Costa Rican-Style Beef Picadillo de Papa
with Tortillas & Cilantro
- Soy
- Wheat
In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, we bring you this Costa Rican-style beef picadillo de papa. This Latin American hash is traditionally made with savory, saucy meat and vegetables served over rice; but the Costa Rican version includes potatoes (papas) and toasted tortillas on the side for wrapping. As with any picadillo, it all starts with an aromatic sofrito of sautéed garlic, bell pepper, and onion. Garnish with cilantro and lime for a delicious balance of savory and bright flavors.
Ingredients
12 ounce
Potatoes
1 clove
Garlic
1 unit
Yellow Onion
1 unit
Green Bell Pepper
10 ounce
Ground Beef
1 tablespoon
Fajita Spice Blend
1 unit
Lemon
¼ ounce
Cilantro
2 unit
Chicken Stock Concentrate
6 unit
Flour Tortillas
(Contains: Soy, Wheat)
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
1 tablespoon
Cooking Oil
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce. • Dice potatoes into ½-inch pieces. Peel and mince or grate garlic. Halve, peel, and finely dice onion. Core and dice bell pepper into ½-inch pieces.
• Place potatoes in a small pot with enough salted water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, 12-15 minutes. Drain.
• Heat a large drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onion, bell pepper, a big pinch of salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until veggies are slightly tender, 4-6 minutes. • Add beef* and Fajita Spice Blend; cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes more.
• Quarter lemon. Roughly chop cilantro.
• Add drained potatoes, stock concentrates, and ½ cup water (1 cup for 4 servings) to pan with beef mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened, 3-5 minutes. • Remove from heat and stir in juice from one lemon wedge (two wedges for 4). Taste and season with salt and pepper if desired.
• Meanwhile, heat a second large dry pan over medium-high heat. Lightly oil both sides of tortillas. Add tortillas to pan and toast until golden, 1-2 minutes per side (it’s normal for tortillas to puff up in spots while toasting).
• Divide picadillo de papa between bowls and top with cilantro. Serve with tortillas and remaining lemon wedges on the side.
Ground Beef is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 160°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many enjoyed the dish, but some found it bland; adding extra spices, hot sauce, or salsa helped boost the flavor 🌶️.
- Ease of prep: Simple and quick to make, though some noted prep time was longer than stated on the recipe card.
- Suggestions: Consider adding olives, raisins, or tomatoes for authenticity; try frying potatoes for more texture and reducing their quantity.
- Leftovers: Reheats well, with some finding the flavors even better the next day.
- Portions: Generous servings, often with enough for leftovers or to feed more than the stated number.
Reviews from our home cooks
As a Costa Rican I LOVED this recipe. It would have been a bit more authentic with a side of black beans and white rice. Also corn tortillas would be a nice option. Oh and by white rice I mean regular long grain white rice NOT JASMINE
This was the surprise dish of the week. What looked like it wasn't going to be very good, really delivered. Two recommendations: 1) way more spices needed. With the potatoes it felt like the fajita spices were lost. 2) While I'm sure it's not how they do it in Costa Rica, this felt like it really could have been amplified by adding a runny egg on top of it to add some creaminess to the dish.
This dinner was amazing and so delicious! Only things I can mention are; I left out the cilantro (I'm one of those with the unfortunate "it tastes like soap gene"), and the toasted tortillas took a really long time to cook (I only have something big enough to do one at a time) and I don't think they were really needed. Looking forward to this dinner again in a future box!
The only downside to this otherwise WONDERFUL dish is that it doesn't really have much flavor. If poblanos were swapped in for the normal green peppers that came with this recipe, or if chilis or chili powder (which I thought was typical in Hispanic-Style dishes?) was provided to add a little spice, this would be a perfect dish. I love how the tortillas taste after a bit of frying/ toasting, and the potatoes and beef are so good! I added rice because this stew really needs rice to soak it up a bit-- which helps to keep it from dripping out of the tortillas, too. Overall, a wonderful dish that I'll make again; I'll just add some flavor to it. :)
This was a great dish. Having spent some time in Costa Rica, we had Salsa Lizano on hand. It was an incredible accompaniment! We loved it!
This was one of our favorites, because we go to Costa Rica often. Pretty well done to feel like we were there! Loved it.
We love beef and potatoes, so this was really delicious for us. The flavors were perfect. It was a good bit of food for 2 people. I boxed up the remaining for lunch the next day. You can have chips and salsa or queso or guacamole if you want to feel like you are at a Mexican restaurant. I will make this dish again in a few days. It was so good.
Needs more seasoning. It was amazing with more lemon juice and green cholula. Even without the tortillas, it is an excellent meal.
This actually had a lot more flavor than I expected, it was super good and the charred tortillas were the perfect accompaniment
Didn't think I would like this nearly as much as I did. Super easy and tasty and makes a ton. Only ask would be more tortillas.
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