Looking for a hearty one-pan meal the whole family will love? Try this Filipino Beef Giniling recipe. It's similar to a Filipino picadillo recipe, and perfect to serve over white rice.
If you're craving hearty, satisfying comfort food, try this Filipino Beef Giniling recipe. It's an easy one-pan dish that you can make in 40 minutes, making it perfect for weeknight dinners to feed the family.
Packed with ground beef, chopped vegetables, and a delicious sauce full of beautiful Pinoy flavors, this is a hearty dish that I personally can eat by the spoonful on its own. But it's also fabulous served over white rice or Filipino garlic rice.
Jump to:
What is giniling?
In Tagalog (the main language of the Philippines), "giniling" means "ground meat." Giniling is usually made with ground beef, ground pork, or ground chicken.
If the dish looks familiar to you and reminds you of Mexican picadillo, that's because giniling is basically Filipino picadillo. Filipino cuisine is a beautiful, tasty melting pot of various cuisines, with strong culinary Chinese and Spanish influences.
Whether you call this Filipino beef giniling or Filipino beef picadillo, it's the same delicious, absolutely resistible Filipino dish to feed a crowd.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
There are so many reasons to love this Filipino giniling recipe:
- Budget-friendly dish - Made with easy-to-find simple ingredients that are inexpensive.
- Comforting - This is the ultimate comfort food that's so rich, hearty, and satisfying.
- Easy - It's so easy to make this classic Filipino food. I've included step-by-step photos below to show you how.
🛒 Ingredient notes
- Ground beef - I usually use a blend of 80/20 or 90/10 ground beef. If you use lean ground beef, you will have less fat/grease liquid to drain out, but I do like the flavor best with an 80/20 blend.
- Hearty vegetables - You'll need chopped potatoes, carrots, bell peppers (green or red), and green peas.
- Aromatics - Along with chopped onions, you'll use three cloves garlic (use less if you prefer).
- Sugar - a little granulated sugar balances the savory flavors of this dish.
- Sauce - Rich tomato sauce and soy sauce create a nice sauce with depth of flavor that permeates the whole dish. You can substitute banana ketchup for the tomato sauce if you prefer.
- Seasonings - The seasonings are simple: you just need some kosher salt and ground black pepper.
Garnishes - Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or chopped green onions (scallions).
Additional optional ingredients:
- Raisins are traditionally included in Filipino Giniling and Filipino Picadillo, so feel free to add a half cup of raisins the same time you add the carrots and potatoes. We are not fans of raisins in savory dishes in our house, so we leave them out.
- You can add a bit of fish sauce, hoisin sauce, or oyster sauce - all Asian staples - and/or tomato paste to add a depth of flavor to the Filipino picadillo recipe.
- Some people like to add green olives, similar to an afritada.
✅ Step-by-step instructions
The full recipe and list of ingredients is in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. But here are step-by-step photos to help you you how to make this easy Filipino recipe.
- Heat olive oil in a large pan or large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Sauté onions and garlic cloves for 1 minute.
- Add the ground beef, salt, and pepper, stir to combine, and cook for a few minutes.
4. Cook the ground beef, and then carefully drain any excess liquid, then return the pan to the stove.
5. Add the carrots and potatoes.
6. Stir in half of the soy sauce; save the rest for later.
7. Stirring regularly, cook the mixture.
8. Pour in some of the water, and continue adding water as needed to help cook the potatoes and carrots, just until the vegetables are slightly softened, about 3-4 minutes.
9. Add the tomato sauce.
10. Add the sugar, red bell peppers, peas, plus the remaining soy sauce.
11. Stir and cook for about 3-4 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and coats the ground meat and the vegetables.
Serve immediately. Enjoy!
👩🏻🍳 Recipe FAQs
They are, in essence, the same dish. Filipino food is full of a variety of ground meat dishes that are similar yet slightly different. These two dishes are the same; Filipino giniling is essentially the Filipino version of picadillo, which is a traditional Latin American dish popular in Mexico and Cuba.
Yes! You can use frozen mixed vegetables, frozen chopped potatoes, and even frozen red bell pepper. If using straight from the freezer without thawing, cook for a few minutes longer. Otherwise, thaw first, then use in the recipe as directed.
Allow the giniling to cool down, then store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. It's just as delicious heated up the next day as it is right after you make it!
🍽 Serving ideas
This ground beef giniling is delicious served over our Instant Pot Garlic Rice, Instant Pot Basmati rice, or our Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Brown Rice (can you tell we love cooking rice in the electric pressure cooker?😃).
Serve this with other Filipino recipes, like crispy lumpia, Filipino macaroni salad, and/or pancit bihon.
We also love this with a crunchy salad, like our Asian Carrot Cucumber Salad.
🍷 🥂 Wine pairings
This saucy dish pairs well with a fruit forward red wine, such as a Gamay or a Pinot Noir.
🍳 Kitchen tools and equipment
Ready to make this recipe? Here are the kitchen tools and equipment you'll need:
- Large skillet - You'll need a large skillet or large saucepan. I use my Lodge 3.6 quart enameled cast iron casserole skillet.
- Wooden spoon - Use a wooden spoon to stir the ingredients.
More Filipino recipes
You can view my entire Filipino recipe collection on the blog. Here are some great Filipino recipes to start with:
Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
Filipino Beef Giniling
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup diced yellow onions
- 2 pounds ground beef
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1½ cups water, plus more as needed
- 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1 cup diced carrots (about 2 medium carrots, diced)
- 6 Tablespoons soy sauce, divided
- 1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- ½ cup green peas
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley.
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and onions and sauté for 1 minute, just until the vegetables are soft and fragrant.
- Add the ground beef, salt, and pepper, and stir to combine.
- Pour in ½ cup of water, and cook the ground beef with the garlic and onions, stirring constantly, just until the meat has browned, about 3 minutes. If there is a lot of greasy liquid, drain it out, leaving just about one tablespoon of liquid left in the pan.
- Add the potatoes, carrots, and 3 tablespoons of the soy sauce. Stir and cook until the potatoes and carrots have softened, about 3 to 5 minutes. During this time, add water as needed to help cook the vegetables.
- Add the tomato sauce, remaining 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, red bell pepper, peas, and sugar. Stir to combine, and cook until the veggies are all tender, about 3 to 4 more minutes. The sauce should thicken, but if there is a lot of excess thin liquid, feel free to drain it before serving.
- Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is a general estimate. Actual nutrition details may vary depending on the exact foods & brands you use to make this recipe. It does not take into account any substitutions, toppings, or optional ingredients.
Leave a Reply