Crispy Cheesesteak Wraps

Crispy Cheesesteak Wraps are filled with shaved steak which is cooked in soy sauce, melty muenster cheese, caramelized onions, and sautéed bell peppers and wrapped in a crispy whole wheat tortilla. It's a lighter version of a cheesesteak and it's ready in just over 30 minutes, making it a great weeknight meal.

Its also a great make-ahead meal. All of the ingredients can be prepped ahead of time, and assembled right before serving.

When craving a wrap or something crispy for dinner, we also love to make these Chipotle Chicken Quesadillas on whole wheat tortillas, or these Cajun Chicken Wraps. Wraps and Quesadillas are often our go-to weeknight meals. For a more project-style dinner, we love to make these Green Chili Pork Tostadas. They are great for the weekend and you'll have plenty of leftovers for the week.

Low in Carbs

This is a meal that I go to when I want something super satisfying but not so high in carbs, just like these Chicken Spinach Wraps. There’s a lot of fat and flavor in the shaved steak which makes it crave-worthy, but because you’re only putting a little bit of steak and only 1 slice of cheese in each wrap, it feels somewhat balanced.

I love using a whole wheat tortilla in this recipe rather than a regular flour tortilla (or hefty roll) because the consistency and nuttiness of the whole wheat tortilla adds texture and flavor to the dish.

Ingredients

Below are the ingredients for crispy cheesesteak wraps.

• Olive oil: Use extra virgin, if possible.
• Shaved Steak: You can find thinly sliced shaved steak at many grocery stores. Even though the shaved steak is already "shaved", I like to chop it up even further. It makes it a little easier to assemble the wrap, and better for little kids so they're not trying to bite through a long piece of steak as they take a bite of the wrap.
• Soy sauce: Use low-sodium soy sauce. I use a variety of brands, but most commonly I use Kikkoman or Trader Joe's.
• Onion: I use a yellow onion, but a Vidalia onion works too.
• Red and green bell peppers: any color pepper works, but I like to choose two different colors for brightness and color.
• Whole wheat tortillas: Adds subtle flavor and texture that you would not get with white flour tortillas.
• Muenster cheese: I love using Muenster cheese here because it can be pretty salty and melty. We've also made this with slices of havarti which has been great too. You can also use provolone, which is more traditional for a cheesesteak.

Spicy Dipping Sauce Ingredients:

Below are the ingredients for the dipping sauce made with mayo, sour cream, lemon, and spices. The dipping sauce adds a creamy, spicy, and acidic touch. The dipping sauce is optional if you’re short on time or don’t have the ingredients on hand and don’t want to add the expense.

I have made this sauce a dozen times trying to determine the right balance of mayo, sour cream, acidity, and spices. I've made variations with all sour cream, others with all mayo, some with Greek yogurt, and all different combinations of those three ingredients. Since finalizing the dipping sauce, I've made it dozens of times to go with our family dinners and it is juuust right.

• Mayo: any brand will work.
• Sour cream: I recommend full-fat sour cream.
• Lemon: freshly squeezed lemon juice adds acidity.
• Black pepper: adds a tiny bit of spiciness.
• Smoked paprika: adds a slightly smoky flavor.
• Oregano
• Garlic powder
• Salt: just a pinch to bring out flavor.

Adding Flavor with Soy Sauce

Cooking the shaved steak in ¼ cup of soy sauce heightens the flavor of the whole dish. It adds a savoriness that you wouldn’t get if you cooked the steak on its own. We have cooked the steak without soy sauce and that is good too. It’s just better with it.

Assembling the Crispy Cheesesteak Wraps

When assembling the wraps, add ⅓ of the slice of cheese to the bottom of the tortilla and the rest on the top. That way when you flip over the folded tortilla on the pan, that cheese on the top (which is now on the bottom) melts a little into the pan and gets crispy sealing the open-sided portion (now face down) closed.

How to Make Crispy Cheesesteak Wraps

Below are the step-by-step directions along with photos of each step to ensure success when making this recipe.

Step 1. Bring a large sauté pan to medium heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the shaved steak, stirring occasionally. Add the soy sauce and continue to cook until all the meat is browned and cooked through about 7-10 minutes. Remove the steak from the pan

Step 2. Add 1-2 tablespoon olive oil, the yellow onions, and additional olive oil if needed and cover, stirring occasionally for 5-7 minutes. Remove the yellow onions.

Step 3. Add the bell peppers at medium heat. Add additional olive oil as needed. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally for 5-6 minutes. Remove from the pan.

Step 4. To assemble each crispy cheesesteak wrap: bring a large sauté pan to medium heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and a whole wheat tortilla. Add ⅓ of a slice of muenster cheese to the center of the tortilla. Layer on a small amount of steak, peppers, and onions and the remaining ⅔ slice of cheese.

Using a fork and tongs fold the two opposing edges of the tortilla over the filling into the middle and hold in place for a few seconds, then flip over and allow the folded edges and cheese to get crispy for 2-3 minutes on the pan. Flip back over and allow the bottom to get crispy for another 2 minutes.

If your pan is large enough you can make two at a time, or if you have two pans you could get two pans going at the same time to save time.  Repeat for each wrap.

Step 5. Dipping Sauce: combine the mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, black pepper, smoked paprika, oregano, garlic powder, and salt in a small bowl.

What To Serve With Crispy Cheesesteak Wraps

I recommend serving a small salad for dinner first. That way you are getting extra green vegetables in with your dinner, filling at least a portion of your stomach with bright, fresh greens, and forcing a break in between eating salad and eating a cheesesteak wrap. This helps give your stomach time to realize how full it is before you go to town on the main dish.

How to Reheat Leftovers

This cheesesteak recipe comes together quickly, especially if you use multiple pans at the same time for the steak, peppers, and onions. It's also really great for leftovers.

• Assemble new wraps: Any ingredients that you don’t use can be refrigerated overnight and made into a new crispy wrap the next day.
• Reheat leftover wraps: Or if you prefer, you can make up all the crispy wraps at the same time and place any leftover wraps in the fridge. Just warm up a sauté pan and a tablespoon of olive oil and pan fry for a few minutes on each side to get crispy.

Recipe Inspiration

I wanted to make this dish at home after having something similar on a work trip. Between a barrage of meetings, I went down to the building’s cafeteria. It was brand new and quite nice, and I ordered a jalapeno cheesesteak wrap. It reminded me of the chicken cheese steak wraps that were quite famous amongst the college students at Boston College. It hit the spot and I had been dreaming about it since. 

A couple of years later I made my own version by simplifying it. I removed the jalapenos (which I love but are tough to make work with kids), and made the whole wheat tortilla crispy in the pan as a substitute for the shaved steak being cooked on a commercial griddle. I made a spicy dipping sauce as a substitute for those spicy jalapeños.

If you're looking for more dinner recipes you might like these:

Hot Honey Lemon Pepper Wings: Overnight wings with lemon pepper dry rub and a simple hot honey sauce.

New York Street Cart Chicken: Marinated crispy chicken thighs served with rice, peppers, and freshly made pita bread.

Crispy Chipotle Chicken Quesadillas: Quesadillas are made with chicken in the BEST chipotle sauce with melted Monterrey jack cheese.

If you make this dish, I'd love to hear from you and learn how it went. Leave a comment down below and let me know how it turns out! Your feedback means a lot!