Chicken Picadillo Bowls

These Chicken Picadillo Bowls (Cuban Picadillo recipe) are one of my favorite healthy low fat meals to make. Instead of being served on a bed of rice, we serve this picadillo on a bed of chopped Romaine lettuce tossed with tomatoes, onion, cilantro, avocado and tortilla chips.  And you will love that this easy picadillo recipe is easy enough to make any night of the week! 

This Cuban Picadillo is super easy to make and it comes together in about 20 minutes and clean up is a breeze.

What is Picadillo

Picadillo is a traditional Latin American dish. It’s typically make with ground beef, tomatoes, onion, garlic and olives. And it’s usually served over rice or stuffed inside taco shells or empanadas.

Cuban Picadillo Recipe

This easy Cuban picadillo recipe is made with ground chicken instead of beef or pork.  It’s one of those healthy low fat meals that you can pull together any night of the week.

• Extra-virgin olive oil – I use extra-virgin olive oil, but you could use avocado oil or whatever oil you like to use to brown the ground chicken with
• Ground chicken – We use ground chicken instead of beef or pork for this recipe to keep it low-fat (and I don’t eat red meat). You can also use ground turkey
• Onion and Garlic – These aromatics make the picadillo so rich in flavor
• Seasoning – Ground coriander and ground cumin
• Tomatoes – We use canned chopped tomatoes
• Broth – We use chicken broth to simmer the picadillo in
• Olives – Pitted green olives give this dish a delicious salty flavor
• Romaine lettuce – We use Romaine lettuce for this recipe because it’s a good sturdy and crunchy lettuce
• Tomatoes – We add cherry tomatoes to this salad bowl, but Roma tomatoes work just as well
• Onion – We toss in slices of red onion to the salad for both flavor and a pop of color
• Cilantro – Adds a nice pop of flavor to this dish

How to Make Picadillo

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat
2. Add the onions and cook for 3-5 minutes then add the garlic and cook for another minute.
3. Using a wooden spoon move the onion mixture to the side of the skillet
4. Add the ground chicken to the skillet and break up with the wooden spoon
5. Cook the ground chicken for 2-3 minutes then stir in the onions and garlic and continue to cook over low heat until the meat is no longer pink.
6. Stir in the coriander and cumin
7. Add the tomatoes and chicken broth
8. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for another 10-15 minutes until most of the liquid evaporates.
9. While the stew is simmering, toss the salad and divide evenly on plates or in shallow bowls.
10. Spoon the picadillo mixture over the top.
11. Garnish with coarsely broken pieces of tortilla, avocado slices, fresh cilantro, tomatoes and purple onion.

Variations

Here are a few variations to this Cuban picadillo recipe:

• Swap out the ground chicken for ground turkey
• Make it vegetarian and use lentils or chickpeas instead of ground chicken
• Serve on a bed of brown rice, cauliflower rice or quinoa instead of lettuce
• Stuff the picadillo in tacos, burritos, quesadillas, empanadas, enchiladas or sweet potatoes
• Add extra olives
• Add a chopped potato to the stew while it simmers

Looking for More Healthy Chicken Dinner Recipes?

• Green Chicken Enchiladas
• Chicken Fajita Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
• One Pot Spanish Chicken
• Caldo de Pollo
• Baked Chicken Fajita Quesadillas
• Easy Chicken Fajita Bake
• Chicken Chermoula
• Enchilada Style Baked Chicken
• Mexican Meatloaf Meatballs
• Mexican Style Shredded Chicken

Still want more ideas? Check out all my dinner recipes.

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Yield: 6 Servings

Chicken Picadillo Bowls

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

These Chicken Picadillo Bowls (Cuban Picadillo recipe) are one of my favorite healthy low fat meals to make. Instead of being served on a bed of rice, we serve this picadillo on a bed of chopped Romaine lettuce tossed with tomatoes, onion, cilantro, avocado and tortilla chips.  And you will love that this easy picadillo recipe is easy enough to make any night of the week! 

Ingredients

• 2-3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound ground chicken
• 1/2 cup brown onion, chopped finely
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 14.5 ounce can chopped tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/3 cup pitted green olives, sliced
• 6 cups Romaine lettuce, chopped and root discarded
• 1-1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• 3/4 cup purple onion, sliced thinly
• 3/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• Serve with fresh avocado slices and crumbled tortilla chips

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat
2. Add the onions and cook for 3-5 minutes then add the garlic and cook for another minute.
3. Using a wooden spoon move the onion mixture to the side of the skillet
4. Add the ground chicken to the skillet and break up with the wooden spoon
5. Cook the ground chicken for 2-3 minutes then stir in the onions and garlic and continue to cook over low heat until the meat is no longer pink.
6. Stir in the coriander and cumin
7. Add the tomatoes and chicken broth
8. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for another 10-15 minutes until most of the liquid evaporates.
9. While the stew is simmering, mix up the salad and arrange on platters or shallow bowls.
10. Spoon the picadillo mixture over the top.
11. Garnish with coarsely broken pieces of tortilla, avocado slices, fresh cilantro, tomatoes and purple onion.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 502Total Fat: 34gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 122mgSodium: 518mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 9gSugar: 10gProtein: 32g

theharvestkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate information, however, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. The nutritional information provided comes from online sources and calculations.