Ground Beef Taco Filling - Picadillo
I love this filling for tacos or burritos. Again, with our high-quality ground beef the taste is as good as (or better than) shredded beef. Also, I don’t usually follow a recipe exactly—sometimes you need to make it how you like it so, if there is something you don’t like…leave it out or switch it up…for example, if you like bell peppers better than green chiles then use what you like. If you like mushrooms-add them.
Ingredients
(1 pound) Ground Beef
(1/2 Cup - Diced) Onion
(4 cloves) Minced Garlic
(1 small can) Diced Green Chilies
(1 15 ounce Can) Petite Diced Tomatoes
(1/4 Cup - Optional) Cilantro
(1/2 - 1 Teaspoon - to taste) Chili Powder
(1/4 teaspoon) Cumin
(1/2 teaspoon) Oregano
(to taste) Salt
(to taste) Pepper
Directions:
First, sauté the onions for a few minutes then add ground beef and garlic. Cook for a few minutes smashing up the ground beef in the pan. I usually just put the whole pound in the pan and use a fork to smash, separate and cook. As it is getting towards being done add the green chiles and I use about half a can of the tomatoes and a little juice of the tomatoes. Stir all together as it is still cooking.
Turn to simmer and add the spices. These are approximate measurements, and you can adjust for taste. ½-1 teaspoon chili powder, ¼ teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon oregano, salt and pepper to taste.
I also finely chop fresh cilantro, because I LOVE cilantro, and add it when you add the spices. I like lots of condiments, so I usually add more but start small and add to it!
Sometimes I swap tomato sauce for the tomatoes if I want it a little more saucy….or if that is what I have in the cupboard.
Budget saving tricks: In Mexico sometimes we can only have a little bit of meat so a yummy trick I learned was using potatoes in with the ground beef. You par cook some potatoes, dice them small, cook up like hash browns and add them to the beef mixture. Add when you add the peppers. We prefer the recipe with potatoes! It’s delicious and really extends the meal for nearly no extra cost!
Serve taco style or burrito style:
This is what we use:
Tortilla that is par cooked and you finish cooking it just before eating
Homemade Refried Beans (previous post)
Shredded lettuce
Grated Cheese (We use Queso Fresco crumbled, yum!)
Fresh Salsa (I’ll add the recipe to the website)
Guacamole (Mashed avocados with salt—that’s it, plain and simple)
