Crock Pot Picadillo-

Aross83 · January 2013

Hi All,
I am going to make this tonight and it looks so good i wanted to share.. Gata Love SkinnyTaste.com
I am also going to use ground chicken or turkey depending on prices at the store today.

Picadillo, a flavorful Cuban dish made with ground beef and a sauce made from simmering tomatoes, green olives, bell peppers, cumin, and spices is one of my families favorite weeknight meals.

Trust me on this one, if you want a recipe the whole family will love, this is it! I grew up on this dish and my friends used to love eating over when my mom made it for dinner. This was probably one of the first recipes I ever learned how to cook and I make it at least once a month, although usually on the stove. (stove top version here) It's inexpensive, kid-friendly, freezer friendly and gluten-free.

I knew this would adapt nicely for the slow cooker, and I was right! In fact, I think it's even better since the lean beef cooks longer and becomes very tender the longer it simmers.

This makes a lot, so you'll get several meals out of it. We serve it over brown rice, we make tacos with the leftovers, and I am going to post a second recipe using the leftovers. Don't you love a recipe that can serve as two different meals!

Anytime you use ground beef in the crock pot, you'll need to brown it first on the stove. Since the skillet is already out, I threw the onions, peppers and garlic in with the meat to let the flavors bloom.

If you want to prep this the night before, the meat is fully cooked, so you can add all the ingredients into the crock pot, then refrigerate. The next morning plug it in and go to work, or go on with your day. When you come home, you'll just have to make some rice and a salad and dinner is ready!

By the way, lean beef is the meat of choice for this dish in my house, but you can also use lean bison or ground turkey if desired. Raisins are commonly added to this dish, but we prefer this without.

Slow Cooker Picadillo
Skinnytaste.com
Servings:11 • Size:1/2 cup • Old Points: 4 pts • Weight Watchers Points+:4 pts
Calories:170 • Fat:7 g • Protein:22.5 g • Carb:4.5 g • Fiber:1 g • Sugar:1.5 g
Sodium:237 mg (without the salt)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lbs 93% lean ground beef
1 cup minced onion
1 cup diced red bell peppers
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1 small tomato, diced
8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 cup alcaparrado (manzanilla olives, pimientos, capers) or green olives
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 bay leaves
kosher salt and fresh pepper, to taste

Directions:

Brownmeat in a large deep skillet on medium-highheat; seasonwith generously with salt and a little pepper. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat up into small pieces. When meat is no longer pink, drainall the liquid from pan. Addthe onions, garlic and bell peppers to the meat and cookan addition 3-4 minutes.

Transferthe meat to the slow cooker, then addtomato, cilantro, tomato sauce, 1 1/4 cups water, alcaparrado (or olives) [I usually add some of the brine from the jar for added flavor] then addthe spices.

Set slow cooker to HIGHfor 3 to 4 hours or LOWfor 6 to 8. After it's ready, taste for salt and addmore as needed [I added a little more cumin and garlic powder at the end as well since the crock pot tends to mute the flavors of herbs and spices]. Discard the bay leaves and serveover brown rice.

Makes about 5 3/4 cups.

Serve this with 3/4 cups brown rice for an 8 point meal and a salad on the side

liya368 · January 2013

I was planning on making this on Friday. Let us know how it is :happy:

concordancia · January 2013

I have recently found sofrito (the mix of veggies) in pouches in the soup section (knorr), but when I lived in other areas it was available in the frozen section (I believe it was Goya). With the sofrito already prepared, this can be a quick meal that only takes about as long as it takes to brown the meat, even for those of us who don't have a crock pot.

Aross83 · January 2013

I have recently found sofrito (the mix of veggies) in pouches in the soup section (knorr), but when I lived in other areas it was available in the frozen section (I believe it was Goya). With the sofrito already prepared, this can be a quick meal that only takes about as long as it takes to brown the meat, even for those of us who don't have a crock pot.

~ Yup I Make Fresh Sofrito all the time.. Puertorican Version. the woman I work with gave me her recipe. its amazing stuff!
i put it in marinades and rice and beans.. i even put it in a blackbean and corn salad.. such flavor with no fat!

DeborahBatewell · January 2013

thanks for sharing

missindepndnt86 · January 2013

Just got this one in my e-mail! It's definitely on my list of meals for next month (since all January's meals are already planned). I love love LOVE Skinnytaste, Gina is genious! I make about 90% of my meals from her site! Are there any other sites like Skinnytaste that y'all use??