Beyond Taco Night: This Authentic Picadillo Is the Comfort Food You’ve Been Missing

Traditional meals belonging to a specific country often require some not less specific ingredients that this country’s citizens are used to having in their houses 24/7.

However, this isn’t the case for quite many dishes that have become popular across the world, including the picadillo that originally comes from Latin America and varies depending on the country. Here, you’ll only need those ingredients that you usually use for cooking your favorite comfort food, so don’t hesitate to try something new tonight.

Ingredients: 350 g of ground beef, 1 onion, about 10 pitted olives, 200 ml of tomato juice, about 2 tbsp of pitted raisins, 0.5 tsp of salt, 1-2 tbsp of vegetable oil, 0.5 tsp of cumin, 3 cloves of garlic, hot red pepper to taste.

Peel the onion, dice it finely, and sauté in vegetable oil until lightly golden.

Push the onions to one side of the pan and place the ground beef in the empty space. Immediately break up the ground beef with a spatula so it doesn’t fry into a single clump. Over medium heat, stir the ground beef until cooked through.

Add the chopped olives, rinsed raisins, red chili pepper, and cumin to the nearly cooked ground beef. Stir, taste for salt, and add more salt as needed.

Pour in the tomato juice and continue simmering the dish over slightly below medium heat for another 8–10 minutes, so the sauce thickens and excess moisture evaporates.

At the end of simmering, add the garlic pressed through a garlic press, stir, heat the dish for another 2–3 minutes, and remove from heat.

Picadillo is traditionally served with boiled rice or beans.