Smash Burger Tacos Recipe

Our family smash burger taco recipe topped with our favorite homemade burger sauce. We’ve fallen for them, and we think you will too.

Last year we shared our favorite Smashed Burgers recipe— and while it’s still a staple in our kitchen, we’ve been taking the delicious burger taco a lot lately. After we first noticed them going viral on social media, we had to try them for ourselves. One bite in, we were hooked.

After making them at home, we’ve picked up a few tricks that make the process a breeze. In addition, we include our homemade burger saucewhich really takes them over the top.

Main ingredients:

• Ground beef. Just like ours classic smash burgerswe recommend using ground beef with a little fat. Aim for 15% to 20% fat (85/15 or 80/20). While leaner beef can work, the higher fat content keeps the meat juicy and helps it stick properly to the tortilla without falling apart. These also work with ground turkey and ground turkey, but be mindful of that fat content (the more, the better.
• Tortillas. After testing them in our kitchen, we found flour tortillas work best. They are slightly more flexible than corn, which helps prevent cracking. As a bonus, the meat sticks to the surface much better. That said, feel free to use whatever type you like best.
• Cheese. Although this is always optional, we like to add a slice of cheese on them. My preference is melted American cheese, but anything goes here. Cheddar, provolone, mozzarella, pepper jack, everything.
• Sauce. You can certainly stick to the basics ketchupmustard, and mayonnaisebut ours easy burger sauce really takes them over the top. We think it’s a must.
• Toppings: These are completely up to you. We like to keep things simple with a classic combination of chopped onions, fresh tomatoes, shredded lettuce and a few. dill picklesall topped off with a generous drizzle of our dressing.

Check out the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Smash Burger Tacos

Tip 1. Choose flour tortillas. After testing both, we find that flour tortillas work best for breakable tacos. They are more pliable than corn and the meat sticks to the surface better when cooked.

Tip 2: Spread the meat, don’t break it. I know this sounds counterintuitive, but we’ve found that spreading the raw ground beef directly onto the tortilla before it hits the pan is the secret to success. It guarantees an even layer of meat, requires less “elbow grease” on the stove, and speeds up the cooking process a bit. If you want to make them like traditional smash the burgers where you start with a ball and press down with a heavy spatula, you can, but we’ve really found that the spreading technique makes this recipe easier.

Tip 3: Use a metal spatula. These cook quickly, but the meat can sometimes stick to the pan. Keep a thin metal spatula handy (a flexible fish spatula works great) to gently move under the meat before turning. It also helps press the taco and meat into the pan for really good baking.

Tip 4: Fry the other side of the tortilla. When you flip the taco to cook meat side up, the bottom of the beef will be crisped in the rendered beef fat. We recommend adding a slice of cheese right after flipping to get the perfect melt, but even if you skip the cheese, leave it in the pan for an extra minute to get that perfectly crispy, golden exterior.

Service offers

We make them quite a bit for dinner, but they are also fantastic for a crowd (especially if you have a large flat grill). At home we usually keep things simple and serve vegetables on the side baked potato fries, sweet potato fries, fried potatoes, steamed broccolior corn salad.

If you’re making them for a crowd, serve them alongside one of our drink-friendly sides, e.g. potato salad, red potato salad, creamy pasta salad, barley pasta salador creamy coleslaw! (Here are more summer potluck recipes for inspiration.)

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