Whole30 Picadillo is one of my favorite Puerto Rican dishes I've learned from my husband's family. We eat Puerto Rican food often, but this is one dish my husband always makes the best. This is his family recipe, and it's my favorite version of picadillo.
Why is Picadillo called Picadillo?
Picadillo is a meat mixture from Latin American cuisine. The literal definition is a spicy Latin American has or stew of meat vegetables often with raisins and olives.
Different cultures have different variations. Within different cultures even, different families put their own spin on it. You'll never find a picadillo that's exactly the same as another!
Ingredients Needed for Whole30 Picadillo
- Ground Beef
- Sofrito
- Sazon
- Adobo
- Spanish Olives
- Cilantro
- Tomato Sauce
- Annotto Oil (see below)
- Water
Whole Foods Picadillo Recipe Sourcing
When it comes to the sofrito, at least here in CT, almost all of the store bought varieties contain soy, unsafe food coloring, and sometime more questionable ingredients. The best option is to get it homemade.
There are many recipes online you could make. Personally, my husband's abuela taught us to make it, and we make our own in large quantities and freeze it.
Where I live in a very diverse area, there are some small Hispanic stores where I could buy it made fresh and authentic, without additives and unclean ingredients. You could also buy it in person from someone in the Hispanic community.
Especially around Christmas time, some Hispanic women sell pasteles, and some offer sofrito year round as well. If you're not sure where to look, check Facebook Marketplace as I've seen some sold on there.
For the Annotto seed oil, this is something Hispanic cooks have ready for regular cooking, but if you're new to Hispanic recipes you may not be familiar with it. My husband loves the color this adds to foods.
Place the seeds in a pan and cover with coconut oil. Simmer for a few minutes, until you the seeds have given off a lot of color to the oil. You then strain the oil and can discard the seeds, keeping the oil for adding to recipes.
For this recipe, you'll need to use 4 tablespoons of oil, so when making it, be sure you'll have enough after you strain the seeds out.
You can use just plain coconut or avocado oil if you don't have the seeds on hand or even omit it completely, but it adds such a striking color!
What to Serve with Paleo Picadillo
There are SO many uses for Puerto Rican Picadillo! My husband and I love to let it be the star of the meal.
Typically, we serve it over white rice. The rice is perfect for soaking up the sauce and absorbing the flavors!
When I'm doing Whole30, my favorite way to keep it Whole30 Picadillo is to serve it on top of yucca. Boil the frozen yucca according to package instructions, remove the woody stems, and serve! So yummy! It's one of my favorite Whole30 meals, and quite filling!
Picadillo can also be stuffed inside of foods such as empanadas, papas rellenas, or arepas. If you're using this recipe to stuff something, reduce the amount of liquid used.
Specifically, reduce the tomato sauce, water, and oil. That way your mixture isn't soaking the empanada dough or whatever you're stuffing.
I also love serving this Paleo Picadillo with homemade tostones! They are also Whole30 compatible and the perfect way to scoop that picadillo straight to your mouth!
Storage instructions for Whole30 Picadillo
Once cooled or mostly cooled, store it in an air tight container in the fridge.
It will keep up to 3 days safely.
To reheat, either place it in the oven until warm, or reheat it on the stove top.
Can you freeze Picadillo?
Yes, you can freeze picadillo! It freezes well.
Freeze it in a reusable air tight container.
To thaw, either defrost it in the fridge, or monitor it under running water.
Is Ground Beef Whole30 Compatible?
Yes it absolutely is! For a complete list of what is or isn't Whole30 compatible, check out this post.
Paleo Picadillo Recipe
Whole30 Picadillo (Paleo, Puerto Rican)
Equipment
- 1 Knife
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Large Skillet or Dutch Oven
- 1 wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb ground beef
- ¼ cup sofrito
- 2 teaspoon sazon
- 2 teaspoon adobo
- 2.5 oz jar of spanish olives
- ½ to ¾ bunch cilantro
- 8 oz. can tomato sauce
- 4 tablespoon annatto oil see above in post
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Heat a skillet on medium heat. Add ground beef and break up while it cooks.
- When the beef is halfway cooked, add the sofrito and mix in, then add the sofrito and adobo and mix in.
- Drain the olives and add to the beef, and as it all continues to cook, break up the olives along with the beef.
- Chop off any dirty ends of the cilantro, and break into half pieces with your hands. Throughout the remainder of cooking, add pieces of the cilantro in and mix, letting them mix in and wilt before adding more.
- Add the tomato sauce in and mix, adding more cilantro.
- Mix in the annatto oil and water.
- Let everything simmer for about 10 minutes, continuing to break up beef and olives, and adding more cilantro. Serve!
Notes
More Whole30 Dinners to Try
Did you make this recipe? What were your thoughts? Let me know below!
Post a picture on Instagram and tag me @thecleanhappylife! I'd love to see how you served it too!
Note-this post contains affiliate links, which earn me a small commission, but at no extra cost to you! Thank you for your support!
Shoshana says
Can you please clarify the ingredients? You have sofrito listed twice, but the link goes to sazon, not sofrito. Just want to be sure I get what I need; I have a TON of frozen yuca (purchased to make New Year's sancocho) and would love to try this recipe with Beyond Beef.
Thank you!
Rachel Rivera says
Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention! I've updated the post and the recipe. You do want both sofrito and sazon. Any questions let me know! 🙂 Enjoy!
Rachel Rivera says
Also, I LOVE sancocho! That was the first Puerto Rican meal I ever had, made my my husband's abuela when I first met her. So yummy!
Tamara says
I need to try this!
thecleanhappylife says
Sure do! Hope you enjoy it!
Mike Worley says
Me gusta picadillo tan mucho. Gracias por todo.
thecleanhappylife says
De nada mi amigo, yo tambien!
Laia says
This looks SO good, I can’t wait to try it!!! I am always looking for new exciting recipes and this one is getting printed right this very second. Thanks for sharing!!
thecleanhappylife says
Aww that makes me happy, thank you soooo much!! Enjoy 🥰
Annie says
Looks delicious! Could you make this with other than beef or would that be an abomination to the recipe?
thecleanhappylife says
😂😂 haha I won't tell if you don't! Lol jk I believe it is traditionally made with beef, however I know some vegans will make it with plant based "meat", so try whatever you'd like and see how it comes out!
The Hollapinos says
That looks so delicious! Now I’m hungry! Thank you!
thecleanhappylife says
It's so delicious, you'll have to try it!!
Naia says
This looks amazing! I’ve been trying to find new recipes to try and this looks amazing! Do you think it’s possible to do some vegetarian twist on this recipe? Thank you so much!
thecleanhappylife says
Thank you!! I'm personally not sure how that would work since I've never tried it, but I would try that meat substitute Beyond Meat. I know I've seen it at Target and my local grocery store! It looks just like regular ground beef, so worth a shot!
Naia says
Haha, okay, great! Thank you so much!