When a lot of people think of burritos from San Diego, they either think fish or french fries (yes, people in San Diego sometimes put french fries in their burritos), and while those are both great, this has nothing to do with either.

Probably about 10 years ago I was in San Diego with some friends causing some unofficially sanctioned mayhem at a local political convention (yes yes, I was involved in some low-level political intrigue, but it mostly involved figuring out the room number for the Indian Gaming Commission and using it to put our drinks on their tab all weekend at our hotel), when we discovered something amazing. At a tiny shack, there was a burrito that forever etched itself into my memory. I have no idea what the place is called, or I’d give it a shout out, but I honestly don’t even know if it’s still there.

Oh, you’re probably like “what is this magical burrito you speak of?! I MUST KNOW!” Well, it’s mostly just a basic carne asada burrito. But instead of wrapping it in a tortilla, we’re wrapping it in a straight-up fresh-off-the-griddle quesadilla. This is honestly really easy, but there’s just a little finesse needed to get the quesadilla right.

Ingredients (4 burritos)

Biggest tortillas you can find (8)

2 lbs queso quesadilla or Oaxacan cheese (cheddar-jack mix or other stuff like that is fine too, I guess)

4 T butter

Mexican Crema

Carne Asada:

1 lb skirt or flank steak

1 t chili powder

1 t cumin

1 t cayenne pepper

salt & pepper

Pico De Gallo:

tomato, diced

onion, diced

half a bunch of cilantro, chopped

3 serrano chilis, diced

1 lime, juiced

salt & pepper

Guacamole:
2 avocados

1 lime, juiced

1 T hot sauce (like Cholula)

salt

– Season your steak, and set aside.

– Mix all your salsa ingredients.

– Grill your steak to medium rare, then let it rest.

– While that’s grilling and/or resting, mix your guacamole ingredients.

– Get your griddle nice and hot, and put down a tortilla with a half tablespoon of butter, and layer the cheese on. Leave a little space around the edges for cheese the will get squeezed a bit when you roll the burrito up. put the other tortilla on top with another half tablespoon of butter.

– Once the first side is starting to turn golden (but not totally brown, it can’t get too crispy), flip and cook the other side to the same color. Repeat for each burrito.

– Slice your carne asada while your quesadillas are cooking.

– Full the burritos with guacamole, pico de gallo, and carne asada, then do your best to wrap it as tight as possible. fold the ends in first, and then roll away from you.

– Be careful not to overfill; the quesadilla and it’s cheese take up more space than you’d think.

– Serve with more guac, more pico, crema, and plenty of hot sauce if you still need it.