
Celebrating National Taco Day 2026!
I love Tacos, sure – so when it’s “National Taco Day”, I say OK, let’s celebrate!

“National Taco Day” is now always celebrated on the first Tuesday of October – and as this A.I. image shows, people of all nationalities love to take part….I was wondering how best to celebrate – then, I saw a sign…

This sign, which I came across on the streets of New York – it intrigued me…then I found a recipe for making “Smash Burger Tacos” at home – well, that was it, I had to make one – and after looking online, it seems I will be trying to make one to look like this:

It’s got elements of a cheeseburger, but cooked through the filter of tacos! There are several elements to it, so let’s get started with:

The Special Sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon Cajun pepper hot sauce, such as Frank’s RedHot
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder Fine salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, relish, ketchup, hot sauce and garlic powder until combined. Taste, and season with salt and pepper, as desired.

For The Tacos:
1 pound ground beef, preferably 80 percent lean
Six (6-inch) flour tortillas
Fine salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6 slices American or cheddar cheese
Sliced dill pickles, shredded lettuce, diced onions and sesame seeds, for serving
Heat a stainless-steel skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Meanwhile, divide the meat into six equal portions, about 2 1/2 ounces each, and press each portion onto one side of a tortilla to cover the entire surface.
In batches, depending on the size of your griddle or skillet, add the tortillas to the hot skillet meat side down and cook, pressing each regularly with a spatula, until a nice brown crust forms, about 3 minutes.
Take a look:
Lightly season each patty with salt and pepper.

The next part is equally fun: flip the tortillas over, top with a slice of cheese and cook until the tortillas are crisp on the bottom and the cheese has melted, about 1 minute more.

Now just load them up with pickles, lettuce, onions, the sauce and sesame seeds if you have them; they are ready to love!
I always enjoy a healthy slathering of condiments – here is how I dressed mine:

I gingerly slid my fingers underneath and carefully folded it in half like a taco:

Here’s my taste test:
Verdict? Delicious!
I love smashburgers, and wrapping one in a soft taco shell is a great mashup!

As you can see, it looks like a giant soft taco – could I have used smaller taco shells? Sure, but I managed to finish it all!


I’m glad I used pickle relish – it worked well with the slightly crispy beef and melted cheese…and crisp lettuce and raw onion are a nice touch as well…a delicious and very filling meal – that reminded me of something I ate a few years ago!
Remember this? I realized that a “smash burger” taco is what America’s oldest family-owned Mexican restaurant created! – click here to see their original “beef taco” recipe that used a fully formed beef patty as well!
Because it’s National Taco Day, here’s another taco recipe I love – the classic fried fish taco!

Crispy fish and spicy homemade salsa did the job!
See the recipe here:
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Categories: Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Cheeseburgers, Cookbooks, Eat This!, Food, Food Pictures, Recipes, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food
Why am I not surprised and smiling looking at the pleasure you have created 🙂 ! Glad you enjoyed . . . just as well you did not prepare this in Australia . . . . a couple of extra ingredients would have ended on the plate methinks !!!