My Slow Cooker Carne Picada Tacos recipe will become one of your favorite weeknight meals! It is so incredibly tasty and easy to prepare using your slow cooker.
Carne picada meat is perfect for use in easy weeknight dinners like burrito bowls, tacos, or simply served over white rice. Perfect for Sunday dinner too! With just 15 minutes of prep, simple ingredients, and 3 easy steps, you can have a perfect dinner.
I guarantee you are going to love this recipe. It is as easy as can be to make. The first time I made this recipe, you should have seen the look on my family’s faces! Instant obsession. I get asked to make this beef picada recipe almost weekly.
This recipe is amazing for taco night! Just fill your tortilla with the crockpot carne picada and add your favorite toppings!
I like to add cotija cheese, onions, cilantro, sour cream, and guacamole. These are the best beef tacos you will try.
My favorite part about this carne picada crockpot recipe is that it’s really so easy to make. But, I have a few tips for you that will give you the best results every time!
In Spanish, carne means “meat”, and picada means “chopped”. Typically, packages of beef picada meat at the market are sold as small pieces of beef, either cut into thin slices or cubes. Some also refer to this cut of beef as Carne Picado, which means “bitten”, Carne Molida (“ground”), or Carne Moída (“minced”). You may even hear people refer to it simply as minced meat. There is also carne asada which is equally amazing!
Carne Picada is different from ground beef in that it is a much thicker chopped beef. It is a cut in between ground beef and chopped beef. It is perfect for quick and easy meals because it cooks very fast while still retaining a bite to it.
I recommend a bottom round roast or chuck roast as they become perfectly tender when you cook it in the crockpot. You can generally find cubed bottom round roast to use for this recipe or can ask your butcher to cut it for you. You can also easily prepare your own Carne picada meat at home. Simply cut a bottom round roast into ½-inch cubes.
Carne picada is a tender crockpot stew, full of slow cooker minced meat that cooks down with the most delicious natural gravy thanks to the fire-roasted tomatoes.
Store your leftover carne picada meat, or your make-ahead meals, in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. I like to keep mine separate from anything I’m serving it with, like rice or pasta.
The possibilities for what you can make with crockpot carne picada are endless. Our recipe is full of delicious Mexican flavors that are perfect for making so many delicious meals.
The whole family will gobble these easy recipes up and ask for more! Trust me – mine does every time!
What is Carne Picada?
What is carne picada in English? Well, it can mean “minced” or “ground” meat, though what I found at the market and what you’ll likely find is more like very thin strips – shavings, somewhere between a coarse ground beef and thin slices of steak.
Carne pica actually means “spicy” beef, so let’s go with spicy minced beef. The slices usually come from a flavorful cut like chuck, though more inexpensive cuts may be used.
It was one serendipitous visit to a local Hispanic market that introduced me to Carne Picada.
If you love Mexican and Tex-Mex food like I do, and you don’t speak Spanish, you’ve probably naturally absorbed some new words from your favorite restaurant’s menu, words like pollo, carnitas, nopalitos, and my favorite – queso.
If you’re in a meaty mood, you’re already familiar with “carne,” but here are some differences between my Carne Picada recipe and other beefy options to keep in mind:
Carne Picada vs. Carne Guisada: Both are small pieces of beef, but picada is sliced into thin strips and guisada has larger pieces similar to stew beef, slow-cooked and swimming in a cumin-laced gravy.
Carne Picada vs. Carne Asada: Both of these are more like traditional steak, but “Asada” will be grilled, served as a whole steak or sliced for fajitas. Picada will be cooked into something a little saucier. Carne asada is also a more common dish with lots of recipes to choose from. Don’t bother looking for a Carne Picada recipe Food Network or other popular food sites might offer to your recipe quest.
In addition to natural beefy goodness, the biggest advantage to using the Carne Picada cut is that it cooks up extremely quickly even though it’s from a low-and-slow roast like chuck, so getting dinner on the table is a snap. Because it has tons of surface area, it also means more space to absorb whatever inspired seasonings you decide to use. Flavor, flavor, flavor.
This Carne Picada recipe is definitely Mexican-inspired and makes a great filling for tacos or enchiladas, or even fantastic Carne Picada fajitas (though you’ll need to pan fry them for fajitas since grilling might be a challenge.
SAVE THIS CARNE PICADA
TO YOUR DINNER BOARD FOR LATER
WE’D LOVE TO BE FRIENDS ON PINTEREST! WE’RE ALWAYS PINNING TASTY RECIPES!
Step 1: Turn Up the Heat
Place a large skillet on a stove-top burner and turn the heat to medium. Add the oil and let it heat for one to two minutes.
Carne Picada vs. Carne Asada: Whatâs the Difference?
You may be more familiar with carne asada than carne picada. The two beef dishes have a lot in common, but theyre not exactly the same.
Carne asada is usually grilled as a steak, or sliced for use in fajitas. Carne picada, on the other hand, is sliced or cubed more finely and braised in a sauce. Both are good (and delicious) sources of protein. A 3-ounce serving of carne picada provides 14 grams of this important nutrient, according to the USDA.
Because the beef used for carne picada is thinly sliced or minced, it can cook quickly, making it appropriate for sandwiches or burritos when youre short on time. But it also lends itself well to slow cooking.
You can find carne picada beef in Hispanic grocery stores and in some large conventional supermarkets. If you cant find beef labeled carne picada, look for bottom round roast or chuck roast diced into small cubes.
There are as many recipes for carne picada as there are cooks who make it. But in general, it relies on a combination of beef, aromatic spices, canned tomato, chopped vegetables, plus flour for thickening.
Heres what youll need to make enough carne picada to serve 8 to 10 people.
Pan-frying carne picada on the stovetop is quick, making it a good option for fast, easy dinners.
FAQ
Is carne picada the same as fajita meat?
Is carne picada stew meat?
What cut of meat is carne asada?
What is picada made of?