Koobideh, But Smash it on Tortillas

with tons of fresh herbs, sumac, walnuts, feta, and cucumber

Ok, so I recently got onto Tik Tok (yea, I know, a bit late to the game, but here we are) and I noticed all these fools making “smash burger tacos” which essentially are people spreading ground beef onto a tortilla, cooking it like a smash burger, then topping it with all the classic burger things (special sauce, cheese, pickles, etc). Honestly, it looked good af.

One thing that made me LOL, however, is that Chef Eric See from Ursula in BK made something very similar to this (tacos dorados) when I was at MUNCHIES AND THE WORLD HATED ON IT SO HARD.

It was wild.

His recipe was not pegged as a smash burger because it was an actual taco, not a burger at all, and something that his mom used to make for him back in the day. Also, he kind of deep fries it instead of cooking it in a skillet, but it is very similar and was very delicious and you should make that recipe sometime.

Regardless, seeing this “trend” now got me thinking about making this cute little recipe, but adding my own twist to it.

Koobideh is a popular street food in Iran. It’s double ground beef or lamb that is formed onto wide, flat skewers and grilled over charcoal. It truly is delicious and typically served with grilled tomatoes on lavash.

Making it into a “taco” of sorts felt like a no-brainer, so here it is. You don’t have to use double-ground beef for this—I used regular old 80/20 ground beef and it was just fine. I also usually add in baking soda to help tenderize the meat (the word koobideh comes from the Persian word koobidan and means “slamming,” which is a reference to the way the meat is traditionally prepared) but since we’re not really SLAMMING our meat around here, you can also skip that if you really want, but I do recommend using it since you are kind of working the meat onto a tortilla.

Topping these bad boys is the best part. I love adding a ton of herbs, walnuts (great texture, plus we know I am a huge walnut fan), feta, and yogurt. Oh! Plus extra sumac and a squeeze of lime juice really sets it off. AND DON’T FORGET THE PERSIAN CUCUMBERS.

Also, I brush some butter on them when they’re off the skillet for extra flavor, but you can also skip that if you hate extra flavor.

I took this dish with me on a hike with my friend recently and even brought my little stove and skillet to make it FRESH for us on the trail and it was stupendous. Highly recommend.

Makes 6
Prep time: 25 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 medium yellow onion, peeled
1 pound|454 grams double-ground ground beef
1 ¾ teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 ½ teaspoons sumac, plus more for serving
¼ teaspoon baking soda
⅔ cup|160 grams yogurt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 flour tortillas
3 tablespoons olive oil, as needed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (optional)
2 ounces|56 grams crumbled feta cheese
2 ounces|56 grams toasted and chopped walnuts
3 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
a handful each fresh Dill, Italian flat-leaf parsley, and Persian basil, to taste
limes wedges, for serving

DIRECTIONS

Grate the onion into a large bowl. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible, discarding the liquid. Add the beef, salt, sumac, and baking soda and mix to incorporate. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour (but you can use it right away if you’re short on time).

Season the yogurt with salt and pepper. You could add in some grated cucumber (be sure to squeeze out the juice from the cucumber first though), or some finely diced red onion…truly, make this your own! Or keep it simple with the salt and pepper! Refrigerate until ready to use.

Divide the meat into 6 equal-sized portions. Flatten each portion onto a tortilla, taking care to spread it all the way to the edges. 

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a medium cast-iron skillet over medium-high. Working in batches, add a tortilla, meat-side down, and cook, smashing it as you do (I like to use the flat side of my potato masher to smoosh it), until charred, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes. You may need to add a little more oil as you cook each—it really depends on how fatty your ground beef is.

To serve, brush some butter on the beef and smear with a bit of yogurt. Top each with some feta, walnuts, cucumbers, and the herbs and sprinkle with more sumac. Squeeze some lime juice over the top, fold it in half, and get into it like you would a taco.