What is this sandwich?
First, this isn’t technically a sandwich—it’s a flatbread you can eat like a wrap or shwarma. This is the second of three grill-focused “sandwiches” I am writing about this July. This week we’re cooking flank steak, peaches, and a soft flatbread on the grill and pairing it with a creamy and funky homemade blue cheese dressing and tart pickled red onions.
The flavors of savory, marinated, and grilled steak combine perfectly with sweet grilled peaches, and the other components mix in to combine into a super fun and flavorful almost-sandwich-like experience wrapped inside of a warm pliable flatbread.
To get started we need to talk about the bread.
Easy grilled flatbread
This is an easy flatbread recipe and I make it quite often when I cook on my grill. I typically am grilling for two people—with the expectation that there will be leftovers—so I almost always have extra space on my grill. Instead of letting this extra grill grate area go to waste, I can whip up this simple flatbread dough and cook it while the rest of my meat and veggies are cooking.
This recipe does not require much in the way of rise time so you can get the dough started about 30 minutes before grilling OR you can make the dough up to a day earlier and shape the dough into flatbreads and stash them in the fridge (stacked with parchment in between each one) and pull them out 20 or 30 minutes before you plan to grill.
When I first started making this recipe I would typically shape the dough portions into circles for grilling—and you can do that—but I have slowly changed my tactic to just make rough rectangles especially if I’m grilling on my gas grill which usually has empty rectangular areas for me to use. Also, rectangular shapes seem to be easier to roll out and get consistently shaped than circles, but the shape doesn’t matter that much.
The biggest tip I have for making your own flatbread or tortillas is to remove the bread from the grill or pan and then rest the flatbreads wrapped in or tucked under a clean kitchen towel. The towel allows the breads to steam themselves and all of the stacked flatbreads will soften and become even more pliable.
Reheating flatbread
If you do not eat all of the flatbread you made in one sitting you will probably want to reheat it for additional meals. The best way I’ve found to reheat flatbread is to wrap it in aluminum foil and cook it in a 350 F (175 C) oven for 8 to 10 minutes to warm through. This will also help to steam the bread a bit which will make sure the flatbreads are warm and softened enough to fold easily.
You can also warm the flatbreads in a pan over medium heat on the stove for a minute or two per side. Just make sure that you don’t overbrown the bread while reheating.
Grilled flatbread
This is an easy flatbread recipe you can quickly assemble right before grilling time. Add an easy-to-make, soft, pliable bread to your next grill night.
Get RecipeGrilled flank steak
For this recipe, I used the marinade that my mom used when our family ate flank steak while I was growing up. I did make a small change with the addition of a bit of Dijon mustard in this version though and that’s reflected in the main sandwich recipe down below.
Slice against the grain
If you view the photo of flank steak above you can easily see the striations in the meat. Slicing the meat perpendicular to those lines is called “slicing against the grain.” This is a way to ensure that the final meat will not be super tough to chew through. Slicing against the grain makes the tough meat fibers shorter which means you will have to chew less. If you slice the steak with the grain—parallel to the lines in the meat—you will have to chew through the tougher meat fibers.
With some cuts of steak, it’s hard to see which way the grain is going, but luckily with flank steak, it’s very easy to spot. Slice against the grain.
If you’re reading this and you just want to bookmark this flank steak recipe, I have added it here. The full sandwich has all the ingredients and full instructions at the bottom of this post though.
Mom's flank steak
1 hour and 40 minutesGrilled peaches
Peaches are fun to grill. They cook quickly, around two or three minutes per side, and as long as you don’t cook them for a super long time, they should have good texture and get a little color. They don’t require a lot of focus so you can cook them while you are grilling other items that might require a bit more focus on grill time.
These peaches can be grilled indoors or outdoors but you really will get a different layer of flavor if you grill them over charcoal. Grilling brings out the sweetness in the peach and softens the texture a bit which works great in this handheld sandwich alongside the tender flank steak.
Once all the peach slices have been grilled I let them rest a bit while I gather the rest of my sandwich ingredients. Then I run my knife through them to chop them up into mostly bite-sized pieces for the flatbread.
Pickled red onions
Pickled red onions are a great thing to keep on hand in your refrigerator. They’re great on burgers, in tacos, or even scattered on pizza. You can add them to almost any dish that could use a tart, tangy boost.
A lot of pickle recipes require briefly cooking/boiling the vinegary brine solution before adding it to the item that you are pickling. There are two reasons for this and one of them just isn’t needed with onions. The first reason for boiling is to melt any sugar or salt in the liquid and the second reason is that the heat will often soften the vegetables to give them the proper texture. But with onions, that simply isn’t required because they soften to a pleasant texture at room temperature or cold liquid.
Here’s my pickled red onion recipe. Buy a mandoline slicer if you want consistent slices.
Pickled red onions
5 minutesBlue cheese dressing
I’ve shared my blue cheese dressing recipe before and I’ve also shared my gorgonzola cheese dressing a couple of times as well. Spoiler alert: they’re basically the same recipe.
This recipe is written so that you can adjust the consistency of the dressing to turn it from something that could be used as a dip for chicken wings to a much thinner dressing you would pour on your next wedge salad. I appreciate the flexibility of dressing recipes like this because you can always add liquid to thin out the dressing but you can’t remove any liquid.
Blue cheese dressing
Thick and tangy with flavors from the sharp and flavorful blue cheese sets us up in a place where this will be great for sandwiches or salads. Add more buttermilk (or milk) to thin it out if you want it pourable.
