Monday, September 22, 2008

Easy Cheese Steak Roll Ups, Carne Picada Style

Tonight's main dish was one of my favorites, Cheese Steak Roll Ups. I like the combination of beef and cheese and this dish is one of those "I'm tired and don't want to cook but need to" dishes. Part of what makes it so quick and easy is the use of carne picada, very thin, shredded or almost shredded, beef. From beginning to end, it takes about 15 minutes to prepare. As a plus, this dish lends itself well to a variety of spices and cheeses. Using different ones helps me create a great dish every time.

Here's the basic recipe. Make it your own.

1 cup or so of raw carne picada
1 green onion, chopped (stalk and all)
chopped garlic
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheese, whatever you have on hand

Cook the carne picada in a skillet on medium heat with the chopped green onion and chopped garlic. When the meat is no longer pink, add the black pepper. Stir well and push the meat into a mound in the skillet. Turn heat to low and top meat with cheese. Don't stir - just let the skillet sit on low heat until the cheese is melted.

Once the cheese has melted, spoon some into a tortilla, roll, and eat!

I buy carne picada at Wal-Mart but don't know if the company sells it nationwide or only in certain areas. A Google Image search for it turns up pictures of what looks like ground beef but what I buy isn't ground beef. Again, it's very thin shredded or almost shredded beef. Not ground. While it isn't cheap here (almost $3 a lb) it's less expensive than most beef and the versatility makes it a great meat to have on hand.

I often add dried cumin while the meat cooks and diced green chiles and jalapenos are delicious, too. Mozzarella and Asiago cheeses, some sliced black olives, and a little red sauce give the basic recipe an Italian flair.

In the morning, I'll use some of the browned carne picada in a slow cooker soup and will post that recipe.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the wonderful recipe. I was just at a local Wal-Mart and found a package of meat called "Carne Picada". It peaked my interest so I purchased it and began looking for a recipe. Funny that you should mention getting yours at Wal-Mart. I don't know if it is offered nationwide, but it is available at the store on Hudson Avenue in Rochester, New York.

CookinsForMe said...

I hope you like this recipe. Carne Picada certainly is a good product - at least I think so. If it's offered at WM here in east TX and you found it at WM in NY, it's quite possible its sold at them nation wide. If you try this recipe, let me know what you think and if you come up with recipes of your own using it, please share them with me!

Anonymous said...

I found this at walmart as well and decided to use it in a beef and broccoli recipe worked great.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the info, like the other person, saw it and it also looked interesting and different. But I am gonna try it in a stew. wish me luck. found it in the local walmart here on the coast in MS

CookinsForMe said...

I haven't tried it in beef & broccoli but that sounds good. Thanks for the suggestion!

I tried it in stew a couple times and it worked pretty well. :)

Thanks for the comments!

Anonymous said...

Great meat for chili cookoff. And I have seen this in Wal mart from Kingman, Az. all the way to Ft. Worth Tx. Pretty sure its a nation wide product, just wish they would carry New Mexico (Hatch) fresh or frozen green chili in all the stores.

Stephenville, Tx

CookinsForMe said...

I'm sure it is good for a chili cookoff since it makes great chili! It's also good for swiss steak. Yum!

crisafisuzanne@hotmail.com said...

I just found the meat in Walmarts in Massachusetts need recipes to use it

CookinsForMe said...

crisafisuzanne, I have a category just for carne picada recipes so you should be able to find some good recipes. Also, I use carne picada as I would ground beef or stew meat.

LuckySeven said...

I just found the meat at Aldi's in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. I thought it would make a quick and easy meal. Thanks for the recipe.

Mother Earth said...

Thanks for the recipie. I too buy mine at Walmart. I haven't seen it anywhere else. From a mom with 5 little ones this makes for quick simple meals. My persona favorite is a Philly Steak Sub. (We buy our buns fresh at the Walmart as well--2.50 a pack but well worth it) We saute onions, green peppers and mushrooms with a touch of butter and use provolone and swiss cheeses on top of the browned meat in garlic salt and pepper...the whole meal takes 10 minutes to make and everyone is happy:)

CookinsForMe said...

It really seems like a lot more people are finding this item, most at Wal-Mart but at other stores, too. LuckySeven, did you try it yet?

Maureen, your recipe sounds great!

Anonymous said...

