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Learn how to make vegan giniling (aka Filipino Picadillo), a hearty and fragrant stew that has been touted as the ultimate comfort food. It packs the perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors and requires simple ingredients and just one pot to prepare.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Oil: The oil used in this recipe is to cook down our aromatics. We prefer olive oil or avocado oil, but any oil should work well.
- Aromatics: We use quite a few in this dish to make the flavor pop, including bay leaves, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, and black pepper.
- Plant-based Ground Beef: We prefer to use the Impossible brand in this as it tastes the closest to what I remember for this dish, but any vegan beef crumble substitute should work.
- Starchy Vegetables: We like to use potatoes and carrots in this giniling. They add color, texture, and a delicious hearty flavor.
- Vegan Beef Broth: Believe it or not, beefless beef broth is a thing! It has all of the flavors of beef broth but without animal products. We like to use the Better than Bullion No Beef paste. If you can’t find this, any vegetable broth should work.
- Tomato Sauce: Not to be confused with tomato puree or tomato paste. We prefer tomato sauce for this recipe.
- Raisins: Don’t knock them till you try them! The raisins add the perfect touch of both sweetness and texture to this dish and work nicely!
- Soy Sauce: The salty, umami-packed flavor bomb of a condiment helps this dish build depth of flavor. You can also opt for tamari, which tastes like soy sauce, but is gluten-free.
- Vegan Fish Sauce: This is an optional ingredient but will help add some additional flavor. Some brands sell vegan fish sauce online if you’re unsure where to find vegan fish sauce. You can also find recipes online if you want to make your own. Here’s one worth trying!
- Frozen Green Peas: We remove these from the freezer when prepping all of the ingredients and then let them defrost until it is time to add.
- Green Olives: Add a nice layer of salt and slight bitterness, which marries well with all other flavors.
- Cilantro: Used for garnish, but optional!
- Salt: Added as needed to taste to finish the dish.
What is the origin of picadillo?
Picadillo is a traditional dish in many Latin American countries and the Philippines, made with ground meat (usually beef), tomatoes or tomato sauce, and other ingredients that vary by region, such as raisins and olives. The name comes from the Spanish word picar, which means “to chop” or “to mince.”
If you enjoyed this Filipino picadillo recipe, you might also like:
- Filipino Adobo Inspired Jerky
- Vegan Filipino Barbecue
- Ube Pichi Pichi (Filipino Sticky Cassava Snack)
- Fluffy Ube Pandesal (Filipino Purple Yam Bread Rolls)
- Vegan Siopao Asado (Filipino Steamed Buns)
- Suman Malagkit (Filipino Steamed Rice Cakes)
Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate any of our recipes, we love to see your photos!
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Giniling (Filipino Picadillo)
- Total Time: 43 minutes
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Learn how to make giniling (aka Filipino Picadillo), a hearty and fragrant stew that has been touted as the ultimate comfort food. It packs the perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors and requires simple ingredients and just one pot to prepare.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 onion, peeled and chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper
- 1 pack (12 ounces) of impossible plant-based beef
- 1 medium russet potato, peeled and cubed
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and cubed
- 1 1/4 cup vegan beef broth
- 3/4 cup tomato sauce
- 2–3 tablespoons raisins
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon vegan fish sauce
- 1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
- 2/3 cup frozen green peas, thawed
- 1/3 cup green olives, pitted
- Chopped cilantro for garnish
- Salt, to taste
- Rice, for serving
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil. Once heated, add the bay leaf and fry until golden.
- Add onions, garlic, and red pepper flakes, and cook until the onions are soft and the garlic is fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add impossible meat and cook, breaking into pieces with the back of a spoon until lightly browned, about 4 minutes.
- Add fish sauce, tomato sauce, broth, diced potatoes and carrots, raisins, and soy sauce. Stir, cover, and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for about 18-22 minutes or until tender.
- Add green peas and olives and cook for 2 minutes more.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro if desired.
Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week. If you want more of a soup consistency, add more broth.
- Plant-based Ground Beef: We prefer to use the Impossible brand in this as it tastes the closest to what I remember for this dish, but any vegan beef crumble substitute should work.
- Vegan Beef Broth: We like to use the Better than Bullion No Beef paste. If you can’t find this, any vegetable broth should work.
- Soy Sauce: You can also opt for tamari if you want it gluten-free.
- Vegan Fish Sauce: This is an optional ingredient but will help add some additional flavor.
- Frozen Green Peas: We remove these from the freezer when prepping all of the ingredients and then let them defrost until it is time to add.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 33 minutes
- Category: Entree
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Filipino
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I just made this and accidentally added 1 Tbsp of vegan fish sauce instead of 1 tsp lol, but it was still amaaazing! Also, for anyone else worried about the raisins, I added 1 Tbsp or so and was worried that my husband would think it was weird but he didn’t even say a thing besides raving about how yummy this was. I agree that they get cooked down nicely and are not jarring in the least! Thanks Jasmine and Chris, this is the second stellar recipe I’ve tried and you’re becoming my favorite vegan recipe developers!
Tonight is my second time making this recipe and I love it so very much.!!! Great for food prep, and freezing. This dish has fantastic flavors. I even made the vegan fish sauce and used beyond burger meat. It is fantastic, thank you.
This was delicious!
I didn’t have Impossible beef so I made it with a 50/50 mix of tvp and lentils and it came out great! I will definitely be making this again.
Thanks Jasmine and Chris!
I am half-Filipino half-White. I have never had this dish before and made this vegan version and it was AMAZING. I would make this for non-vegan guests! Love love love!
This was so freaking good!! I couldn’t find Impossible ground meat in my grocery store so I made it with ground Beyond Meat and it was AMAZING! The flavour in this dish is unreal. It’s become part of our dinner rotation. The second time I’ve made this I was able to find Impossible ground meat so used that but found that I liked the taste of the BM instead so we’ll probably just stick with that for the future! I remember my mom making this dish growing up and dare I say this version tastes even better 👀
This is honestly amazing! Made this recipe because I love olives. The flavor of everything together over rice is 10/10!!!!