It’s not easy to find healthy, easy, quick and Weight Watchers friendly recipes made with ground beef; especially recipes that use mostly pantry ingredients.
But this Picadillo recipe is exactly that! And it has been one of my go-to recipes for years @ only 5 WW blue plan smart points per serving!
What is Picadillo?
Picadillo is a traditional dish in many Latin American countries and the Philippines that is similar to hash. It is made with ground beef, tomatoes, raisins, olives, capers and other ingredients that vary by region. It is often served with rice or used as a filling in dishes such as tacos, savory pastries or croquettes. But I prefer to simply serve it over brown rice or cauliflower rice.
Picadillo with Capers
I LOVE my picadillo with not only olives, but with capers too! I’m actually so caper crazy that I vividly remember the first time I had capers. It was in a pasta dish at the Olive Garden restaurant and my first thought was , “where have these glorious little bursts of deliciousness been all my life?!” I was in food love! If you’re not familiar with capers, they are a flower bud from the caper bush (you can read more about it HERE )
Capers are extremely bitter when eaten straight up, so they are generally eaten pickled. That brine essentially turns them into little flavor bombs that elevate simple dishes to entirely new levels. You can read more HERE. But from that day forward I made it my mission to find and create more recipes with capers. My WW Boneless Pork with Caper Sauce is another WW friendly caper recipe and I highly recommend it!
Picadillo with extra lean ground beef
I love making healthy and Weight Watchers friendly recipes with extra lean ground beef and there aren’t enough of them out there. My Hamburger Soup is another one of my faves – it’s only 5 WW blue plan points! Many WW picadillo recipes use ground turkey and although I enjoy it, I can’t give up my ground beef!
Mexican Picadillo
The original recipe I use as a base called for raisins, but since most of my family is not crazy about raisins, I add a little brown sugar instead. And although most Mexican Picadillo recipes include potatoes, I don’t use it. But I do like to add a Mexican flair by including lime and cilantro – this combination gives this recipe such a fresh flavor!
Weight Watchers recipes
If you’re looking for additional WW dinner recipes that use pantry and frozen ingredients, then check out my Healthy Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta and my Healthy Leftover Ham Pasta!
Enjoy…
My Amazon recommendations:
Picadillo
Ingredients
- 2 lbs extra lean ground beef
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 tsp minced or pureed garlic
- 1 green pepper chopped
- 5.5 oz -can tomato paste
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup chopped pitted olives
- 2 tbsp capers drained
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro finely chopped
Garnish:
- lime wedges
- cilantro sprigs
- whole green olives
Instructions
- In a large non-stick skillet, cook ground beef over medium heat until browned. Drain and return to skillet
- Add onions, cook stir. Add garlic and green pepper. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add tomato paste, water, then stir in olives, capers, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, cilantro and Worcestershire sauce.
- Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
- Serve over rice, cauliflower rice or use as a filling for tacos.
Garnish:
- Garnish with cilantro sprigs, lime wedges and whole green olives, if desired. Squeeze lime over dish, if desired.
I love picadillo with all of the flavors going on, I’m going to give this version a try soon!
I hope you enjoy!
I love that this is weight watchers friendly. Looks delish too!
That’s my fave part too!