Mexican picadillo recipe. Easy and budget-friendly

This entry is also available in: Español Italiano

This mexican picadillo recipe is the ultimate comfort food. A warm and hearty dish that can be made for any weeknight dinner. This rich stew is perfect to serve as a family dinner alongside with rice and warm corn tortillas.

Carne molida con papas or picadillo con papas are the other names for this ground beef and potatoes cooked in a light and simple tomato sauce.

What is mexican picadillo?

Mexican picadillo is a dish prepared with ground meat, tomato sauce and potatoes. This dish has many versions, starting with the meat that can be beef or pork then with the different types of vegetables that can be added: diced carrots and zucchini, peas, corn kernels, poblano pepper strips, etc.

Every mexican household has its own version of this recipe since is one of the most budget-friendly and easy recipes to make that can feed a large family.

Besides the fact that this recipe is inexpensive and easy to prepare, is also very versatile and can be used as a regular meal served with a side-dish or to use it as filling for tacos dorados or sopes.

It is spicy?

Not at all. As in almost all mexican recipes, the spiciness in this dish can be adjusted to taste. Picadillo with potatoes is well noted by being a family dish that children enjoy a lot and for that reason it can be made without chilies if desired.

In the recipe I am sharing, I have used green hot peppers which I have deseed and removed the veins to obtain a dish that has just a small hint of spiciness. The result is still a rich flavoured and substantial dish.

How to serve?

As in a very mexican style, this mexican picadillo recipe can be served with white mexican rice, corn tortillas and pair it with a fresca drink like lemon fresca with chia.

Otherwise you can also serve it with dinner rolls, pasta or plain white rice. And not only, because you can use this recipe as a taco filling for your Taco Tuesday, burritos, or make those delicious Sopes de Picadillo!

Ingredients:

Ingredients are pretty simple. Use beef or pork meat, or a mix of both. Add any green chilies you have available, some options are jalapeño, serrano, fresh anaheim or even green bell peppers.

You don’t need so much tomatoes to make the sauce, this is not a tomato and beef sauce for pasta, so go easy on them. Same for the spices, don’t go heavy with cumin or you’ll end with one of those wannabe mexican recipes that claims to be authentic only because it has tons of cumin on it :)

Mexican picadillo recipe

Clean and dice onions. Cut the chilies in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and veins. Or just chop them if you want a spicy dish.

Boil tomatoes for 2 minutes, just long enough for the skin to soften and be easy to remove.

Peel it and place it into a blender. Add garlic, cumin, pepper and 1 cup of cooking water. Blend until you get a smooth sauce. Set aside.

In a sauté pan heat the oil over medium heat. Stir in onions and cook until tender and transparent (about 3 minutes). Add chilies and continue to fry for another 2 minutes over low heat.

Add the meat and break it with a cooking spoon. Mix and allow the meat to release its juices and color evenly (5 minutes).

Pour in the tomato sauce and mix. Add water or meat stock enough to cover the meat. Season with salt.

Bring to a boil, cover the pan and low the heat to a minimum. Cook for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into small cubes. Add them to the saucepan, mix and cover.

Cook until potatoes are tender (about 10-12 minutes), taking care that they are always covered slightly with the sauce.

Uncover the pan, adjust with salt and let the sauce reduce to the desired consistency.

Recipe notes

• When deseeding the chili peppers, please do not forget to use gloves to avoid direct contact with the skin that can cause severe irritation.
• If you live outside of Mexico and you can’t find serrano or japaleno peppers, a good option is to use green bell peppers. If this is the case, you should first roast them, remove the skin and cut them into strips.
• Picadillo with potatoes can be stored in the refrigerator for about 3 days in a container.
• If you want, you can add more vegetables like carrots, zucchini or also peas, corn, etc.
• This dish is more delicious the next day, when all flavours are blended and enhanced.

Watch How To Make It