Picadillo Con Calabacin(Zucchini)

Picadillo con calabacin! Ground beef with zucchini! My go to comfort food is Mexican style ground beef simmered in a fresh tomato salsa. Leftover picadillo is perfect for tacos and chiles rellenos. Although, I must confess that I was preparing this picadillo con calabacin(zucchini) specifically for chiles rellenos. I was out of potatoes, so substituted with zucchini. It was delicious!

Video! Video! Video!

Leaving you with the step by step video on how to prepare this easy picadillo recipe. If you add fried potatoes instead of zucchini, that’s more like the recipe mom prepared. Next time I think I will add both zucchini and fried potatoes.

Short and Sweet!

Serve as is with rice, beans and warm tortillas! Or, let picadillo cool and prepared tacos dorados, rellenos, empanadas or enchiladas. I suggest letting the picadillo thicken or drain excess sauce, if using as a filling. But, if you enjoy a big hot bowl of the soupy version, add extra water or broth to fresh blended tomato salsa.

Once you begin preparing homemade corn tortillas and homestyle roasted salsa, store bought will not do! Lol!

Picadillo Con Calabacin(Zucchini)

My most favorite Mexican comfort food! Picadillo!

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 Servings

Ingredients

• Avocado or Olive oil
• 1 cup Onion diced
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 Roma tomatoes roughly chopped
• 2 serrano peppers roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• ground cumin, to taste
• Pinch of oregano
• 3 cups zucchini diced

Instructions

• Preheat 2 tbsp olive oil at medium in a large pot. Add onion and garlic. Season, to taste with salt and pepper. Saute for 4-5 minutes.
• To the blender, add tomatoes and serrano peppers. Blend on high until smooth. Set aside.
• Add the ground beef to the pot with onion and garlic. Use a wooden spoon to break up the beef and spread out evenly. Again, season, to taste with salt and pepper. Stir as needed and cook until it's browned all around.
• Once beef is browned, pour in the tomato salsa from the blender. Stir well to combine. Taste for salt. Season with cumin, to your taste. I typically mix in about 3/4 tsp. Add the pinch of oregano. Continue cooking until the salsa reduces and becomes thicker and slightly darker in color.
• Fold in the zucchini and cook for another 10-13 minutes.
• If you are going to eat as is, then serve it up with some rice, beans and tortillas! I was using it for chile relleno filling and taco filling, so I cooked it down a few minutes longer to reduce a little more.

Notes

Adding fried potatoes as opposed to raw potatoes to your picadillo makes a difference. The flavor of the fried potatoes is so delicious! That was how mom prepared her traditional picadillo for chiles rellenos and tacos dorados.

Tried this recipe?Mention @pinaenlacocina or tag #pinaenlacocina!

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