Animal Style Smash Tacos
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As if smash tacos weren’t already delicious enough, we’ve now made them animal style to really knock your socks off. If you don’t know what animal style smash tacos means, allow me to explain.
We start by rolling our ground beef into balls, placing it on a tortilla, then adding ridiculously flavorful burger seasoning and a thin layer of mustard to the beef side. By smashing it down into the pan and cooking it flat, we seal in all the flavor and get a juicy, slightly crispy burger patty on a crispy tortilla.
Then, we build our tacos by adding carmalized onions, chopped pickles, lettuce, tomatoes and our insane aniaml style sauce that is so good, you’ll want to bathe in it. It’s made with homemade caramelized onions that are to die for and totally worth the time to make. I’ve been making these at least once a week and love it each and every single time.
Make extra sauce and add it to burger salad bowls, Big Mac wraps or as a drizzle for a turkey taco bowl.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- 20 grams of protein per taco.
- Simple ingredients and easy to make!
- The sauce is too delicious for words.
Ingredients and Substitutions:
These are the main ingredients and substitutions for these animal style smash tacos. See the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and instructions.
- Avocado Mayo: or regular mayo. You can use low-fat if you want a lighter sauce. The avocado adds a delicious sweetness.
- Ketchup
- Pickles: chopped up for the sauce. This is a must for the special sauce!
- Onions: you’ll make your caramelized onions for this recipe and once you learn how to do it, you’ll never stop making them!
- White Corn Tortillas: I like Guerrors 6″, 100 calories for 2 tacos.
- Lean Ground Beef: I use 96/4%, you can use ground turkey or chicken but if using another ground meat, add extra seasoning.
- Kinders Caramelized Onion Burger Seasoning: or any burger seasoning. Lawry’s Seasoned Salt is really good, too.
- Yellow Mustard: you can skip mustard if not your thing but this is the traditional “mustard fried” and doesn’t make it taste like mustard.
- Thin Sliced Cheddar Cheese: or any cheese you prefer. Sargento makes a great thin sliced cheddar.
- Toppings: shredded iceberg lettuce, pickles, chopped tomatoes
Variations
- Turn this into a burger by using a burger bun instead of a tortilla.
- Skip the sauce and use one of your favorites for fun variations.
Dietary Modifications
- These are gluten-free, but be sure to check your tortillas.
- For dairy-free, omit the cheese! The avocado mayo is dairy-free.
How to make these smash tacos (a step-by-step visual guide):
Step 1: make animal sauce
In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, ketchup and pickles (image 1). Mix to combine and set aside. You will add caramelized onions to this mixture once done (image 2).
Step 2: Caramelize Onions
Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat, I like using a cast iron skillet but any works. Add the oil and heat and coat the pan. You want a gentle heat. Add the onions and a pinch of salt (image 3). Stir to coat. Cook the onions low and slow for 25-30 minutes stirring often while you prepare your burgers. You want a deep golden brown (image 4). If they stick to the pan add a splash of water and scape the pan with a wooden spoon (extra flavor!). When done cooking add ⅓ of the onions to the spread and leave the rest for topping your tacos.
Step 3: form and season smash tacos
Split the ground beef into 6 equal balls (2.66 oz.). Do not overwork them, loose is good, just roll them up. Place one ball on one corn tortilla and SMASH it thin with your hand so it covers the tortilla (image 5). Season the exposed beef side generously with burger seasoning (image 6) and then flip it on a plate so the tortilla is up. Peel the tortilla off and season the underside of the beef (image 7). Replace the tortilla and press it together again. I know this seems silly but I promise this makes a huge taste difference when both sides are seasoned well. Flip back over and spread a thin layer of yellow mustard directly onto the beef side (image 8).
