I was a little skeptical about this recipe at first, I’m not a huge fan of ground beef in the slow cooker, well, except for chili :) But the gist of it is – if I blog about it – it is hubs approved (my toughest food critic ;), and worthy of blogging about! I was drawn to this recipe because of the olives. I’m a huge fan of Greek food, so much so, earlier this month I tried a new chicken dish with olives in the slow cooker and it was, to say the least, an epic fail. I felt the need to validate the olive’s worthiness in the slow cooker.
slow cooker + olives = ♥
favorite salad = greek salad.
favorite sandwich = gyro.
favorite new beef crockpot meal = this one!
This version of the classic Cuban meal provides the slow process of marinated the meat in olives for hours, which enhances the flavor.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Brown your ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Season your beef with salt & pepper.
- Once beef is cooked and no longer pink, drain skillet of all liquid.
- Add the minced onion, diced pepper & garlic to skillet with the beef and cook an additional 3-4 minutes.
- Transfer your beef-veggie mixture to the slow cooker.
- Add the diced tomato, tomato sauce, minced cilantro, olives, brine, capers and water to the slow cooker on top of the beef mixture.
- Add the cumin, garlic powder, bay leaves and salt & pepper.
- Stir mixture thoroughly.
- Cook in slow cooker for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.
- Once fully cooked add salt & pepper to taste.
- Remove & discard bay leaves.
- Serve with rice.
Notes
Adapted from SkinnyTaste
xx ♥ m
Can this recipe easily be doubled?
Hi Nicole! It doesn’t hurt to try – I’ve never done it myself but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done – good luck! xx
You drained the capers, correct?
Yes they are drained :) xx
I was curious to see what picadillo is in Cuba. For us it has a different meaning in Mexico.
It looks so good! ~Mari
Not that I am a Cuban food expert AT ALL – I was trying to find an olive slow cooker recipe & this one fit the bill (after I added a billion more olives & capers of course ;) Thanks for stopping by Mari! xx ♥ m