Carne Molida: Tex-Mex Ground Beef with Potatoes (No Spice Packet)
This is the carne molida I picked up when I lived in Austin, and that I keep coming back to: ground beef, diced potato, green pepper, and onion cooked down together until everything goes deep and savory. No packet of taco seasoning anywhere near it; just real ingredients, big flavor, and one pan. Pile it on nachos, fold it into enchiladas, or use it for the best taco filling of your week.
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Carne Molida is very similar to Puerto Rican Picadillo, but there are a few key differences. No olives, for one thing. Second, picadillo is often eaten just like it is, whereas carne molida is usually found as a filling for tacos and more. Yes, I know carne molida literally means ground beef, but in Texas’s Tex-Mex restaurants, it means ground beef cooked this way and used for fillings and toppings.
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My Carne Molida recipe is affordable. I buy ground beef in bulk when it’s on sale and freeze it in portions. That makes making dishes like this super quick and easy, and cheap!
Green pepper is the key to this recipe. Don’t be tempted by red or orange peppers – they need to be green. The stronger, grassier flavor of the green pepper really works well in this dish.
Also, be sure to cut the potatoes into small cubes. I use my alligator chopped for this dish, making short work of the chopped onion, potato, and green pepper.
This is such an easy and tasty dish, and I love how versatile it is. Be sure to see all my suggestions below on how to use this tasty ground beef recipe.
What you’ll love about Carne Molida
- This is perfect for those days when you’re short on time but still crave a tasty meal. I often make a double batch and save the rest for another meal later in the week.
- Serve it over rice, stuff it in tacos, or enjoy it alongside your favorite salad. The possibilities are endless.
- It’s an easy dish to like, and you can jazz it up with cheese, hot sauce, and more.
Ingredients
- Ground beef – Use lean (80/20) ground beef. You can use fattier, and sometimes it does have better flavor, but you’ll need to scoop off some of the fat.
- Large potato – Diced. I use my vegetable chopper to make quick work of the potatoes. You want a small dice so that it cooks quickly, but not too small that it dissolves into the ground beef.
- Onion – Use a regular cooking onion, yellow or white. Sweet onions are too sweet for this recipe, and red onions will discolor and look grey (and nasty).
- Green bell pepper – It needs to be green bell pepper for proper Texas Carne Molida. You can add some diced jalapeno if you want a bit of a kick.
- Garlic – Use real garlic, not jarlic. Jarlic doesn’t have enough flavor for this dish.
- Cumin – Ground cumin is pretty traditional. If you’re a cumin hater, you can skip it but it lends a classic flavor to the dish.
- Cup cilantro – You’ll just add the chopped cilantro near the end of the cooking time.
- Juice of 1 lime
- Salt and pepper – To taste.
How to Make Carne Molida
- Add the ground beef to a large skillet and start it cooking over medium heat, breaking it up as it cooks.
- Add the diced potato and onion to the ground beef once the beef starts to turn brown. Cook the beef and potatoes together for about 5 minutes until the potatoes start to soften.
- Spoon off any excess fat, leaving behind about 2 tablespoons of fat, then add the green bell pepper and garlic. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Season the mixture with cumin, salt, and pepper and stir well.
- Simmer the Carne Molida on low heat for 10 minutes, allowing the flavors to combine.
- Mix in the chopped cilantro and squeeze in the lime juice, then serve and enjoy!
Chef Jenn’s Tips
- I use 80/20 ground beef and just spoon off the extra fat. This ensures lots of beefy flavor.
- You can make this ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for 3-4 days, making it a great choice for meal prepping. It also freezes like a dream!
Make It A Meal
I love using this Mexican ground beef in so many ways. You can use it in enchiladas, tacos, quesadillas, casseroles, in a rice bowl, on nachos, and more! Or, just serve it like it is with fresh salsa, Baked Spanish Rice, and a tasty salad.
Storage
Allow the dish to cool completely before transferring it to an airtight container. It will keep in your fridge for up to 3-4 days, ready to be reheated on the stove or in the microwave. If you’ve made a larger batch, Carne Molida freezes beautifully. Pack it in freezer-safe bags or containers, and it will keep for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating, and it will be as flavorful as the day you made it.
Yes, but you’ll lose some richness. If you go with turkey or chicken, add an extra tablespoon of olive oil to the pan to make up for the lower fat content, and don’t skimp on the cumin or the lime. Leaner meats need the seasoning to do more work. Ground pork is another good option and stays closer to the original texture.
Two usual culprits. First, you didn’t spoon off the fat after browning, so the dish is sitting in grease. Leave about 2 tablespoons in the pan and pour the rest out. Second, you covered it while it simmered. This dish wants the lid off so the moisture cooks down and the flavors concentrate. If you’ve already gone too far, crank the heat up at the end and reduce uncovered for 3 or 4 minutes.
Taco seasoning packets are mostly salt, cornstarch, and chili powder, and they make everything taste the same. Real carne molida is about the cumin doing the heavy lifting alongside the natural sweetness of the cooked-down onion, pepper, and potato. If you want more depth, a quarter teaspoon of smoked paprika or Mexican oregano added with the cumin gets you there without the sodium bomb.
Carne Molida: Mexican Ground Beef
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 large potato about 1 cup potato, diced
- 1 onion about 1 cup onion, finely chopped
- 1 green bell pepper about 1 cup, diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoon cumin
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the ground beef to a large skillet and start it cooking over medium heat, breaking it up as it cooks.
- Add the diced potato and onion to the ground beef once the beef starts to turn brown. Cook the beef and potatoes together for about 5 minutes until the potatoes start to soften.
- Spoon off any excess fat, leaving behind about 2 tablespoons of fat, then add the green bell pepper and garlic. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Season the mixture with cumin, salt, and pepper and stir well.
- Simmer the Carne Molida on low heat for 10 minutes allowing the flavors to combine.
- Mix in the chopped cilantro and squeeze in the lime juice, then serve and enjoy!
Notes
- I use 80/20 ground beef and just spoon off the extra fat. This ensures lots of beefy flavor.
- You can make this ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for 3-4 days, making it a great choice for meal prepping. It also freezes like a dream!
Nutrition
A Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for this recipe is provided as a courtesy and is calculated based on available online ingredient information. It is only an approximate value. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site cannot be guaranteed.
This is just perfect!! It is just me, so I am always looking for a freezer friendly recipe. Divide into portions for a few tacos and the rest for stuffing a burrito. Thank you again for another great recipe!