Smash Burger Tacos Recipe

Our family’s smash burger tacos recipe, complete with our favorite homemade burger sauce! We’ve fallen hard for these, and we think yours will, too.

Last year, we shared our favorite smash burger recipe—and while that’s still a staple in our kitchen, we’ve recently fallen hard for the smash burger taco. After first spotting 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 go smoothly. Plus, we’re including our homemade burger sauce, which really takes these over the top!

Key Ingredients

• Ground Beef: Just like our classic smash burgers, we recommend using ground beef with a bit of 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 adhere properly to the tortilla without crumbling. These also work with ground chicken and ground turkey, but keep that fat content in mind (the more the better with these).
• Tortillas: After testing these in our kitchen, we’ve found flour tortillas work best. They are quite a bit more pliable than corn, which helps prevent cracking. As a bonus, the meat adheres much better to the surface. That said, feel free to use whichever variety you love most.
• Cheese: While this is always optional, we love adding a slice of cheese to these. My preference is melty American cheese, but anything goes here. Cheddar, provolone, mozzarella, pepper jack, anything!
• Sauce: You can certainly stick to basic ketchup, mustard, and mayo, but our easy burger sauce really takes these 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: finely chopped onion, fresh tomato, shredded lettuce, and a few dill pickles, all finished with a generous drizzle of our sauce.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Smash Burger Tacos

Tip 1: Choose flour tortillas: After testing both, we find flour tortillas work best for smash tacos. They are more pliable than corn, and the meat adheres better to the surface as it cooks.

Tip 2: Spread the meat, don’t smash 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’d like to make these as you would traditional smash burgers where you start with a ball and press down with a heavy spatula, you can, but we really have found that the spreading technique keeps this recipe easy.

Tip 3: Use a metal spatula. These cook quickly, but the meat can occasionally stick to the pan. Keep a thin metal spatula (a flexible fish spatula works beautifully) on hand to gently wiggle underneath the meat before flipping. It also helps press the taco and meat into the pan to get a really good sear.

Tip 4: Toast the other side of the tortilla. When you flip the taco to cook the meat side, the underside of the tortilla will crisp up in the rendered beef fat. We highly recommend adding a slice of cheese right after the flip to get that perfect melt, but even if you’re skipping the cheese, leave it in the pan for an extra minute to get the perfect crispy, golden exterior.

Serving Suggestions

We make these for dinner quite a bit, but they are also fantastic for crowds (especially if you have a large flattop grill!). At home, we usually keep things simple and serve a veggie on the side like baked French fries, sweet potato fries, roasted potatoes, sautéed broccoli, or corn salad.

If you are making these for a crowd, serve them alongside one of our potluck-friendly sides, such as potato salad, red potato salad, creamy pasta salad, orzo pasta salad, or creamy coleslaw! (Here’s even more summer potluck recipes for inspiration.)

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