Picadillo Con Papas

The ultimate comfort food, Picadillo con papas is a ground beef dish made with diced onions, garlic, peppers, spices, and potatoes.

If you want to get even more traditional you can add olives or raisins to the mixture, but Edwin doesn’t like those additions soooo I don’t include them.

Picadillo con papas can be eaten on its own, or it can used to stuff empanadas, pastelitos, or as the meat layer to Dominican-style lasagna.

Picadillo Con Papas Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy dish:

Ground beef: You can also sub ground chicken or turkey if you’d like!

Potatoes: Diced small so that they can cook along with the beef.

Peppers, garlic, onions, and a bay leaf: For flavor.

Spices: We’ll be using paprika, oregano, adobo, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper.

Beef broth: I just combine beef bouillon powder and water.

Red wine vinegar: You can also use white vinegar.

Tomato paste: You can sub tomato puree if you have that on hand.

How to Make Picadillo Con Papas

Here’s how to make this dish:

Step 1: Prep your ingredients.

The first thing you’ll do is chop all of your veggies, get out your spices, and dice the potatoes.

Note: I leave the diced potatoes in cold water so that they don’t brown while I let the meat sit for a bit.

Step 2: Season the beef.

Add the beef, spices, chopped veggies, and red wine vinegar to the beef. Mix to combine and let sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes. (You can also let it marinade in the fridge overnight. Just make sure to let it come to room temperature before cooking.)

Step 3: Brown the beef.

Over medium-high heat, add a touch of olive oil to a skillet with high sides. Once hot, add the beef and cook until browned, about 7 minutes. Drain out any excess fat and then put the mixture back onto the heat.

Step 4: Add the potatoes and cook the picadillo.

Add the potatoes, beef broth, tomato paste, and bay leaves and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat, and let simmer for about 15 minutes. The uncover and let simmer for another 10-15 minutes, or until the liquid is mostly cooked out.