Meat, olives & raisins...together. Sounds like they shouldn’t be together, right? To those whose first reaction is confusion & maybe even skepticism, I’m here to tell you it’s magical! Picadillo is a traditional dish in many Latin American countries and the Philippines. It is often served with rice or as a filling in dishes such as tacos and savory pastries. The name comes from the Spanish word picar, meaning ‘to mince’.

Picadillo isn’t always made with ground beef. In Costa Rica versions are made with vegetables as the main ingredient. Some regions in Cuba make theirs with ground beef, spices and white wine. Areas in the Dominican Republic add hard boiled eggs to their beef Picadillo. Other countries such as the Philippines and Mexico use chicken or fish instead of beef in their versions. Oh...and Puerto Rico sometimes uses rum-soaked raisins (a fun detail my family seemed to have ”forgotten about”)!

My version of Picadillo uses vegan ‘ground beef’ and raisins. Although, now that I’ve just learned about this rum-soaked raisin thing, I may have to circle back with a Picadillo 2.0! This recipe is incredibly easy, packed full of flavor and able to be used for a ton of different recipes.

Notes & Substitutions:

Equipment: A Cast Iron Skillet is not necessary but I believe it makes everything taste better. If you have one, you might as well use it.
Sofrito: Another recipe where you get to pull out the batch of sofrito in your freezer!
Vegan Meat: You can use TVP, crumbled up tofu or my favorite, Beyond Meat frozen crumbles or ground beef.

Ingredients: See ‘A Pinch, A Dash & A Smidge’ for measuring references.

Ground beef substitute (I use one bag of frozen crumbles or half a pack of vegan ground beef)
1-2 dollops of sofrito
1-2 dollops of tomato paste
A handful of spanish olives
A handful of raisins
A smidge of cooking oil
A tad of Adobo Seasoning
A couple splashes of water
A couple pinches or ½ a packet of Sazon Seasoning

Instructions:

Get your cast iron skillet or frying pan nice and hot.
On high heat, add cooking oil & sofrito. Saute sofrito for about 10-15 seconds.
Turn down heat to medium and add in meat substitute, tomato paste, olives, raisins, Adobo, Sazon and water.
Let simmer for about 10 minutes or so. Ingredients should be mixed well and should be just a little saucy. You will start to smell all those delicious herbs and spices partying in the hot tub together! Tip: If you are using Beyond frozen crumbles or ground beef, make sure not to overcook! In my experience, if you cook it too long, it gets very hard.