WalMart has it here also....Avondale Arizona...just west of Phoenix...Maureen, that's my next try, but I have a fajitas seasoning mix made by Lawry's (they also make seasoned salt) that I am going to add to the meat instead of a taco packet, add a little water and stir. This stuff is really good. I use it for alot of stuff and I got it at a GFS (Gorden Food Service) in Erie, PA

JJ said...

I found it here in Eastern Washington State at WalMart. Found your page trying to find a recipe for it. They all sound great!

Anonymous said...

Another great recipe to try.saute the Carne Picada in skillet over medium high heat. when almost brown add chopped green bell pepper and red onion. boil 6 tomitillos in a pot for about 10 minutes or untill soft. Roast 2 green chilies and peel. put the tolmitillos and chilies in a blender add 1 clove garlic . blend till smooth. pour over carne add salt and pepper. heat some tortillas and enjoy.

Anonymous said...

Imagine that I found mine at wal-mart also . It looked really good and a change for once. I am undecided how I will try it this first time around, but will be sure to come back when I do. Thank you all for the great suggestions.
Pam

Anonymous said...

You can add the Walmart in Indianola, Iowa to the list of stores that carry Carne Picada. I really like using it and as an added bonus it is by far cheaper than ground beef or hamburger. I got a whole 3 pounds for $3.17 =D

LashQueen said...

Hey guys! I found this Carne Picada at a Wal-mart in Toledo,Ohio. I am going to make it with tomato, jalapenos, garlic, beef broth, onoins and olive oil. I am putting it over a bed of rice w/veggies on the side. Yummmmy!!!!

CookinsForMe said...

It's good to know that's carne picada is available at so many places! I haven't bought it recently since the price of it went waaay up and I rarely shop at WM now but I might have to get some more of it just to experiment with. :)

ravnheart1 said...

I found carne picada @ Wal-Mart in Suffolk, VA. The price was right around $3 per lb - not cheap, but not much more than ground beef. I was intrigued by the cut of the meat and after reading the recipes, I will plan to cook mine with some green chiles, garlic, cumin, rubbed sage, salt and pepper. Then I will use it to stuff enchiladas. It should be a good fit with the red sauce. I'll let you know how it turned out!

Unknown said...

I think this is a wonderful recipe. I live in a small town outside of houston, tx. Wal mart is the only place that I have found that sells carne picada. I have tryed it with cream of mushroom soup, a little bit of sour cream (or milk) and some egg noodles. You cook the meat and add the soup and almost all of the big container of sour cream.I add a little bit of season salt and mix the two together and it always fills up my boys. Plus they love it. And I bet they will love the roll ups.

Anonymous said...

We found carne picada at Walmart in Gretna, NE and use it in beef and noodles! Great in beef and broccoli too!

danny6114 said...

I've been buying carne picada at walmart for a couple of years in Troy. Mo. It goes great in Mexican and Thai recipes.

Anonymous said...

I found mine at WM Seminole Ok .It looked interesting and now I have some recipes thanks to ya'll.

Walter from Flagler Beach said...

Yeah we have it here in central Florida. The only place I've seen it is at WalMart and only for the past two maybe three years. I buy it and use it like ground beef. It's a bit cheaper than the cheapest ground beef we have here and works great in all recipes I've used it in.

Anonymous said...

I found mine in a lil town called cordele georgia,@ walmart going to try tonight!some of u guys recipies!Thank You

Anonymous said...

I was at WalMart today and seen this meat. Never seen it anywhwere else before. I figured i would check it out on the enternet before buying it. Well now I will have to go back I'm sure I will love it as I love cheese steak hoggies and also everything else others mentioned.This WalMart is in Fredonia N.Y. So HARAY 4 WalMart!!!

Anonymous said...

Walmart in Orlando Florida has the carne meat as well. Thanks for the easy recipe and you are right you can do diff variations just with that. Bout to make a cheese steak.

Anonymous said...

Just saw this meat for the first time today (in St. Louis) at Walmart...googled it and found this link. Thanks! Looking forward to trying it tonight.

Anonymous said...

I found this at the Idaho Falls Walmart. Never used it before but will try some of the recipes.

Anonymous said...

They have this at the Walmart in UT. I saute it with onions/garlic/mushrooms and add a little beef broth and sour cream and serve over noodles

conchchowder said...

I use the Aldi meat for carne picada as well. I make Philly cheese steak with it. I use cavenders Greek seasoning.