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Keto Cuban Picadillo

Keto Cuban Picadillo, because this girl grew up on picadillo and it was time a low carb keto-friendly version made an appearance.

When it comes to foods I associate with comfort, a Cuban picadillo is at the top of my list.  It was a dish my mom made frequently and for good reason since it was a tasty, fast, and budget-friendly meal.

It’s a good thing that this ground beef recipe is one that can be made easily with basic pantry items.

However, this childhood favorite needed a low-carb makeover if it was going to be enjoyed in our home.

My keto picadillo was made keto by omitting the typical raisins and diced potatoes. By doing so I now had a low carb Cuban picadillo that had all the flavor I loved minus the high carbs.

Although my recipe for picadillo keto recipe is a Cuban version, there are variations of picadillo in many parts of the world that with a little tweaking could also be made keto-friendly.

If you are a fan of picadillo then also make sure you check out my keto Moroccan picadillo recipe for a delightful twist.

Why not reserve a cup of that easy keto-friendly picadillo and make some keto ground beef empanadas too!

Be sure to also check out our Keto Cuban Recipes for more flavorful options!

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Easy Keto Cuban Picadillo

Keto Cuban Picadillo

This recipe for low carb picadillo is a simple dish that gets its flavor by cooking ground beef in a sauce of tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, oregano, cumin, green olives, capers, and a little dry white wine.

You should note that the dry white cooking wine is optional but it does add lots of flavors. In the case of picadillo, the cheap salted kind is best.

In both Cuban and Dominican picadillo raisins and potatoes are added. But both these are no-no’s when making a keto picadillo. So for obvious reasons they were not added to the recipe.

Although I couldn’t come up with a substitute for raisins in my picadillo keto recipe, I do have a suggestion for replacing the potatoes that are customary in this dish. That’s the use of finely cubed turnips.

For simplicity’s sake, I left the turnips out of this recipe but you can add 1/4 cup of raw turnips during the sautéing step and it would only increase your carbs by .5 grams per serving.

Whenever I have turnips on hand, I will use them in a recipe to substitute potatoes. Because it really mimics the texture wonderfully. And since it absorbs the flavor of what you are cooking it just works well.

Traditionally, picadillo is served over a bed of white rice, but rice, of course, has way too many carbs. So I serve my Keto Cuban picadillo with cauliflower rice instead.

Cauliflower rice makes a fantastic substitute for white rice since its texture is very similar and the flavor is quite bland.

These days you can pick up a bag of frozen cauliflower rice in most supermarkets, which is a huge win for the keto world.

Keto Picadillo Recipe

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Keto Moroccan picadillo is a simple dish that gets its flavor by cooking ground beef with the exotic flavors of Morocco. The warm spices as well as Harissa paste is the basis of this very flavorful dish.
Keto Picadillo With Cauliflower Rice

A form of picadillo can be found on several continents around the world. This minced meat dish also serves as a filling for recipes such as empanadas, and hand-pies.

For those who don’t know my dad is Cuban and my mom is from the Dominican Republic, so my keto picadillo has influences from them both.

But if I had to choose which of the two countries have influenced this recipe more, I would have to say Cuba.

My mom would be the first to tell you that her cooking has become more Cuban and that she kinda lost a lot of her D.R. cooking roots after she married my dad. This is a shame because I would have loved to have learned more of her traditional recipes.

However, I can’t help to think that at play here is the fact that she has lived for over 40 years in Miami, where a large community of Cubans reside.

Cauliflower Rice
Cauliflower Rice

In the Dominican Republic picadillo includes a few slices of boiled eggs and a little beef bullion. And although this recipe doesn’t include these, I highly encourage you to also try to make your keto picadillo this way.

If you add a tablespoon of dry bullion powder make sure to reduce the salt called for in this recipe by half.

In both a Cuban and Dominican picadillo raisins and potatoes are added. But both these are no-no’s while doing a ketogenic diet so they have been intentionally left out of this recipe.

Also for a Dominican Keto Picadillo add two sliced boiled eggs to the entire dish as a garnish before serving. I must admit that the boiled egg adds both a nice taste and texture to a keto picadillo.

For a Mexican Keto Picadillo, you can add some chilies and serve with sliced lime. So as you can see I have given you several keto picadillo recipes that will allow you to customize them to your liking.

Tag Us

I sure hope you give this picadillo keto recipe a try. Once you do, make sure you remember to tag us on Instagram and Facebook.

Be sure you also visit our Keto Hispanic Food for more Latin recipes!

It’s what keeps this girl encouraged to keep sharing and perfecting her recipes.

Also, check out our Amazon Store for our recommendations. You might be surprised by how many great keto options are at your disposal.

Grab Our Books!

In case you don’t know we have authored two books for you, Essential Keto Bread and Essential Keto Desserts both inspired by your requests over the years. It’s my prayer these keto cookbooks will help make keto a delicious breeze for you.

Join Our Jesus And Keto Movement 

Looking for an online support system to help you stay the course on keto? As a family, we came to the keto diet looking at it from a Christian perspective. As believers, we live our lives supported by God’s grace.

So when the Holy Spirit led us to combine our Christian faith and the keto diet, we did so in hopes of finding lasting transformation. When we followed the Holy Spirit’s prompting to we got on the path to real transformation. 

Knowing firsthand the benefits of this decision we have created a closed Christian group that is using the keto diet to transform their lives.  We invite you to join our Private Facebook Group and see if it’s not the key you have been missing.

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Keto Cuban Picadillo

Keto Cuban Picadillo

Yield: 10
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Additional Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Keto Cuban Picadillo is a low carb version of the classic Cuban Picadillo. It's dish where ground beef is cooked in a tomato sauce that is flavored with peppers, onions, oregano, cumin and green olives.

Ingredients

Keto Cuban Picadillo

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
  2. Sauté the onions, garlic, green peppers, until tender and translucent. If adding the optional turnips, also cook at this time until they are fork-tender.
  3. Next, raise the temperature to high and brown the ground beef making sure to break up the pieces.
  4. Add the tomato paste, canned or fresh diced tomatoes, cooking wine, olives, capers and mix well.
  5. To the ground beef add salt, dried oregano, cumin, black pepper.
  6. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook for about 20 minutes.
  7. Lastly, check the seasonings. Garnish with fresh cilantro or parsley or hard-boiled egg slices.
  1. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 weeks.

Notes

You can omit the 1/4 cup of white wine. If you do increase the apple cider vinegar to 3 tablespoons and stir in at the end of the cooking.

You can add 1 cup of raw small cubed turnips in step two if you are wanting a potato substitute. The turnips will add .5 more carbs per serving.

Optional: garnish with one boiled egg sliced.

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 350Total Fat: 12.9gSaturated Fat: 4.3gCholesterol: 167mgSodium: 150mgCarbohydrates: 4.9gNet Carbohydrates: 9gFiber: 1gSugar: 2.6gProtein: 35.2g

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