Smash Burger Quesadilla

5 from 3 votes

This smash burger quesadilla is the BEST comfort food recipe when you need a decadent dinner at home! Cooks in under 20 minutes.

Servings quesadillas

Prep Time 7

Cook Time 11

Total Time 18

Equipment

2 Cast iron pan
Large metal spatula

Ingredients

Burger Patty

½ pound ground beef
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
⅛ teaspoon salt

Quesadilla

1 10-inch flour tortilla
1 cup shredded Mexican-blend cheese
1 tablespoon red onion diced
1 tablespoon jalapeno diced
1 tablespoon roma tomato diced
1 to 2 tablespoons Chipotle mayo*

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

First, combine the ground beef, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt in a bowl until well-mixed. Then, roll the beef into a log that's about 6 inches long.
Preheat a cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Once it's hot, transfer the beef to the pan and smash it into a flat, oblong patty with a large spatula. Cook for about 3 minutes, then flip and cook for another 3 minutes, or until done to your liking.
In the meantime, heat a separate cast iron pan over medium-low heat. Lay a single tortilla down on the pan and sprinkle the cheese evenly over the whole thing. Then, add the red onion, jalapeno, and tomato to one half of the tortilla. Cook open-faced until the cheese is melted and the bottom of the tortilla is golden, about 5 minutes.
Then, transfer the cooked burger patty to the cheese-only half of the tortilla. Top the patty with chipotle mayo, then use a spatula to fold the other half of the tortilla over the patty and close the quesadilla.
Transfer to a cutting board and use a sharp chef's knife to cut the quesadilla burger in half. Serve immediately.

Notes

Chipotle mayo: Chipotle mayo helps bridge the gap between Mexican and American cuisines in this fusion quesadilla burger! We recommend trying our easy homemade version here, or using your favorite store-bought brand.

You could also try using a chili lime crema, an avocado crema, or any other creamy condiment with Mexican flavors.

Scaling: This recipe makes 2 quarter-pound smash burgers with a half pound of beef and one tortilla, which means you can easily scale it in twos (i.e. make 4 burgers with 1 pound beef and 2 tortillas, or 6 burgers with 1.5 pounds beef and 3 tortillas).

Note that depending on the number of burgers you’re making, you will need to divide the bulk burger patty meat by the number of tortillas. So if you’re making 6 burgers with 3 tortillas and 1.5 pounds of beef, you’ll need to form 3 individual logs of beef to yield 3 separate patties.

Serving suggestions: You can serve quesadilla smash burgers with traditional burger sides like fries, tater tots, or onion rings. Or, serve them with Mexican sides like chips and salsa, guacamole, or rice and beans! You can't go wrong either way.

Author: Nicole and Alex

Calories: 621kcal

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American, Fusion, Mexican

Keyword: chipotle mayo, flour tortillas, garlic powder, ground beef, jalapeno, mexican cheese, onion powder, red onion, roma tomato, salt

Nutrition