Filipino Beef Picadillo/Giniling Recipe

This family favorite Filipino dish is super quick and easy to make. Read on for my version of the Filipino beef picadillo/giniling recipe.

Growing up, my mom would make her quick version of giniling (as I knew it), or picadillo (as everyone else knew it). It looked so simple to make. I started making it for my family and found that they enjoyed it just as much. So I thought I’d share my Filipino beef picadillo/giniling recipe with you!

Quick and easy giniling recipe

If you do a search, there are many versions of this recipe. Some more elaborate than the other. Some more authentic. But I grew up with the quick and easy version. And I was just as happy, just as satisfied. And quite honestly, I never have ALL the ingredients to make this authentic anyway. I use what I typically have available. That’s why it’s become one of my quick, go-to meals to make when I can’t think of anything else.

Ingredients

Just of note, the ingredients I share here are the usual ingredients for this. However, what I actually use in this instance were what I had on hand.

• ground beef
• onion, chopped
• garlic, minced
• bell peppers, chopped
• frozen peas
• carrots, chopped
• rutabaga or potato, chopped
• bay leaf
• soy sauce

So for this time, I didn’t have much of the listed ingredients. I used ground venison or elk (not sure as I forgot which label meant what). I have a bunch of chopped bell peppers that I froze. So I just pulled out 3 kinds. And I’m using ½ cup of frozen peas. As for how many garlic cloves, I’m from the school where 1 clove means alot. So yeah…

Instructions on cooking Filipino beef picadillo/giniling

STEP 1: Sautée onions, garlic, and rutabaga/potatoes. I only had onions and garlic. Typically I use rutabaga because it retains a bit of bite, which I prefer over the softening of potatoes.

STEP 2: Brown ground beef until no longer pink. As I mentioned, I used ground venison or elk here. At this point, you can season the meat with salt and pepper as well.

STEP 3: Next add the rest of the ingredients and cook until all the veggies have softened.

Ta-da!

Here is it! Filipino beef giniling/picadillo.

This is best served mixed into rice! I have mine over salad though because…well…diet and what have you. My kids don’t pick out the veggies because, mixed in, it all tastes the same – good!

Final thoughts

This is a pretty versatile recipe as you can see. I added more vegetables than the recipe actually requires. I’ve never tried ground pork or any other ground meats other than beef, venison, or elk. My mom would usually make this with a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, which I have done; again there is no big difference.

So if you’re ever in a pinch, and you need something quick for your family or you want to meal prep for the week, try this out! So simple. So quick. So easy to make. And it’s super tasty!

Some other Filipino recipes

Filipino spam fried rice

Filipino pork lumpia