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Smashed Cheeseburger Tacos

Smashed cheeseburger tacos with crispy-edged beef patties folded into buttery flour tortillas, layered with melted American cheese. Burger tacos get a burger-style special sauce finish with crunchy lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and chopped pickles.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Mexican-American Fusion
Calories: 520
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Ground beef
  • 1.5 lb ground beef (80/20)
Flour tortillas
  • 8 small flour tortillas
Cheese
  • 8 slice American cheese
Butter
  • 0.25 cup butter melted
Taco toppings
  • 1 shredded lettuce
  • 1 diced tomatoes
  • 1 diced onions
  • 1 pickles, chopped
Special sauce
  • 1 special sauce (mayo, ketchup, mustard mixed)
Seasoning
  • 0.25 tsp salt to taste
  • 0.25 tsp pepper to taste

Equipment

  • 1 cast iron skillet

Method
 

Season and portion the beef
  1. Form the ground beef into 8 small balls and season with salt and pepper.
Butter the tortillas and smash the patties
  1. Heat a griddle or large skillet over high heat and brush the tortillas with melted butter.
  2. Place the tortillas on the hot surface and put a beef ball on each, then smash flat with a heavy spatula.
  3. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the beef develops a crispy crust, then flip the tortilla and beef together.
Melt cheese, fold, and fill
  1. Immediately top each smashed patty with American cheese and cook for 1-2 minutes until melted.
  2. Remove from the heat, fold each taco like a taco shell, and fill with lettuce, diced tomatoes, diced onions, and chopped pickles.
  3. Drizzle special sauce over the filled tacos and serve right away.

Notes

Pro tip: keep the heat on high so the beef browns fast and the edges get crisp before flipping. Store assembled tacos in the fridge up to 2 days, but for best texture, keep toppings and sauce separate and rewarm the smashed patties/tortillas briefly. Freezing is not recommended for assembled tacos. For a lighter swap, use 90/10 ground beef and reduce the butter to 1-2 tbsp total for brushing.