Cuban Picadillo-Stuffed Peppers

About This Recipe

These stuffed peppers borrow directly from picadillo, Cuba's signature ground beef dish known for its distinctive sweet-savory-briny balance: raisins and a touch of sugar against green olives and capers, all built on a tomato sofrito. Stuffing that filling into bell peppers turns it into a complete, portioned dinner, with the pepper itself softening in the oven until it practically melts against the filling. The key to good picadillo is letting the sofrito and tomato cook down properly before the meat goes back in -- a rushed sauce tastes thin and one-note. Raisins get added toward the end so they plump slightly in the sauce rather than turning hard, and the olives and capers go in last so their brine stays bright instead of cooking away. A squeeze of lime and fresh herbs at serving time lifts the richness of the beef. Baked until the peppers are tender and the tops are lightly browned, this dish turns a Cuban skillet classic into a dinner-party-worthy presentation without much extra effort.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 4bell peppers(tops cut off, seeded)
• 1 lbground beef
• 2 tbspolive oil
• 1onion(finely diced)
• 3 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 1 cuptomato sauce
• 1tomato(diced)
• 0.33 cupraisins
• 0.33 cupgreen olives(sliced)
• 1 tbspcapers
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tspdried oregano
• 1 tspgranulated sugar
• 1lime(juiced)
• 0.5 cupcooked white rice(optional, for filling)
• 0.25 cupcilantro or parsley(chopped)

Instructions

1. 1

   Prep the peppers

   Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Stand peppers upright in a baking dish and set aside.

2. 2

   Brown the beef

   Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Brown ground beef, breaking it up, about 6 minutes. Remove and set aside, draining excess fat.

3. 3

   Build the sofrito

   In the same skillet, cook onion until soft, 5 minutes, then add garlic and cook 1 more minute.

4. 4

   Simmer the picadillo

   Return beef to the pan with tomato sauce, diced tomato, cumin, oregano and sugar. Simmer 10 minutes until thickened.

5. 5

   Add raisins and olives

   Stir in raisins, olives, capers and lime juice. Simmer 3 more minutes, then fold in rice if using.

   Taste before stuffing -- picadillo should taste distinctly sweet-salty-briny, not flat.

6. 6

   Stuff and bake

   Spoon the picadillo into the peppers, packing gently. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes until peppers are tender, uncovering for the last 10 minutes to lightly brown the tops.

7. 7

   Finish and serve

   Sprinkle with cilantro or parsley before serving.

Variations

• •

  Ground turkey version: swap in ground turkey and add an extra tablespoon of olive oil for richness.

• •

  Cheese-topped: sprinkle shredded queso or mozzarella over the peppers for the last 10 minutes of baking.

• •

  Rice-free: skip the rice in the filling and serve the stuffed peppers with a side of black beans instead.

Storage

Refrigerate stuffed peppers in an airtight container up to 3 days. Reheat covered in a 350F (175C) oven for 15 minutes, or microwave individually until hot throughout.

Frequently Asked Questions