Cuban Turkey Mince Recipe (Picadillo de Pavo)

Last updated on 18th December 2023

Cuban Turkey Mince is a flavourful, easy to make recipe, ideal for weeknight dinners and batch cooking. Sofrito, dry cooking wine, tomato sauce, spices, herbs and pimiento-stuffed olives combine perfectly with the turkey mince for a delicious, comfort food dish that will appeal to everyone at home.

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Cuban Turkey Mince or Picadillo de Pavo is a great alternative to the more traditional Beef Picadillo (Cuban Beef Mince Recipe). My family used to cook a pre-seasoned turkey mince that was sold encased and you only needed to add a few more vegetables and fry it. That dish always tasted delicious, but I was never shown the long version: from scratch.

I then decided to jump straight into it, and recreated the dish with olives and Cuban sofrito included. The result is a dinner main dish that is second to none when it comes to flavour and comfort feeling.

Jump to:

Why you are going to love this recipe
Ingredients to cook Cuban turkey mince
How to cook Cuban turkey mince
Top Tips and Fun Facts
Recipe card

Why you are going to love this recipe

Alternative to roast turkey. I know roast turkey is a traditional dish for many families in festive days such as Thanksgiving or Christmas. However, you may get bored and tired of cooking the whole bird (or the crown) over and over again.

Then is when this turkey mince recipe is a great alternative. Turkey lovers should give it a go to find themselves instantly adoring it.

Flavourful, not dull turkey mince recipe. Let’s be honest. Raw turkey mince does not look very appetizing. However, I know for a fact that cooking the turkey mince as in this recipe brings its delicious flavours while making it super eye-catching.

No more dull turkey mince, but flavourful, appetising and delicious. Guaranteed! The Cuban sofrito is an ingredient that plays a big role on this. Let me show you next.

Ingredients to cook Cuban Turkey Mince

Sofrito. The aromatic base of sautéed vegetables in olive oil: onions (brown and red), garlic and bell peppers (green and red).

Turkey mince. Minced turkey breast. You will make sure to get a lean meat and as fresh as possible.

Herbs and spices. White pepper, ground cumin and oregano are the spices. Bay leaf and fresh coriander are herbs that go with turkey mince and are essential for this recipe.

The good pinch of salt is always necessary.

Dry cooking wine and tomato sauce. I use Shaoxing wine, but the original option is vino seco (dry cooking wine). Dry sherry is also an alternative.

Use passata or another unflavoured tomato sauce.

Olives. Pimiento-stuffed olives are excellent for this recipe. They give such a salty, briny flavour to the turkey mince that it is totally irreplaceable.

How to cook Cuban Turkey Mince

Make the sofrito. Finely chop the garlic cloves, the red and brown onions, and the red and green peppers. To a sautéing pan over medium heat, add two tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the chopped onions to the pan. Sauté for 1 minute or until the onion is translucent, stirring continuously. Add the chopped garlic and peppers. Sauté all the ingredients for another minute whilst stirring. Add a pinch of salt and keep stirring for another 30 seconds. This preparation of sautéed aromatic vegetables is known as ‘sofrito’, and it is the base for many dishes in Cuban cuisine.

You can check out other two great recipes using sofrito: ropa vieja and black beans soup.

Cook the turkey mince with the other ingredients. Add the turkey mince and season with salt. Separate the mince and combine evenly with the sofrito (sautéed vegetables). Keep the temperature hot enough for the mince to brown and not to simmer.

Once it is totally browned, add the white pepper, ground cumin, oregano and bay leaf. Stir all the ingredients and then add the tomato sauce, the cooking wine and a teaspoon of salt. Allow a minute for the alcohol to evaporate.

Turn the heat to low and add the olives to combine with all the ingredients. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer for around 18 minutes. If you see that at this point the mince is too dry that it can stick to the bottom of the pan, add a little water. Cover the pan again and simmer for another 5 minutes, always over low heat.

Serve the turkey mince. After this time, the turkey mince should be ready. You are aiming for a dish that is not dry nor too liquid. Dispose the bay leaf. Dish up the turkey mince and serve with white rice. You can also prepare a side such as sweetcorn fritters or plantain chips to accompany the dish.

You may have leftovers of the turkey mince after preparing it for tonight’s dinner and that’s ok. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for next day’s lunch. I speak from experience 😉

Top Tips and Fun Facts

As getting vino seco or Cuban dry cooking wine is very difficult for me in Scotland, I normally use Shaoxing wine. This is an amber-coloured Chinese rice wine that is very good for cooking and really resembles the authentic flavour of the Cuban dry cooking wine. It is available in some large supermarkets and most Asian markets. Other possible substitutions are dry Sherry wine or white wines such as Sauvignon Blanc.

Cuban turkey mince is not spicy as other Caribbean recipes. In general, Cuban cuisine is not spicy but it is certainly very flavourful thanks to the use of several aromatic spices such as the ones employed in the sofrito for this recipe.