Slow Cooker Picadillo

This slow cooker picadillo is a traditional Cuban dish made with ground beef, peppers, tomatoes, raisins and olives. It has a unique but delicious flavor, and is commonly served with rice.

Jump to:

• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 💭 Top tips
• 🥗 Serving suggestions
• 📖 Variations
• 🍲 Leftovers
• 🍴 You might also like these recipes..
• 📋 Frequently asked questions
• Recipe

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It's time to bring out your slow cooker for this one! Although picadillo is often prepared in a skillet, slow cooking is easier, saves you time on busy afternoons, and brings more flavor out of the dish.

A slow cooker also allows you to make a very large batch of picadillo. As the dish is suitable for freezing, you can double or triple the recipe and freeze leftovers for quick and easy future meals.

🥘 Ingredients

To make this slow cooker picadillo you will need ground beef, onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, canned diced tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes), green pepper, raisins and green olives. You will also need vegetable oil, salt and pepper.

Additionally, you will need a slow cooker. Crockpot is a very popular brand, but any slow cooker will do!

🔪 Instructions

First, you should heat up vegetable oil in a skillet or frying pan on medium heat. Add the ground beef, and brown the meat. Season with some salt and pepper. Check out my guide on how to brown mince if you need some guidance.

When the meat has browned, add finely diced onion. Sauté for a few minutes until the onion is soft and translucent. Then, add finely grated garlic and saute for another minute.

💡 TIP! For a quick version of the dish, you can add raw onion, garlic and ground beef directly to the slow cooker. The dish will have slightly less flavor, but it's a great option if you're busy!

Transfer the beef and onion to a slow cooker. Add diced peppers, oregano, cumin and canned tomatoes.

Slow cook the picadillo on high for 4-6 hours, or on low for 6-8 hours. Add the raisins and olives in the last hour of cooking. Serve the dish warm with your favorite side dishes.

💭 Top tips

Here are my top tips to make the best slow cooker picadillo:

• Avoid removing the lid from the slow cooker while the dish cooks. If you remove the lid, a lot of heat will escape, and the cooking time will be significantly increased. You don't have to stir or touch it at all, just leave it alone!
• Browning the meat and sautéing the onion will improve the flavor of the dish, but is not required. You can choose whether you want to prioritize flavor or ease of cooking.

🥗 Serving suggestions

Here are some of my favorite ways to serve slow cooker picadillo.

With rice: Plain white rice, or red beans and coconut rice are both excellent with picadillo. This is a very common way to enjoy the dish.

With vegetables: Serve it with roasted or grilled vegetables for a healthy meal. I suggest roasted green beans, grilled pineapple or roasted peppers as tasty side dishes.

In tacos or enchiladas: Replace your typical taco meat or enchilada filling with picadillo. The meat has a Latin American flair, which makes it perfect for Mexican and Tex Mex dishes. Picadillo tacos is a personal favorite of mine!

In pastries: You can also use this as a filling in savory pies or pastries. This is a very convenient snack or meal, especially if you're on the go.

📖 Variations

Picadillo is one of those Latin American dishes where every family have their own recipe and method. Although some ingredients are very common and considered traditional, you can definitely vary the dish to suit your preferences. Here are some of my favorite variations:

Vegetarian / vegan: Use a vegetable based ground beef alternative. In my experience, vegetarian meat tends to cook much faster than actual beef, so if you use this variety, you might have to reduce the cooking time.

No raisins / no olives: Although common, I understand that these ingredients are not to everyone's taste. They can both be eliminated, as the dish will taste perfectly fine without olives or raisins.

Low fat: Use lean meat, and make sure to drain any excess fat from the meat before you transfer it to the slow cooker if you prefer a lower fat content.

🍲 Leftovers

Here is how you can best store your leftovers:

Storage: You can store leftover picadillo in a refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow it to chill, and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking it. Reheat the leftovers before serving them.

Freezing: If you want to chill leftover picadillo, you should leave it to chill, then freeze it within 2 hours of cooking. Thaw the frozen dish in a refrigerator overnight, then reheat it before serving.

Reheating: Picadillo can be reheated in a microwave or in a pot on the stove top. Simply reheat until it's hot throughout, then serve.

Meal prep / make ahead: This dish is perfect for meal prep. You can double or triple the recipe to make a big batch, then refrigerate or freeze as you please. Reheat portions as required for quick and easy meals.

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📋 Frequently asked questions

Recipe