I grew up eating picadillo, ropa vieja, arroz con pollo, and many more Cuban treats. My goal is to create paleo versions of many of my favorite dishes from childhood. Thankfully, some of them, like picadillo, really don’t need any tweaking.
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 white onion
- 2 green peppers
- 15 ounces tomato sauce
- 10 ounces green olives pimento stuffed
- 1 cup raisins
- 2 tsp cumin ground
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- Brown the ground beef in a large pot. I usually use a 12-quart stockpot for picadillo, because anything smaller tends to become too full to mix all of the ingredients without making a mess.
- While the beef is browning, dice the onion and green peppers.
- Once the beef is browned, you may drain it if desired. I usually leave the fat in because I get grass-fed beef, and it does add to the flavor.
- Add the diced onions, green peppers, tomato sauce, olives (drained; you don’t need the brine), raisins, cumin, garlic, pepper, salt, oregano, and vinegar to the pot of ground beef and mix well. You now have picadillo, which you can eat right away, or allow it to simmer for 30-60 minutes .
While this is tagged "chili," it's really not, but my friends refer to it as "Cuban chili," so thought I'd file it under that so they can find it 🙂
If you want to make this for 21-Day Sugar Detox, simply omit the raisins. You can add diced green apple instead, but it tastes great without any extra sweetness.