Cuban Picadillo is a typical dish from the Antillean Island that showcases the representative flavors of Latin American gastronomy. This distinctive meat stew, with plenty of sautéed vegetables, and ingredients like raisins, olives, and even capers, combines into a singular blend of savory and sweet flavors.
The intense taste of this stew is mellowed with chunks of potatoes, and the starch from the potatoes adds a certain creaminess to the preparation. To keep this dish entirely Weight Watchers-friendly, we’ll use just a few potatoes, but enough to provide the perfect balance of flavors.
Latin American cuisine is often greasy and heavily spiced, allowing for meats with up to 8% fat in many recipes. However, we recommend using lean meat, which is much better for your health. For this recipe, we’ll use lean ground beef with 97% meat and 3% fat.
Why tries this recipe?
1. This dish is an explosion of flavors and a great opportunity to explore the tastes of other countries while honoring their culture.
2. This recipe is quite versatile, as you can use it as a main dish accompanied by a salad for a complete meal. Or you could use it as a filling for other preparations, such as empanadas, burritos, or tacos.
3. You can adapt the recipe as much as you want while keeping it within the Weight Watchers standard. For example, you can use fewer raisins or potatoes, substitute potatoes with carrots to minimize points, or even replace olives with capers. It’s worth noting that many Cuban households use the trio: olives, capers, and raisins. So, substituting olives with capers, which are lighter, is a good option.
Serving size: 240 g. Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
4 WW Points Per Serving (full breakdown below)
Ingredients
- 500 grams of lean ground beef, 97% lean meat
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped, 100 g.
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped, 100 g.
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground red pepper (optional)
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, with their juice
- 2 tbsp raisins, 20 g.
- 10 olives, 30 g.
- 2 cups potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
- Salt to taste
Instructions for making Cuban Picadillo
1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes more.
2. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking up any clumps with a spoon, until browned, about 10 minutes.
3. Stir in the cumin, black pepper, and red pepper (if using). Cook for 1 minute more.
4. Add the diced tomatoes, with their juice, raisins, olives, and potatoes. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
5. Season with salt to taste. Serve hot.
Additional notes:
- The order in which you add the ingredients is important. The onion and garlic should be cooked first to soften them, then the bell pepper, then the ground beef. The spices should be added after the ground beef is browned.
- If you don’t have a red bell pepper, you can use a green or yellow bell pepper.
- If the picadillo is too dry, you can add a little water or broth.
Variations and substitutions
1. This dish is generally made with beef, but you could use ground pork or even ground turkey breast, which is completely lean and very delicious.
2. If possible, you could add dried ancho chilies or any other mild chili to intensify the flavors even more.
3. Some versions of this dish include a small glass of wine, but since we want to keep it Weight Watchers-friendly, it’s better without wine.
Tips and Tricks Section for making Cuban Picadillo
Latin American cooking is often slow; the dynamics of southern countries are likely gentler, so the dishes follow this pattern. If you want a Cuban Picadillo that melts in your mouth, cook it slowly, either using a crockpot or simply simmering in a pot.
If you feel the need for more liquid during cooking, add it without hesitation, preferably using broth if possible.
When serving, sprinkle some cilantro on top.
WW Points
Uncooked extra lean ground beef 13 points
Olive Oil 4 points
Olives 2 points
Uncooked potatoes 5 points
Red bell pepper 0 points
Canned diced tomatoes 0 point
Raisins 2 points
Salt 0 point
Related Recipes
Cuban Picadillo
Ingredients
- 500 grams of lean ground beef, 97% lean meat
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped, 100 g.
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped, 100 g.
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground red pepper (optional)
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, with their juice
- 2 tbsp raisins, 20 g.
- 10 olives, 30 g.
- 2 cups potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes more.
- Add the ground beef and cook, breaking up any clumps with a spoon, until browned, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the cumin, black pepper, and red pepper (if using). Cook for 1 minute more.
- Add the diced tomatoes, with their juice, raisins, olives, and potatoes. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
- Season with salt to taste. Serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
