This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Vietnamese Banh Mi Smash Tacos are the best way to make smash tacos! Start with a ground chicken mixture, load it up with flavor, then smashed it into tortillas and cook it on the griddle. Serve topped with pickled veggies, thinly sliced cucumbers, cilantro, and a squeeze of sriracha mayo!
The best way to eat a banh mi and a smash burger at the same time.
We’re letting the tiktok viral recipe for smash burger tacos guide us. Only I’m mashing it into something different. Let’s imbrace the smashed tacos (skip the burger press) and a banh mi all in one! These Vietnamese-inspired smash tacos are made with ground chicken. We flavor the meat patty with scallions, ginger, garlic, and a splash of soy sauce and it is perfection. Then we smash the patty meat onto a tortilla and cook them on a flat-top grill (fire up your blackstone if you have one) or on an indoor hot griddle.
The thin patty sears to the tortilla and cooks up perfectly. And every burger needs burger sauce! I love using a squeeze of sriracha mayo (homemade or store-bought) and topping with pickles carrots and daikon radish. A few sprigs of cilantro, a thinly sliced jalapeño pepper and julienned cucumbers make this absolutely delicious.
So good you’ll want to put them on the taco night dinner rotation!
Ingredients for banh mi smash tacos
- Ground Chicken: I use ground chicken for this recipe, but ground turkey or even ground beef would work, so feel free to make this with what you have on hand.
- Scallions: chopped scallions bring so much flavor to the groudn chicken mixture. they char in the pan while the meat cooks up and they are so tasty!
- Ginger Paste: feel free to use freshly grated ginger or even ginger paste, boht work here.
- Garlic: You’ll need freshly grated garlic cloves. They flavor the meat and make it so tasty.
- Soy Sauce: I prefer to use low sodiumsoy saucer for most of my recipes. This allows me to better control the amount of sodium in a recipe.
- Seasonings: You’ll need some kosher salt and cornstarch for the patty. The cornstarch makes sure the patties retain their juiciness. If you use ground beef for this recipe instead of the ground chicken, you can omit the cornstarch as ground beef doesn’t usually retain as much liquid as ground poultry.
- Tortillas: Feel free to use flour tortillas or even fiber tortilals (that’s what we typically use.) Mini street taco tortillas would also work. Use what you like!
- Rice Vinegar: we’ll do equal parts rice vinegar and water for the pickling liquid.
- Sugar: we’ll need a teaspoon for the ground chicken mixture and then some for the pickling liquid.
- Daikon Radish: I can typically find this type of radish in my mainstream grocery store, but depending on the area, you might have to visit a specialty store. Use a y-peeler to thinly shred the radish before soaking it in the pickling liquid.
- Carrots: You can use matchstick carrots or use a y-peeler and just peel and shred them yourself.
- Serving suggestions: We really like a squeeze of sriracha mayo, some chopped cilantro and persian cucumbers. You can use a mandoline to thinly slice the cucumbers, I usually just use a y-peeler to thinly julienne all the veggies for this recipe.
Make viral smash tacos
- Pickle the veggies. At least an hour befor you plan on making the smash tacos, pickle the veggies. Combine equal parts water, rice vinegar, sugar anda couple teaspoons of kosher salt in a bowl or glass jar. Zap in the microwave to help the sugar and salt dissolve. Then add the julienned carrots and radish to the bowl. Cover and let sit in the fridge for at leas an hour.
- Make the chicken mix. In a bowl, combine the ingredients for the chicken patties. You want to be careful so that you don’t overwork the meat.
- Spread it out. Now grab the tortillas and add a couple tablespoons to the top of each tortilla. Spread it out using a spoon. Make sure to leave a little rim around the sides, this is just for asthetics.
- Cook them up. Once all your tortillas are prepped. Heat a griddle with a drizzle of oil over medium-high heat. once hot, add the meat side down to the skillet and cook for a few minutes. Then flip with a spatula and warm the tortillas through on the other side. Remove them to a plate.
- Serve them up with toppings galore! When you’re ready to eat, top each tortilla with pickled veggies, shredded carrots, chopped cilantro, and sriracha mayo! Enjoy!
Other delicious recipes to try:
- Spicy Fish Taco Bowls
- Mexican Street Corn Chicken Tacos
- Vietnamese Chicken Sandwiches (Banh Mi)
- Vietnamese-Inspired Crispy Chicken Bowls
- Banh Mi Burgers with Spicy Mayo
Banh Mi Smash Tacos
Ingredients
Chicken + Tacos:
- 1¼ pounds lean ground chicken
- 5-6 scallions thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 8-10 Taco-sized keto tortillas for serving
- Chopped cilantro for serving
- Julienned cucumbers or thinly sliced jalapeños
- Sriracha mayo optional (in notes)
Pickled Veggies:
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 6 ounces daikon radish thinly sliced
- 6 ounces carrots thinly sliced
Instructions
- PICKLED VEGETABLES: Combine the rice vinegar, ½ cup water, sugar, and salt in a large mason jar. Zap in the microwave for 60 seconds then, stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the daikon radish and carrots to the jar. Make sure all the veggies are submerged in the pickling liquid, screw on the lid, and allow the vegetables to pickle in the refrigerator for at least one hour and up to 24 hours in advance.
- CHICKEN MIXTURE: In a medium bowl, add the ground chicken, scallions, ginger paste, minced garlic, soy sauce, kosher salt, sugar, and cornstarch. Stir until well combined.
- SPREAD: Add 3 tablespoons of the chicken onto the tortilla and spread it out using a spoon, leaving a 1/8- inch rim (kinda like saucing a pizza)
- COOK: Place a large nonstick pan or griddle over medium heat. Once hot, lightly spray the pan with cooking spray or drizzle with a little avocado oil. Place the tortilla, meat side down, gently press down with a spatula to flatten. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then flip and continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes.
- SERVE: Remove the tortilla to plates or serving platter. Serve family style for everyone to top their tacos with prepared pickled veggies, thinly sliced cucumbers, jalapeños, cilantro, and sriracha mayo!
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
Used the same measurements for everything but with only 1lb ground chicken. Distributed all the chicken mixture into 6 taco size tortillas although next time I’d probably use just 5 so that each one has more meat. This might also be delicious with ground pork. Family loved it including my 10yo!