Beef and Cheese Taco Wrap
A single skillet taco wrap with browned beef mince, sweet softened onion and melted cheese folded into a warm tortilla. Savory, rich and ready in about half an hour.
- Total
- 25 min
- Prep 8 · Cook 17
- Serves
- 1
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Sautéing · Searing
- Savory
- Stovetop
- Oven
Instructions
-
Peel the onion and chop it into roughly 5 mm pieces. Grate the cheese on the coarse side of a box grater.
~5 min
-
Warm 1 tsp oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion with a pinch of the salt and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and lightly golden at the edges.
~6 min
Salting onion early draws out moisture so it softens and sweetens instead of browning too fast.
Sautéing Keep the heat medium and stir occasionally so the onion sweats and turns golden rather than catching; if it browns in under 4 minutes, the pan is too hot.
-
Push the onion to the side of the pan and add 150 g BEEF MINCE. Break it up with a wooden spoon and cook for 5 to 6 minutes over medium-high heat until no pink remains and the meat is browned, stirring it into the onion near the end.
~6 min
Breaking the mince into small pieces exposes more surface to the hot pan, browning it faster and more evenly.
Let the beef sit untouched for a minute before breaking it up: a proper brown crust on the mince is where the deep savory flavor comes from.
Searing Press the mince into the hot pan and leave it a minute before breaking it up, so a brown crust forms; constant stirring steams the meat grey.
-
Sprinkle 1 tsp TACO SEASONING, 0.25 tsp black pepper and the remaining salt over the beef. Stir for 30 to 60 seconds until the seasoning smells fragrant and coats the meat.
~1 min
Brief contact with hot fat blooms the dried spices, releasing fat-soluble aromas that taste flat if added late.
-
Scatter the grated cheese over the beef in the pan, cover with a lid and cook for 2 minutes over low heat until the cheese is fully melted and the filling is glossy.
~2 min
Covering traps steam, which melts the cheese evenly without scorching the beef underneath.
If the filling looks dry once the cheese melts, stir in 1 tbsp water to loosen it into a clinging sauce rather than a crumble.
-
Push the filling to one side. Warm each tortilla in the pan for about 30 seconds per side until soft and pliable, then spoon the beef and cheese filling down the middle and fold or roll it closed.
~2 min
Warming tortillas makes them pliable; cold ones crack and tear when folded around the filling.