Crockpot Picadillo
Getting a healthy flavorful meal on the table for dinner should not be the most dreaded task of your day. With a little prep work and help from your crockpot, dinner is the least of your worries. I love this Crockpot Picadillo because it is healthy, tasty, comfortable food that is prepped ahead and ready to go for those busy nights that you don’t feel like cooking.
I don’t know about you, but I love when I can grab and go. Right after I went to the grocery store this week, I prepped two of these Crockpot Picadillo Meals for the freezer. It was just a matter of cutting up some veggies, browning some meat, and measuring it into the gallon freezer bags. When we need a quick dinner I can pull one of these bags out of the freezer, dump it into the crockpot completely frozen and let it work its magic while I am away. Today I came home to the most welcoming aroma, and all I had to do was make rice and a side salad for dinner.
You don’t have to make this ahead as a freezer meal, although it does make life a bit easier. You can brown your meat and dice your veggies right before it goes into the crockpot. It will still be just as satisfyingly delicious when it is ready.
Before you ask, I browned my meat in a skillet first for a couple of reasons. Number one, I could drain off the fat. I didn’t want that in my dinner. Number two, the meat comes out with a much better texture.
This meal is perfect if you are on Whole 30, 21 Day Fix, or just trying to eat healthily. Watch your portions, this one is good!
Crockpot Picadillo
Print RecipeIngredients
- 2 1/2 lbs ground beef
- 1 cup minced onion
- 1 cup diced red bell peppers
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
- 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup sliced green olives
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 2 bay leaves
- kosher salt and fresh pepper to taste
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Season the beef with salt and pepper and use a wooden spoon to break it up into small pieces.
- When meat is no longer pink, drain all the liquid from pan.
- In a 5 qt or larger crockpot add the meat and all of the additional ingredients.
- Set crockpot to HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 6 to 8.
- After it’s ready, taste and add additional seasonings if necessary
- Discard the bay leaves and serve over rice.Freezer Meal
- Brown the ground beef and drain. Place the meat and all of the ingredients inside a gallon freezer Ziploc bag and label. When ready dump contents of bag into crockpot and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 6 to 8.