Get RecipeHandheld build process
This handheld sandwich is easy to build and there are almost no rules to how to stack everything. I start with a base of blue cheese dressing that I top with slices of flank steak and bite-sized pieces of grilled peaches. Then top with pickled onions. At this point, you can serve, but you can also top with chopped parsley and more blue cheese sauce or crumbled blue cheese if desired.
I found that wrapping this flatbread in aluminum foil after building helped keep everything together and made the whole experience less messy. You can see some photos of that down below.
The steak and peach flatbread photos and recipe
Here are a bunch of photos of the finished flatbread wraps that I ate during the testing of this recipe. Scroll past the photos for the full ingredient list and directions to make your own version on your own grill.
Grilled peaches and flank steak flatbread wrap
The flavors of savory, marinated, and grilled steak combine perfectly with sweet grilled peaches, and the blue cheese dressing and pickled onions mix in to combine into a super fun and flavorful almost-sandwich-like experience wrapped inside of a warm pliable flatbread.
Ingredients:
Flank steak and marinade- 2 pounds flank steak
- 1⁄2 cup soy sauce
- 1⁄2 cup canola oil or other neutral oil
- 1⁄4 cup brown sugar
- 1⁄4 cup Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 330 grams all-purpose flour (2 3/4 cups)
- 7 grams salt (1 teaspoon)
- 4 grams instant yeast (1 teaspoon)
- 15 grams olive oil (1 tablespoon)
- 227 grams warm water (1 cup - 100 F or so)
- 2 to 3 peaches
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 warm flatbread (from above)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons blue cheese dressing
- 8 to 10 bite-sized pieces of grilled flank steak (from above)
- 6 to 8 bite-sized pieces of grilled peach (from above)
- pickled red onion
- parsley, chopped (optional garnish)
- blue cheese crumbles (optional garnish)
Directions:
Flank steak marinade: combine all marinade ingredients together and pour over the steak in a shallow dish or zip-top bag.
Refrigerate and allow the steak to marinate for at least one hour or overnight. During the marinating process turn several times to make sure everything is combined and the steak is getting full coverage.
Quick flatbread: add all your flatbread ingredients to a large bowl.
Mix everything thoroughly with a spoon until there's no dry flour in the bowl. This dough should be pretty shaggy.
You will want to knead with your hands at this point but you should add as little extra flour as possible. I suggest oiling your fingers and possibly adding a little extra oil to the bottom of the bowl before kneading which should help a little with the sticking problems. Knead as much as you can, about 2 or 3 minutes.
Get the dough roughly in a ball shape and let it rest in the bowl—covered—in a warm spot in your kitchen for 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.
When you are ready to shape the dough, lightly flour a flat surface and dump out your proofed dough. At this point, you will want to divide the dough into 6 equal-sized pieces. Roll each portioned dough piece out into balls.
Start shaping each dough ball one at a time into a rough rectangle or circle. You will need to sprinkle flour on the dough and the flat counter if the dough is sticky. Press or roll (with a rolling pin) the dough into flatter and wider shapes.
I like to stack each flatbread between parchment paper to make it easier to move to the grill. You can lightly spray the parchment paper with non-stick cooking spray to keep things from sticking.
Peaches: slice each peach in half and remove the pit. Then slice each half into about half-inch thick slices. Toss the peach slices in olive oil.
Grilling: preheat a gas or charcoal grill (or grill pan over the stove) for about 10 minutes. You should read through the whole grilling process prior to starting to grill because there are three components that will be cooking at the same time.
Grilling flank steak: it's hard to say exactly how long in time to grill a flank steak. I typically use a quick-read thermometer and do not cook based on any number of minutes. I like my flank steak medium rare so I pull it off the grill when the internal temperature is between 125 and 130 degrees F. If you simply must have a time frame, I would start with grilling the steak for 5 minutes per side.
Allow the steak to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing. Slice steak against the grain and serve.
Grilling flatbread: once the steak is on the grill, grill each flatbread for 2 minutes on the first side and flip. Continue cooking for around 2 minutes on each side. The flatbread may puff up during this process and that is a good thing. Lightly press it down with a spatula to keep it consistently cooking.
Once your flatbread is browned on the outside and puffy, remove it from the grill to a plate or pan covered with a clean towel. The towel allows the flatbreads to steam themselves a little which makes them even more pliable. Continue the flatbread grilling process for all of your shaped dough until they are all cooked.
Grilling peaches: after the peaches have been tossed in a tiny bit of olive oil you can add each slice to the grill and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the peaches have visible grill marks on them and they have softened a bit. Flip and cook on the second side for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.
Once all the peaches have been grilled on both sides, remove them to a plate or cutting board to rest.
Flatbread assembly: if your flatbread is room temperature and it doesn't feel very flexible, you can warm it in an oven, wrapped in aluminum foil at 350 F (165 C) for 5 to 10 minutes. This will soften the flatbread and make it easier to wrap into a handheld sandwich.
Spread blue cheese dressing on the flatbread and then top with pieces of flank steak and peaches. Add pickled onions and then garnish with parsley or more blue cheese dressing or blue cheese crumbles.
Wrap the flatbread in aluminum foil if desired to make the handheld a little easier to eat.
Come back next week!
Next week will be the final grilled sandwich that I will write about this summer (maybe?). Check back and see what it will end up being.
