Crock Pot Picadillo

I love SkinnyTaste recipes. She's never let me down with her recipes. Always easy, flavorful, and if you select right, low carb.

I feel like I should have had Picadillo before but I can't remember. It has all the things I love, so it makes sense to make it.

She's not kidding when she says this serves 11. Especially if you serve it with rice ... I'm serving it with cauliflower rice and it really is about the same.

And, of course, I made modifications to the recipe. I want to use up what's in my pantry so I went with crushed tomatoes (28oz can) and diced tomatoes (28oz can) instead of chopped tomato and tomato sauce. IF you go this route, you don't need water. I wish I would have drained the diced tomatoes because my end meal was a bit soupy...

Which is when I came up with just making it a soup. I scooped out two servings of picadillo for over my cauliflower rice. Then added beef stock and let it go another hour to make soup.

Crock Pot Picadillo
Recipe from SkinnyTaste
Serves 11

2 1/2 lbs 93% lean ground beef

Photo from SkinnyTaste.
She takes the best photos.

1 c minced onion
1 c diced red bell peppers (I didn't include these)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c minced cilantro
1 small tomato, diced
8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 c alcaparrado, manzanilla olives, pimientos, capers or green olives
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 bay leaves
kosher salt and fresh pepper, to taste

Brown meat in a large deep skillet on medium-high heat; season with generously with salt and a little pepper. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat up into small pieces.

When meat is no longer pink, drain all the liquid from pan. Add the onions, garlic and bell peppers to the meat and cook an addition 3-4 minutes.

Transfer the meat to the slow cooker, then add tomato, cilantro, tomato sauce, 1 1/4 cups water, alcaparrado (or olives) [SkinnyTaste note: I usually add some of the brine from the jar for added flavor. JW Note: I did the same] then add the spices.

Set slow cooker to HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 6 to 8.

After it's ready, taste for salt and add more as needed [SkinnyTaste note: I added a little more cumin and garlic powder at the end as well since the crock pot tends to mute the flavors of herbs and spices. JW Note: I did not need this.].

Discard the bay leaves and serve over brown rice.

This does not include the rice.
Serving: 1/2 cup,
Calories: 207kcal,
Carbohydrates: 5g,
Protein: 28g,
Fiber: 1g,