Crispy Shawarma Smashed Tacos with Quick Tzatziki
These are weeknight chaos turned into something worth gathering for. Spiced ground meat gets smashed thin and crispy in the pan and held together by a warm pita shell. These have all the warm, charred flavor of shawarma without the spit or the wait. Finished with a quick tzatziki that comes together while the meat sizzles.
Servings: 6
Ingredients
Tacos
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground lamb
- ½ yellow onion grated
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons *shawarma seasoning
- 12 small pitas
- tzatziki sauce
- ½ red onion thinly sliced
- 3 roma tomatoes chopped
Tzatziki
- 1 cup greek style yogurt
- 1 garlic clove grated
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
- 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 2 Persian cucumbers thinly sliced
Instructions
Tzatziki
- Combine all tzatziki ingredients to a medium bowl, except cucumbers. Whisk together to combine. Taste for seasoning. Add cucumbers and stir together. Drizzle with more olive oil.
Tacos
- Add grated onion, beef, lamb, salt, pepper, and shawarma seasoning to a medium bowl. Mix together until combined, careful not to overwork or meat becomes tough.
- Heat a cast iron or heavy skillet on medium high. Scoop a golf ball sized portion of meat mixture onto one pita and press evenly over pita all the way to the edges (meat will shrink when cooking).
- Lay pita, meat side down, in skillet and press with spatula to get good contact with the hot surface. Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes until meat is crispy. Flip pita and cook another 1-2 minutes until golden and crisp.
- Top smash tacos with tzatziki, red onion, and tomatoes.
Notes
For homemade shawarma seasoning I use The Mediterranean Dish version.