Development Opportunities Franchise Opportunities Contact Us
Website Header Image (3)

Cooking with Cate

Cooking with Cate

Cate Campbell travels constantly. She has done it for most of her life, from early morning training camps to four Olympic Games. And somewhere along the way, she worked out how to eat well on the road without overthinking it. 

Cooking with Cate is a series of simple, achievable recipes designed for the Quest apartment kitchen. No complicated equipment, no long ingredient lists. Just food that is worth making and easy to pull off wherever you happen to be staying. 

Cooking with Cate

Smash Burger Tacos

The smash burger taco is exactly what it sounds like, and somehow even better than you'd expect. Ground beef pressed flat onto a flour tortilla, cooked beef-side down on a screaming hot pan until the crust is golden, then flipped and finished with melted cheese. Add the sauce, the pickles, fold it in half. That's dinner.

"This is the one the whole family keeps requesting. Press the beef straight onto the tortilla, smash it flat on a hot pan, melt the cheese, add the sauce. It looks impressive, costs almost nothing, and takes 25 minutes. The Quest kitchen genuinely makes this kind of cooking on the road feel completely normal."  
— Cate Campbell 

 

Recipe 

Prep time: 5 minutes 

Cook time: 20 minutes 

Total time: 25 minutes 

Serves: 2 (4 tacos) 

 

Ingredients 

For the Big Mac sauce 

  • 3 tbsp mayonnaise 

  • 3 tbsp ketchup 

  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar 

  • 1/2 tsp hot sauce (Tabasco works well) 

  • 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 

  • 1 tsp mustard 

For the tacos 

  • 200g ground beef (10% fat preferred) 

  • Salt and pepper 

  • 4 small flour tortillas 

  • A little vegetable oil for the pan 

  • 8 slices American cheese or sliced cheddar 

To serve 

  • 1/4 iceberg lettuce, finely shredded 

  • 2 tbsp dill pickles, finely chopped 

 

Method 

  1. Make the sauce. Mix all sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Taste and adjust. Set aside. 

  1. Prep the beef. Divide the ground beef into 4 equal portions (about 50g each). Press each portion onto the centre of a flour tortilla, spreading it out to nearly the edges in a thin, even layer. Season with salt and pepper. 

  1. Heat the pan. Place a large pan or skillet over high heat. Add a small splash of oil. You want it hot. 

  1. Cook the tacos. Place each tortilla beef-side down onto the hot pan. You may need to do 2 at a time depending on pan size. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until you have a deep golden crust on the beef. 

  1. Flip and melt. Flip the taco so the tortilla side is now down. Lay 2 slices of cheese on the cooked beef. Cover with a lid for 30 seconds until the cheese melts. 

  1. Assemble. Spread sauce on the tortilla side, add lettuce and pickles, fold in half. Serve immediately. 

 

Original recipe: Cravings Journal