Step 4: cook the meat and melt the cheese
Heat a large skillet or flat top over medium-high heat. Lightly oil the pan and place the tacos in beef side down (image 9). Press firmly with a spatula and cook for 3-4 minutes until the beef is cooked through, the edges are crispy and you’ve got a dark smash burger crust on the meat (image 10). Flip the tacos and top with the cheese (image 10). Cook the tortilla for 1-2 minutes until golden brown, the cheese has melted and the tortillas are crispy but still flexible enough to fold. Remove from the heat, fold like a taco and add shredded lettuce, spread, pickles, tomato and caramelized onions. Repeat with all 6 tacos (image 11).
Expert Tip!
You NEED to season both sides of the meat, it makes a huge difference when combined with the tortilla. You will lack flavor if you only do one side, TRUST ME.
Recipe FAQs
These are best the day of for the smash burger to have the best flavor. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It’s best to store all toppings separately and assemble the tacos when ready.
I love this sauce. Put it on burgers, burger salad bowls or wraps.
You can, but beef will have the best and most juicy flavor. If using another ground meat, add extra seasoning.
Check out our other easy recipes!
If you make this recipe, please leave a rating and/or comment! Tag me on Instagram @ohsnapmacros, I love hearing from you!
Animal Style Smash Tacos
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Ingredients
For the Spread
- 1/4 cup avocado mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup chopped pickles
- 1.5 Tbsp. pickle juice
- 1/3 of the cooked caramelized onions
For the Tacos
- 1 lb. lean ground beef (96/4)
- 6 white corn tortillas Guerrero 6"
- Kinders Caramelized Onion Burger Seasoning
- yellow mustard
- 6 slices thin sliced cheddar cheese Sargento Ultra Thin
- 1 medium white onion, finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil or avocado oil
- pinch of salt
- shredded iceberg lettuce
- chopped pickles
- choppd tomatoes
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, ketchup and pickles. Mix to combine and set aside. You will add caramelized onions to this mixture once done.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat. I like using a cast iron skillet but any works. Add the oil and heat and coat the pan. You want a gentle heat.
- Add the onions and a pinch of salt. Stir to coat. Cook the onions low and slow for 25-30 minutes stirring often while you prepare your burgers. You want a deep golden brown. If they stick to the pan add a splash of water and scape the pan with a wooden spoon (extra flavor!).
- When done cooking, add ⅓ of the onions to the spread and leave the rest for topping your tacos.
- Split the ground beef into 6 equal balls (2.66 oz.). Do not overwork them, loose is good, just roll them up.
- Place one ball on one corn tortilla and SMASH it thin with your hand so it covers the tortilla.
- Season the exposed beef side generously with burger seasoning and then flip it on a plate so the tortilla is up. Peel the tortilla off and season the underside of the beef. Replace the tortilla and press it together again. This makes a huge taste difference when both sides are seasoned well, so don't skip this step.
- Flip back over and spread a thin layer of yellow mustard directly onto the beef side.
- Heat a large skillet or flat top over medium-high heat. Lightly oil the pan and place the tacos in beef side down. Press firmly with a spatula and cook for 3-4 minutes until the beef is cooked through, the edges are crispy and you’ve got a dark smash burger crust on the meat.
- Flip the tacos and top with the cheese. Cook the tortilla for 1-2 minutes until golden brown, the cheese has melted and the tortillas are crispy but still flexible enough to fold. Remove from the heat, fold like a taco and add shredded lettuce, spread, pickles, tomato and caramelized onions. Repeat with all 6 tacos.
Notes
- You can skip mustard if not your thing. This is the traditional “mustard fried” and doesn’t make it taste like mustard.
- You NEED to season both sides of the meat, it makes a huge difference when combined with the tortilla. You will lack flavor if you only do one side.
- Nutritional information is ASSUMING you split the sauce between 6 tacos. If you use less or a light mayo the calories will lower. I saved the sauce in tracking apps to track as 1 gram to use, search OHSNAPMACROS Animal Style Sauce; it makes a total of 137 grams and you can log by gram. I also saved with Smash Tacos without the sauce so you can log the sauce separately. 👌🏻
- Nutritional information is an estimate and will vary with substitutions.
