Make authentic Costa Rican picadillo de vainica with carrots, ground beef, and Salsa Lizano—perfect for casados, gallos, or feeding a hungry crowd.

About This Costa Rican Picadillo Recipe

Ask just about any Costa Rican, and they will tell you that they have a signature picadillo recipe. Picadillos are a hallmark of Latin food and especially Costa Rican dishes. They are generally served with Costa Rican white rice or as part of a Costa Rican casado.

This picadillo de zanahoria con vainica is wonderful because it can be made ahead, and is often an integral part of the casado meal.

The picadillo with carrots and green beans can also be eaten as a gallo: a 1/4 cup-sized portion placed in the middle of a homemade tortilla de masa and eaten as a mini-taco. Divine. I also love it because it’s soft and great for transitioning babies to solid food, Costa Rica-rica style. 

I love this dish for so many reasons… A favorite comfort food, it still tastes wonderful when reheated. It’s super budget-friendly, it feeds a crowd (I made a double batch for our housewarming party and everyone ate heartily!), kids like it, and it’s not too high in sodium.

This Costa Rican picadillo can be served with traditional white rice and black beans, or I usually throw it over a bed of lettuce to make it Paleo-friendly. You can even omit the ground beef for a great vegetarian dish. Anyway you slice it (punny!), this recipe is a favorite at Casa Pura Vida!

Costa Rican Picadillo Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• ½ white or yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• ½ red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 cups water (divided, approx.)
• 2 carrots, finely chopped (no need to peel)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1–2 bouillon cubes or powder (to taste, enough to slightly yellow the water)
• 1 cup green beans, finely chopped
• 1–1½ Tbsp Salsa Lizano
• Black pepper to taste
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro (plus more to serve)
• Lime juice and sliced avocado (optional for serving)

Instructions

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large flat-bottomed skillet. Finely chop the onion and press the garlic, and add them to the pan. While they are cooking, seed and core the red pepper and chop it finely. Add to the pan and stir. Cook until soft. This is your sofrito!

Add the ground beef to the pan and break it into pieces. Pour about one cup of tap water over the vegetables and beef, and cover. Cook until it boils and the meat is cooked through. While this is cooking, you can chop up the carrots.

I don’t peel the carrots, since the peel has additional nutritional value and it isn’t noticeable once you chop the carrot into a zillion pieces. Chop the ends of the carrot, and slice it in half.

Slice the halves in half, and once again, until you have a bunch of long, thin carrot slices like you would use for dipping. Chop those up.

Once all of the carrots are chopped, throw them in the pan and add another cup of water to cover. At this point, I add the salt and bouillon. The water should look a bit yellow, so keep adding bouillon until it looks like this. Cover and bring back to a boil.

While that is simmering, you will cut the green beans into tiny pieces, the same size as the carrots. Add them into the pan, and cover again with water.

Simmer on medium-high until the water has boiled down and the green beans are dark green rather than bright.

At this point, you can add the Salsa Lizano. Salsa Lizano is a Costa Rican national product that gives Costa Rican dishes their distinct flavor. If you aren’t able to get any, you can still make this dish, it just won’t taste exactly like it does in Costa Rica! I just found out you can get Salsa Lizano on Amazon! (Affiliate link)

I squeeze the Salsa Lizano out in a circular motion over the entire pan, a total of 1 to 1 and 1/2 tablespoons. Stir in and taste.

Add salt and pepper as needed. I throw some chopped-up cilantro on top and let it wilt before serving. This recipe can easily be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen, or served immediately. 

Substitutions

For a leaner option, swap in the same amount of ground turkey for ground beef. Your pepper also doesn’t need to be the red variety– yellow and green bell peppers will achieve a similar flavor.

Serving Suggestions

Serve the picadillo as a traditional casado, with white rice and black beans. For a no-carb option, I often layer the picadillo and black beans over a bed of fresh lettuce.

As a snack, fold a bit into a warm corn tortilla or tortilla de masa and eat as a “gallo.” ¡Buen provecho!

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