chef(s) to pour in the ingredients or mix alongside you.
Little chef(s) can explore their sense of independence by making this beginner-level recipe on their own, elevating their self-confidence and abilities in the kitchen.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!