Smash Burger on Tortilla with Crispy Beef-Fat Toasted Edges
By Isabella Quinn
Prep
5 min
Cook
15 min
Total
20 min
Servings
4
Prep the four-burger order by making the smash sauce in advance and letting it rest while heating the pan. Complete burger and tortilla prep at the end of the order. The tortillas will soak up beef drippings and become crispy on the edges, with a thin, crispy beef patty and melted cheese.
The recipe uses 80/20 ground beef, fat from this meat browns the tortillas. American or cheddar cheese melts beneath the tortillas. Ingredients for the sauce include mayonnaise, ketchup, yellow mustard, dill pickle juice, chopped pickles, and smoked paprika. Additional sandwich ingredients include thin-sliced pickles, raw onions, shredded lettuce or baby gem lettuce, tomatoes, and raw jalapeños, as desired.
Displaying a grill or other hot cast-iron cooking surface can help diners understand that meatballs will be an option. It takes 30 seconds to cook a meatball while forming it, 10 seconds to compress it, and 60-90 seconds of uninterrupted cooking to brown it. Challenges with this method include overcrowding the cooking surface and taking meatballs off the cooking surface before they are fully browned.
When preparing the recipe in larger quantities, cook batches of no more than two patties in a 12-inch pan. Keep cooked patties warm in a 200°F oven while cooking additional patties. Serve the burger with toppings and sauce right away. The article includes instructions for preparing a tortilla wrapper to eat with the burger or toast it.
Why we keep this one around
- Makes four burgers per pound of ground beef. This recipe is convenient for preparing a standard dinner portion without having to measure ground beef for individual taco shells.
- The sauce can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator while you heat the skillet. Storing the sauce ahead of time helps the pickle-brine and smoked paprika flavors develop before serving.
- Batch cooking is not an issue because this recipe recommends using no more than two hamburger patties in a 12-inch skillet, leaving enough space for the beef balls.
- Burgers can be kept warm in a 200-degree oven along with other burgers to ensure that cooked burgers don't cool off while other burgers are cooking.
- Tortillas fry in 30 to 45 seconds per side, faster than patties. Serving tortillas can increase meal output speed and variety while eliminating a separate bread offering.
- Assembly is done at the end to prevent other sandwich ingredients, including onion, lettuce, tomato, and pickles, from wilting before the sandwich is assembled with a cheese-topped meat patty.
Ingredients
- •1 lb ground beef (80/20)
- •4 medium flour tortillas (8-inch)
- •4 slices American or cheddar cheese
- •1 tsp salt
- •½ tsp black pepper
- •½ tsp garlic powder
- •1 tbsp neutral oil (for the pan)
- •¼ cup mayonnaise (full-fat)
- •2 tbsp ketchup
- •1 tbsp yellow mustard
- •1 tbsp dill pickle brine
- •1 tbsp dill pickles (finely diced)
- •1 tsp smoked paprika
- •dill pickles (thinly sliced, for topping)
- •white onion (finely diced and raw, for topping)
- •shredded lettuce or baby gem leaves (for topping)
- •tomato (thinly sliced, for topping)
- •jalapeños (optional, for heat)
Instructions
- 1
Mix all smash sauce ingredients together. Refrigerate while cooking; the sauce improves with 15 minutes of rest.
- 2
Split the ground beef into 4 equal balls, about 4 ounces each. Do not season or work the meat; keep it loose and season only the outside surface.
- 3
Heat a cast-iron skillet or flat griddle over high heat for 4 to 5 minutes, until smoking. Add a thin layer of oil.
- 4
Place one beef ball in the pan. Immediately press it flat and hard with a heavy spatula, using parchment paper on top, for 10 seconds. Season the surface and do not touch it for 60 to 90 seconds.
- 5
While the patty cooks, lay a tortilla in the pan beside it and toast it in the rendered beef fat for 30 to 45 seconds per side.
- 6
Flip the patty with a thin scraper, keeping all the crust. Immediately place cheese on top, set the toasted tortilla over the cheese, and cover the pan with a lid for 30 seconds.
- 7
Remove the stack, with the tortilla now on top. Flip it so the patty side faces up, sauce the tortilla, add toppings, and fold or eat open-faced. Eat immediately.
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