Take one bite and you’ll know why these caramelized onion quesadillas are so good. Incredibly cheesy and savoury with a hint of sweetness, these easy homemade quesadillas are perfect for a satisfying weeknight supper or game day snack.
Cheesy recipes are my absolute favourite, so it’s no surprise that I’m obsessed with these caramelized onion quesadillas. They’re bursting with flavour and are quite easy to make. Sure, it takes a little time to make the caramelized onions, but it’s totally worth it if you ask me.
And there’s not a whole lot of ingredients used in this quesadilla recipe. But that just means that each ingredient really shines.
Want to know more about caramelized onions? Check out this easy caramelized onions recipe!
Ingredients
- Butter: Used for cooking the onions. Use regular or unsalted butter, whatever you prefer.
- Olive oil: Used for cooking the onions as well as pan frying the quesadillas.
- Onions: I typically go for yellow onions when making caramelized onions, but you can substitute with white onions if that’s what you have on hand or prefer.
- Seasoning: Seasoning is kept rather simple with just salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes.
- Cheese: For these caramelized onion quesadillas, a combination of mozzarella (low moisture) and blue cheese is used. Mozzarella is mild tasting but quite melty and blue cheese is creamy and pungent. Grate the mozzarella yourself instead of buying pre-shredded for the best cheesy results.
- Tortillas: Use store-bought flour tortillas that are about 8 inches in diameter.
- Honey: Adds a lovely touch of sweetness with contrasts wonderfully with all the savoury components.
How To Make Caramelized Onion Quesadillas
Here is an overview of how to make caramelized onion quesadillas (full details are in the recipe card below):
- Caramelize the onions.
- Assemble the quesadillas onto the tortillas by layering mozzarella cheese, caramelized onions, blue cheese, honey and crushed red pepper flakes.
- Fold over each tortilla so it’s a half-moon shape.
- Pan fry the quesadillas until they’re golden brown and crispy on the outside and the cheese is nice and melty inside.
Can I Make the Caramelized Onions Ahead of Time?
Absolutely! To save time the day of making the quesadillas, you can make the caramelized onions ahead of time. Once made, properly store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator and use within 3 to 4 days.
The day you are ready to make the quesadillas, it’s just a matter of assembling them (if you want to warm up the onions a little bit first, you can totally do that).
What To Serve With It
I tend to enjoy serving these caramelized onion quesadillas with a simple green salad (especially a baby arugula salad). Other yummy side dish options are soup, roasted vegetables, pasta salad, French fries or baked potato. As for a dip (because ya gotta have a dip with quesadillas), I tend to keep things simple and serve them with plain Greek yogurt.
Leftovers
If your caramelized onions are freshly made, leftover quesadillas can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 to 4 days.
Reheating
Though I have been known to devour leftover caramelized onion quesadillas straight out of the fridge, especially when that hunger bug strikes, they do benefit from reheating because the cheese gets oh-so-melty (and who doesn’t love that?). Here are some easy ways you can reheat the quesadillas:
- Air fryer: Set the air fryer temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the quesadillas onto the air fryer tray and heat for about 6 to 8 minutes or until they’re heated through and the cheese is melty.
- Pan fry on the stovetop: Spray a nonstick frying pan with some cooking spray and place over low to medium-low heat. Place the quesadillas in the pan and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until they’re heated through and the cheese is melty again.
- Oven: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the quesadillas onto a sheet pan and bake for 6 to 8 minutes or they’re until heated through and the cheese is melty.
- Microwave: This reheating method will yield the least crispiest results. However, it can be quite convenient. To reheat quesadillas in the microwave, place them onto a microwave-safe plate and heat in 30-second intervals until heated through and the cheese is melty.
Tips for Making Caramelized Onion Quesadillas
- Patience is key: Caramelizing onions takes a little time, but it’s so worth it. Unlike fried onions, caramelized onions are slowly cooked, resulting in tender, slightly sweet, and golden brown onions. You may be tempted to crank the heat to speed up the cooking process, but resist that.
- Cheese: I adore blue cheese and I love the combination with melty mozzarella cheese and sweet and savoury caramelized onions. Feel free to omit the blue cheese if you aren’t a fan. Though not the same (but still delicious), crumbled feta cheese is a yummy alternative to blue cheese in this recipe, which will add flavour and some saltiness.
- Add extra heat: I used a regular variety of honey, but you can substitute with hot honey if you want a little more spice.
- Monitor the heat: Similarly to cooking the onions, you don’t want your heat too high when pan frying the quesadillas. The quesadillas can burn quickly if the heat is too high, so monitor it as you are cooking to ensure you end up with a nice golden brown and crispy exterior. Also, I pan fried the quesadillas in a little olive oil. Alternatively, you can lightly spray the frying pan with cooking spray instead if you prefer.
More Easy Quesadilla Recipes
If you make this recipe for caramelized onion quesadillas, be sure to leave a comment below!
Caramelized Onion Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 pound yellow onions, peeled and sliced about ⅛-inch to ¼-inch thick
- Hot water, as needed to deglaze the pan
- Salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 4 flour tortillas, each about 8 inches in diameter
- ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
- 2 to 3 tablespoons honey, depending on how much you want
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
Caramelized Onions
- Heat butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan (like a cast-iron pan or enameled cast-iron pan) over medium-low heat. Add the onions to the frying pan, stirring to coat in the butter/oil.
- Cook the onions for 40 to 45 minutes, stirring every 5 to 10 minutes, until they're tender and a deep golden brown colour. Periodically while cooking, deglaze with a little hot water (about 3 to 4 tablespoons at a time) and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits that have accumulated in the bottom of the pan and incorporate them back into the onions). Note: Once the water is added, I like for all of it (or mostly all of it) to be evaporated before adding more. The water not only helps to cook the onions, but helps to deglaze the pan. Note: As you are cooking the onions, if you sense that your heat is too high, reduce it.Note: Total cook time could vary, depending on the thickness of your onions, the cooking temperature and the desired colour.
- Once you've reached your desired doneness, deglaze with a little water one more time, scraping up all the brown bits and stirring into the onions.
- Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
Quesadilla Assembly
- Distribute the mozzarella cheese among all tortillas (on one side of them). Top the mozzarella cheese with caramelized onions, crumbled blue cheese, honey and crushed red pepper flakes. Fold over each tortilla so it's a half-moon shape.
Pan Fry the Quesadillas
- To cook the quesadillas: Heat ½ tablespoon of olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-low heat. Gently swirl the oil around the pan to coat.
- Place two quesadillas in the pan. Cook the quesadillas for about 2 minutes on one side. Carefully flip the quesadillas to the other side and continue to cook them for another 2 minutes or until they're golden brown and crispy on the outside and the cheese is melted inside (carefully watch to ensure they don't burn). Once done, remove the quesadillas from the pan.
- Repeat the process to cook the remaining quesadillas (adding the remaining ½ tablespoon of olive oil to the pan first).
- Once done, cut each quesadilla in half so you have 8 pieces. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
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Tried this recipe?
If you do make this recipe, thank you!! It would mean so much if you could leave a comment below. Love to know how you enjoyed it, and it helps other readers too!
Michelle says
Great way to enjoy quesadillas without missing the meat! Love the sweetness and depth of flavor from the caramelized onions paired with that melty cheese!
David @ Spiced says
You know what’s funny? I was just telling Laura last night that I’m really craving a good quesadilla. Then I see this version with caramelized onions and all that melty cheese! This is going to happen at some point soon!!
Dawn | Girl Heart Food says
Yay, good timing! Thanks, David! I hope you love the recipe. 🙂