This is What Happens When a Big Mac Snack Wrap and a Chop Cheese Have a Baby

A chop cheese or a Big Mac—those were my late-night staples when I lived in Central Harlem in the mid-2000s. Both hit the spot after a night out, and judging by the lines, I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

The chop cheese, a ground beef and cheese sandwich born in East Harlem, was practically unknown outside the neighborhood until maybe eight years ago. Even my younger sister, who lived in Brooklyn at the time, had never heard of it.

Now it’s everywhere. You can still get it at the source—Hajji's Blue Sky Deli on 1st Ave. and 110th St., where it was invented in the 90s—but it’s also spread nationwide, often with pricier beef and pricier menus to match. I even made a video about my own homemade version a few years back.

The formula is simple: sear a hamburger patty on a flattop, chop it up with a pair of spatulas, melt in American cheese, and pile it all into a hero roll with lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, and ketchup. Wrapped up and left to steam, it eats a little like a cheesesteak hoagie, but with a fast-foodier flavor all its own. It's a taste firmly locked into my memory banks, right next to that Big Mac.

So what happens when the two collide? I had to find out. Lunchtime seemed like the perfect test, except I was out of burger buns. What I did have was a stack of flour tortillas, which immediately made me think of another memory: the Big Mac Snack Wrap. The chicken version might be enjoying a comeback (the question of whether it's actually any good is a debate I'm not particularly interested in), but for me, the burger-based wrap was always the star of the lineup

To build my Franken-wrap, I seasoned ground beef with salt, pepper, and a little MSG, shaped it in parchment for an even patty, then seared it hard in a skillet. As the second side cooked, I softened tortillas directly over the burger, letting the pan’s heat and steam make them pliable while giving their edges just a bit of char.

Once the patty was nearly done, I chopped it up and blanketed it with American cheese. Meanwhile, I stirred together a quick sauce—mayo, ketchup, mustard, chopped dill pickles with some of their brine, a touch of sugar, black pepper, and, for fun, a splash of Marie Sharp’s Belizean Heat habanero hot sauce. (If you want a closer taste-alike, I have a reverse-engineered Big Mab sauce recipe here.) I spread the sauce on the tortillas and topped them with shredded lettuce, tomato, and dill pickle slices.

Finally, I finished off the chop cheese bodega-style but cutting the melty cheese right into the beef, folding it in in order to bind the beef together into a single, gooey, beefy, cheesy, greasy pile and scooped it onto the tortillas before folding them up and giving them just a moment to steam in order to let the flavors meld.

The result? Spectacular. Big Mac flavor, chop cheese gooeyness, and Snack Wrap portability—all in one bite.

Chop Cheese Big Mac Snack Wraps Recipe

Sometimes the best cooking experiments come from missing one ingredient and substituting with another. I was craving a Big Mac, but I was out of buns. I did have tortillas, though, and that reminded me of the old Big Mac Snack Wraps. Combine that with a Harlem chop cheese—gooey, chopped burger and cheese on a roll—and you’ve got yourself a wrap that’s comforting, messy, snackable, and, honestly, better than the original inspirations.

What I like about this recipe:

• It combines a few of my favorite flavors — Big Macs, chop cheeses, and Snack Wraps — into a single simple snack.

• Searing the beef as a full patty before chopping and folding the cheese into it gives you lots of browned flavor and a gooey texture.

• Heating the tortillas on top of the searing beef steams them and infuses them with extra flavor.

Yield: 2 wraps
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• For the sauce

  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) mayonnaise

  • 1 teaspoon (5ml) ketchup

  • 2 teaspoons (10ml) yellow mustard

  • 1 teaspoon (5ml) dill pickle brine

  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped dill pickles

  • ½ teaspoon sugar

  • freshly ground black pepper

  • A few dashes hot sauce (I like Marie Sharp’s Belizean Heat)

• For the beef

  • 1/2 (225 g) ground beef (80/20 is ideal)

  • kosher salt

  • freshly ground black pepper

  • MSG (optional, but good)

  • 2 slices American cheese

• To finish

  • 2 (10-inch) flour tortillas

  • 1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce

  • 1/2 cup diced tomatoes

  • 6 dill pickle chips

Method

1. Make the sauce: In a small bowl, stir together mayo, ketchup, mustard, pickle brine, chopped pickles, sugar, pepper, and hot sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning. Set aside.

2. Cook the beef: Flatten the beef between parchment sheets to make a single patty, about 1/2-inch thick. Season with salt, pepper, and MSG. Heat a skillet over high heat until very hot. Add the patty and sear until well browned on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Flip and place a tortilla directly on top of the burger. Let it steam/char lightly about 30 seconds. Repeat with the second tortilla.

3. Dress the wraps: Spread sauce on each warmed tortilla. Top with shredded lettuce, tomato, and pickle chips.

4. Chop the cheese: Once the patty is cooked, chop it into small pieces in the pan using two spatulas. Spread out into a rectangle aobut the length of two slices of cheese. Top with the cheese. Let it melt for 30 seconds, then fold and chop it into the beef.

5. Assemble: Scoop half of the beef/cheese mixture into each tortilla and spread it out over the toppings. Drizzle with any remaining sauce. Wrap up the tortillas and eat.