When you have a husband that’s not a fan of hamburger buns you are constantly looking for tasty alternatives. I’ve tried Ciabata rolls, and while they are quite delicious, the hard chewy crust makes the burger filling squish out the other side when you bite into the bun. Not ideal. Grilled sour dough bread is another good alternative but it takes more time to get the slices of bread grilled just right. Cooked too long and the bread is overly crunchy, cooked not long enough and the bread gets soggy from the burger patty and condiments. Not ideal. So when I kept coming across recipes for Smash Burger Tacos that use a flour tortilla instead of a hamburger bun I knew I had to give it a try. Would hubs love it or hate it?
These are so very easy to make. Start by dividing the ground beef into 8 two ounce meatballs. Use a kitchen scale so you get evenly sized pieces of beef. Set aside.
Prepare burger sauce. You can certainly use your favorite burger sauce or you can make this delicious copycat Secret Big Mac Special Sauce recipe. It uses basic ingredients you probably have in your pantry and fridge and comes together in just a few short minutes. Just stir the ingredients together in a bowl and it’s ready to enjoy.
This Secret Big Mac Special Sauce is da bomb!
Because these burgers cook up extremely fast you want to prep all the produce before the meat patties hit the grill. Shred the lettuce, dice the tomatoes, and slice the red onion. Set aside.
Now that you’ve got everything prepped and ready to go, heat a grill or large skillet over medium high heat. Once the grill is hot place a meatball on the hot grill.
Use a large, heavy duty spatula to “smash” the meatball into a flat, really, really thin patty. Keep pressing until the patty is the same size as the flour tortillas you are using.
For best results: Use street taco sized flour tortillas. The smaller size works best with these smashed patties. The beef can be pressed out large enough so that it’s the same size as the tortillas, ensuring you get a juicy bite of the beef in every single bite.
Season beef patty generously with salt and pepper.
Top the patty with a slice of cheese.
Top with a tortilla and press the tortilla into the beef patty and slice of cheese on the grill.
When beef patty is cooked through and crispy along the edges, about 2-3 minutes, then flip it over.
Top with another slice of cheese, because you can never have too much cheese, right? Continue to cook for another 1-2 minutes to melt the cheese.
Move off direct heat and keep warm while you repeat the process to make another burger.
TIP: Once tortilla is warmed remove it from heat so it doesn’t get too crispy. You want a soft pliable tortilla that can easily be folded in half to form a taco.
Once cheese is soft and melty, transfer the taco burger to a plate and top it with shredded lettuce, diced tomato, sliced red onion and a drizzle of burger sauce.
Serve immediately.
You can easily change up the flavor profile by using a different cheese. Cheddar or Monterey Jack would be delicious alternatives to American cheese. Pepper Jack would give it a little kick. Any cheese that melts well will work beautifully.
Not a fan of burger sauce? No problem, swap it out with mustard and ketchup or your favorite condiments instead.
I can report that these Smash Burger Tacos were a HUGE hit with hubs! He loved them. My teenager even gobbled up 3 of them. They have a very similar flavor profile to a Big Mac which we loved! These will definitely be making an appearance for dinner all summer and long after summer is over. They’re that good!
Smash Burger Tacos
Equipment
- kitchen scale
- griddle or large skillet
- large spatula
Ingredients
- 16 oz ground beef
- salt & pepper
- 16 slices American cheese
- 8 street taco flour tortillas
- 1 cup lettuce, shredded
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- ½ red onion, thinly sliced
- ½ cup burger sauce
Instructions
- Divide ground beef into 8 two ounce meatballs. Use a kitchen scale so you get evenly sized pieces of beef. Set aside.
- Prepare burger sauce.
- Prepare produce. Shred lettuce, dice tomatoes, slice red onion. Set aside.
- Heat a grill or large skillet over medium high heat.
- Once grilll is hot place a meatball on the hot grill and use a heavy duty spatula to "smash" the ball into a flat, really thin patty. Keep pressing until the patty is the size of the flour tortilla.
- Season beef patty generously with salt and pepper.
- Top the patty with a slice of cheese.
- Top with a tortilla and press the tortilla into the beef patty and slice of cheese on the grill.
- When beef patty is cooked through and crispy along the edges, about 2-3 minutes, then flip it over.
- Top with another slice of cheese. Continue to cook for another 1-2 minutes to melt cheese.
- Move off heat and keep warm while you repeat the process to make another burger.
- Once cheese is soft and melty, transfer the taco burger to a plate and top it with shredded lettuce, diced tomato, sliced red onion and a drizzle of burger sauce.
- Serve immediately.
Did You Make This?
Be sure to snap a pic and tag it #naturewayblog I love, love, love hearing from my readers! Please, don’t forget to leave a comment and a review below, and be sure to follow me on INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST, TELEGRAM or TWITTER for all the latest happening here at Nature Way!
May I ask a small favor? If you enjoyed this blogpost would you be so kind and like the page. Just click the “like” button down at the very bottom, at the end of the post. It lets me know what you are enjoying the most. It also helps me focus my attention on creating content that will be most meaningful and beneficial to you, my readers. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss out on all the latest that’s happening here at Nature Way. Thank you and God bless!
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
John 6:35
Remember…Jesus ❤️’s you!