Better Mac Snack Wrap recipe
I had been making something similar to the Mac Snack Wrap for years before McDonald’s introduced its on-again, off-again wrap to the world in 2009. A flour tortilla filled with half a regular patty burger and all the usual Big Mac accouterments (special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and diced onions), their Mac Snack Wrap was even more uninspired than the quick cheeseburger roll-ups I was making. I guess we were both just trying to use up some leftover beef.
And just like my cheeseburger roll-ups, the Mac Snack Wrap was almost universally panned. You don’t have to dig too deep into the internets to find posts like I Hate the Mac Snack Wrap: A Rant, This Snack Sucks: McDonald’s Big Mac Snack Wrap or — when McDonald’s itself had second thoughts — McDonald’s Puts Mac Snack Wraps Out Of Their Misery. McDonald’s would later bring it back but even top-shelf McSchwag like free Big Mac T-shirts couldn’t dissuade Mac Snack Wrap reviews like this one.
So why even try to make a better Mac Snack Wrap? Shouldn’t we let these things fade away until they’re just a curious culinary footnote for some future food historian? Probably. Do more innocent tortillas need to suffer the indignities of the dollar menu?* Probably not, but I’m going to try it anyways. I shared some quality time with Big Macs when I was in high school, and I liked the lazy cheeseburger roll-ups I made through college. The problem with my original roll-ups was that there wasn’t really a recipe. I just loaded a tortilla with leftover ground beef and rooted through the fridge until I found bags and jars of stuff I thought might work. But of course, they rarely did.
I thought the two might make a great combination if I switched to some higher-quality ingredients and actually followed a recipe of some kind for once. I stuck to using ground beef because that was how I liked my original roll-ups. But if you want to cut up a burger patty, feel free. For the rest of the wrap, I used a copycat special sauce but one that is more savory than sweet. Fresh iceberg lettuce, crunchy pickles and real cheese complete the wrap but I use shredded cheese, not sliced, because the slices have a tendency to slip around on the sauced up tortilla, which I’m not in love with. Again, use American cheese slices if you prefer to follow a more strictly copycat recipe.
After all was said and done, making a better Mac Snack Wrap isn’t the going to earn me any lifetime achievement awards, but I’m glad I went to the extra effort to beat fast food at its own game. These wraps are easy to make and far superior to what you might get at the drive-thru. Plus I now have a consistent, much more satisfying cheeseburger roll-up I can snack on. There’s nothing truly exceptional about this recipe — it’s just a simple way to make fast food healthier and tastier — better — and that’s just fine with me.
* (Sorry, this is a long one.) It seems like the Mac Snack Wrap is an ongoing and misdirected attempt by the McSuits to try and out-Taco Bell Taco Bell, which everyone should know by now is like trying to out crazy the crazies. A straight-laced restaurant like McDonald’s can’t hope to compete with those unhinged bastards working in the Taco Bell test labs who clearly pride themselves on inventing at least one crazy new Frankensteined food a week. I can’t be sure, but their promotion out of the test labs may be dependent on developing the strangest menu item possible that a test subject is still willing put in their mouth. Quesarito? Nope. That sounds like it could be a real thing but nice try. Mango BBQ Chickstar? Now that’s out-of-the-bun thinking. A chickstar gets you on the corporate jet. But a snack wrap? No one’s even discussing a snack wrap unless volcano and/or lava is in the name. They’re so bored with tortilla wraps at Taco Bell, they’re making new food from the Nacho Cheese Doritos the janitor accidentally left in the conference room. They sell you snack chips while they’re selling you a taco. That’s some next level shit. When McDonald’s executives are stirring cream into their early morning coffee, Team TB is getting down with some biscuit tacos and sucking down Mountain Dew AMs for fourthmeal after a long night of brainstorming XXL burrito ideas. Their resourcefulness and creativity would almost be admirable if it weren’t such a soul-crushing indictment of American food culture.
Image: ForkingSpoon
Better Mac Snack Wrap recipe
A simple recipe for a better Mac Snack Wrap. A healthier, tastier Big Mac wrapped in flour tortilla with a special sauce that isn't so sweet.
Ingredients
Instructions
In a small prep bowl, mix together the onion powder, paprika, garlic powder and salt. In a small mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, white onion, yellow mustard, and white wine vinegar. Add the spices from the prep bowl and mix the ingredients until they are completely incorporated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Sauté the onions and garlic
In a skillet over medium heat, cook the onions for 5 to 7 minutes in the oil until they become soft. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes or until the garlic becomes fragrant.
Cook the ground beef
Add the lean ground beef to the skillet with the Worcestershire sauce and cook until the ground beef is browned and completely cooked through (about 10 minutes). Season with the salt and pepper and set aside.
Assemble the snack wraps
Working in batches of 3 or 4, soften the tortillas in the microwave with a damp, folded paper towel for 30 seconds until they are warm. Spread about a tablespoon of sauce on the tortilla and add the shredded lettuce, cheese, pickles and approximately 2 ounces of ground beef to the center of the tortilla.
Roll the snack wraps
Loosely fold one side of the tortilla towards the center — enough to hold the filling in place — for an open-ended wrap. (Fold both the left and right sides for a closed wrap).
Fold the bottom of the tortilla (the side nearest you) just over the center and gently roll and tuck the tortilla under the filling, pulling back slightly for a tighter roll. Carefully holding the left and right sides in place with your fingers, continue to finish rolling and tucking the wrap. Repeat for the remaining tortillas.
Notes
Substitute beef patties and sliced American cheese if you want the true Mac Snack Wrap experience.
Ingredients
Directions
In a small prep bowl, mix together the onion powder, paprika, garlic powder and salt. In a small mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, white onion, yellow mustard, and white wine vinegar. Add the spices from the prep bowl and mix the ingredients until they are completely incorporated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Sauté the onions and garlic
In a skillet over medium heat, cook the onions for 5 to 7 minutes in the oil until they become soft. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes or until the garlic becomes fragrant.
Cook the ground beef
Add the lean ground beef to the skillet with the Worcestershire sauce and cook until the ground beef is browned and completely cooked through (about 10 minutes). Season with the salt and pepper and set aside.
Assemble the snack wraps
Working in batches of 3 or 4, soften the tortillas in the microwave with a damp, folded paper towel for 30 seconds until they are warm. Spread about a tablespoon of sauce on the tortilla and add the shredded lettuce, cheese, pickles and approximately 2 ounces of ground beef to the center of the tortilla.
Roll the snack wraps
Loosely fold one side of the tortilla towards the center — enough to hold the filling in place — for an open-ended wrap. (Fold both the left and right sides for a closed wrap).
Fold the bottom of the tortilla (the side nearest you) just over the center and gently roll and tuck the tortilla under the filling, pulling back slightly for a tighter roll. Carefully holding the left and right sides in place with your fingers, continue to finish rolling and tucking the wrap. Repeat for the remaining tortillas.
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