Crazypotato98's Three Picadillos

I had never had potatoes in a taco until I came to northern Mexico, and neither had my husband (his part of Mexico doesn't use potatoes in tacos, either). It's delicious and can be modified many different ways -- with nopales (cactus), made with steak, ground beef, even polish sausage...the point is, you can't have picadillo without potatoes!

The nutrition facts are linked with each of the three recipes below. For those of you that live in place where meat is measured in ounces instead of kilograms, this is the perfect opportunity to check out Calorie Count’s Conversion tool (link on the right hand side of this blog).

Crock Pot Steak Picadillo

Nutrition facts

Ingredients:

0.58 kg lean beef stew meat

2 large potatoes

3 cups beef broth

1/4 cup salsa

Directions:

In a Crock Pot, put stew meat, beef broth, salsa and potatoes. Let cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is extremely tender and potatoes are soft.

Add stew meat to a skillet, and then add cooked potatoes. Add beef broth. Cook and stir until mixture becomes a soft paste.

Spoon into tortilla of your choice or use as a tostada topping.

Polish Sausage Picadillo

Nutrition facts

Ingredients:

243 g polish sausage, chopped

467 g potatoes, boiled

250 g mixed vegetables

1 cup water

1  cube beef bouillon

Directions:

Boil potatoes until soft. Drain; set aside.

Chop polish sausage. Saute in skillet with cooking spray; set aside.

Add water and beef bouillon to skillet. When bouillon is dissolved, add potatoes and cook until the consistency is like a paste. Add sausage and mixed veggies.

You may boil the mixed veggies beforehand in a little chicken broth if desired.

Serve as a tostada topping or as a taco filling.

Ground Beef Picadillos

Nutrition facts

Ingredients:

0.38 kg 90% lean ground beef

3 large potatoes

1 cup beef broth

1 1/2 cup nopales

1/2 cup onion, chopped

2 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp pepper

Directions:

Boil nopales in water, adding some onion and garlic if desired, until tender. Salt may also be added during boiling. When nopales are tender, add a small pinch of baking soda (not until the very end, or it will boil over!).

In a frying pan, cook ground beef until brown. Drain fat. Add cooked potatoes (boil or put in Crock Pot for 4 hours until tender). Add beef broth and nopales. Cook until mixture becomes a soft paste. 

Spoon into tortilla of your choice, or top tostada shells or other foods with this mixture.