Broke-Ass Recipes: How to Make Picadillo
By James Conrad.
Picadillo, pronounced “peek-a-dee-yo,” is a traditional dish native to the Spanish-speaking world, particularly Central and South America, as well as the Philippines. Though its age and specific origin is unclear, the name derives from the Spanish verb “picar,” meaning “to mince.” Though it can be eaten alone, it can also be used in tacos, sandwiches, savory pastries, as a topping for nachos or served atop rice.
While the specific recipe varies from region to region, the dish consists of a finely chopped meat, usually beef or chicken, cooked in a tomato and/or chili sauce and mixed with herbs, spices and savory fruits.
What do I need to make picadillo?
For this trip to the kitchen, I picked up three (3) ten-ounce cans of chicken breast in water (nearly two pounds), a pair of 2.25-ounce cans of sliced olives, 12 oz. of sliced jalapeños, and one (1) 15 oz. can each of black beans and whole-kernel corn, along with a couple $1 packets of cornstarch-based taco seasoning (usually Old El Paso) and two (2) 7.75-oz cans of El Pato spicy tomato sauce, which is cheaper than Ortega taco sauce and has all the same ingredients, minus the added sugar, which kills the spiciness.
If you want to use fresh ingredients, by all means, feel free. In general, I use the canned stuff so that the handling, preparation, cooking and clean-up can be executed more quickly and easily. I’m a single guy with a limited amount of time and money living in an SRO with practically zero pantry space except for a mini-fridge and a communal kitchen with no oven – what else am I supposed to do?
I also like to mix the water and/or vinegar contained with the various canned components into the pot so that they retain their flavor. Moreover, the water in which canned whole-kernel corn is packed ends up taking on a little bit of cornstarch, which helps with thickening. Of course, the drawback to this method is that you end up with a dish with each serving containing a little more than one hundred percent of your recommended daily sodium intake. Then again, it’s probably not a bad idea to leave in a little bit of liquid from the canned stuff so that the taco seasoning binds more smoothly to the meat.
Then again, the more aqueous material you add to the mix, the longer it will take for the dish to boil down to a desirable thickness. The choice is yours – do what feels right for you, but use your own best judgement.
First, I preheated a wide, shallow saucepan on high and drained the liquid from the chicken, corn, black beans, olives and jalapeños into it. Once the stock mixture came to a nice big boil, I tossed in the chicken, corn, jalapeños, olives and black beans. After stirring the mixture together, I added the taco seasoning mix, gently dusting it over the top of the meat and veg while continuing to stir.
After that, I added both cans of spicy tomato sauce and turned the burner down. For the next thirty to forty minutes, I let the picadillo simmer, stirring it occasionally so it wouldn’t stick to the bottom.
As I began to see the meat and vegetables steadily rise to the surface, this indicated to me that the sauce was getting less watery. I removed the pot from the heat and let the picadillo stand for about ten to fifteen minutes, giving the sauce a chance to congeal. After that, dinner was served.
Whether you serve this straight up, with rice or on tortillas, it might be a good idea to have a little cheese and/or sour cream handy. Between the jalapeños and the spicy tomato sauce, this dish has a hell of a hot kick to it.
So, how much does it all cost?
That depends, first of all, which type of meat you decide to use. Keep in mind you’ll want something low in fat so the picadillo doesn’t taste all greasy.
As of August 2024, extra lean ground beef costs about $7.50 per pound; chicken breast, approximately seven bucks per pound raw, about five bucks per pound canned. On average, even taking into account someone feeling fancy enough to splurge on venison for ten bucks a pound at Grocery Outlet, you’re looking at spending between $6.50 and $7.50 per pound of meat, and since roughly two pounds is the recommended amount to use for this recipe, so, we’ll call the total mean cost of the meat about fifteen bucks – a nice round figure. Though, because I used canned chicken, I only spent about ten bucks on meat during this cook-up.
The corn, black beans, and packets of taco seasoning and cans of spicy tomato sauce cost me about a buck each, so that’s six in all for that bunch. Add about two-fifty for a jar of sliced jalapeños and five bucks for a couple cans of sliced olives, and you’re looking at dropping between $23.50 and $28.50 just to make the picadillo. If you want to pick up some cheese, sour cream and tortillas to go with it, expect to spend an extra ten bucks, roughly, at Trader Joe’s.
While about $35 to $40, give or take, does sound like a lot to spend just to cook one dish, the upshot of this is that you will have enough picadillo to serve as many as six to eight, possibly ten people, making for about four to six dollars per portion, including the cheese, sour cream and tortillas. Of course, if you make it all for yourself, the pot will easily last you a couple days, which means you don’t have to spend any more money on food during that time if you don’t want to. Best of all, left in the fridge overnight, the picadillo will become thicker and more flavorful as the ingredients continue to mingle.
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