This Easy Picadillo is a simple dish with bold flavor. It’s a heavenly, comforting, and delicious meal that you can make in one pan!
Welcome to the dish that is SO GOOD Reagan and I both said we’d bathe in it. Gross? Maybe. Delicious? SO MUCH YES. I make my Easy Picadillo with a mix of ground beef and ground turkey in a tomato sauce with olives and tons of flavor. Yeah, it’s my own spin.
Where Does Picadillo Come From?
Honestly? Straight from heaven! But for real, it’s a popular dish in Spain, Latin America, and in the Philippines. “Picar” means “to mince,” which is why there’s ground meat in here! The LL makes a “y” sound, so it’s pronounced “peek-a-dee-yo.” Class dismissed! Now go make some Easy Picadillo!
This actually starts out pretty similarly to my Ground Taco Meat with Homemade Seasoning, but with just a couple simple additions, it turns into something totally new and special. I use my FAVORITE canned green olives from Trader Joe’s. Even though I usually hate olives, I love these ones! So if you aren’t usually an olive lover, give these a try.
How to Serve Picadillo
I really love how versatile this Easy Picadillo is! Just a quick side dish turns this into a complete and tasty meal. Try it…
- Over rice (Coconut Rice would be delicious!)
- With quinoa
- Alongside a pot of couscous
- In lettuce wraps
- Baked in a bell pepper
Easy Picadillo Leftovers
I make a big batch (2 lbs of meat!) because it’s one of the few dishes that makes leftovers I truly love. I’m not usually a leftovers person, but with Easy Picadillo, I say sign me up. It’s so yum as lunch the next day!
More Delicious Main Dishes
- 30-Minute Fettuccine Turkey Bolognese
- Skillet Chicken & Green Beans
- Tuscan Sheet Pan Chicken with Potatoes and Kale
- Chicken & Black Bean Enchilada Casserole
- Ground Turkey Tostadas
For more easy, delicious dishes like this Picadillo, check out my free 5 Days of Dinner guide that takes the guesswork out of meal planning for a week. You deserve the break!
Easy Picadillo
- Yield: 6–8 1x
Description
This Easy Picadillo is a simple dish with bold flavor. It’s a heavenly, comforting, and delicious meal that you can make in one pan!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground turkey (can use any ground meat you like)
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ¾ cup marinara sauce (your favorite kind)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 can green olives, halved
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes
Instructions
- Heat a large pan over medium/high heat. Add the olive oil, ground beef, ground turkey, salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin and paprika. Use a wooden spoon to break up the meat and cook through – about 7-9 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste, marinara sauce, cherry tomatoes, olives and chili flakes. Stir to combine and let simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Serve over rice, quinoa, in lettuce cups or on it’s own!
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Comments
Valerie
Love this easy recipe! The whole family enjoyed! We even made tacos from it.
★★★★★
Laney Schwartz
Love that you turned it into tacos!
Geri
Love this recipe! I’ve made it as-is and with some substitutions with different things I’ve had on hand and it always comes out great!!
★★★★★
Laney Schwartz
It’s one of my favorite as well. I’m so happy you love it! Thanks for the great review!
TLy
Love this! I’ve been wanting to try this dish but the teaditional recipie was really intimidating me! This is so yummy and so much easier!
TLy
I did use spanish olives not the Trader Joes ones. Those tasted like regular olives to me which wouldnt give the briney kick the Spanish olives do
Mary
So tasty and easy to pull together! Thank you for a stupidly delicious recipe!
★★★★★
Donna
Just made it for the first time.
Yummy ! Definitely Will make it again. I served it over spaghetti squash with avocado on top and my husband had it with coconut rice and a salad. Adding this to the dinner rotation. 😊
Donna
Do I need to drain the ground beef?
Life is but a Dish
If there’s a ton of fat you can, I never need to
Ed lane
I love this recipe. I agree about leftovers the more it sits the better it gets
★★★★★
Jessica Bamba
I love this recipe so much and will keep this in rotation! Thanks Laney!
★★★★★
Allison
Love this! I’ve made it twice and it’s always great, especially on top of Laney’s coconut rice!
★★★★★
Life is but a Dish
That’s my favorite way to eat it as well!
Brianna
A favorite that I make at least every two weeks! Quick to throw together, too. Thanks Laney!
★★★★★
Erica
So yummy!
★★★★★
Ali
Laney this was so delish! I love when I can find a recipe that I have all the items for already. What I love about your recipes is that they are easy to follow, to the point and even my husband can do it! Lol! I also want to bathe in it, so i don’t think that’s gross at all! I served with rice and lettuce cups on the side. Even my toddler at it all up!
Life is but a Dish
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you all enjoyed it!
Sarah
This was so good!! I am not a big olive lover but I bought the Lindsay brand listed in a previous comment and they were really mild and tasty. Can’t wait to take the leftovers to work for lunch. Thank you for sharing this recipe!!!!
★★★★★
Amy
do you think I could freeze and re-heat?
Life is but a Dish
Absolutely!
Katie
For anyone that doesn’t have access to Trader Joe’s, the Lindsay brand ripe green olives (in a red can) are exactly the same and I find them at both Kroger and Publix!
Life is but a Dish
Good to know!