This easy chicken quesadilla recipe is bursting with flavour from plenty of chicken, black beans, hot peppers, corn and lots and lots of cheese. The finishing touch? Adobo sauce for that smoky heat. Plus, they’re on the table in about 30 minutes! You’re gonna love these!
Hey friends! How was your weekend? For my American friends, hope you’re having a fun long weekend with lots of good eats! Missed all you guys last week. I’m all fired up to bring you lots of yummy recipes! Today, it’s these chicken and cheese quesadillas and they’re gooooood….if I do say so myself 😉
What Goes In This Easy Chicken Quesadilla Recipe?
Quesadillas are something hubby and I regularly enjoy. They not only taste delicious, but are super quick to whip up, which is why we enjoy them for busy weekday dinners or even for Friday night eats.
For this chicken quesadilla recipe, you’ll need –
- Tortillas (opt for about 7-8 inch in diametre)
- Cooked chicken
- Canned black beans
- Hot peppers
- Corn
- Shredded cheese
- Oil
- Any condiments that makes you happy!
How to Make Chicken Quesadillas
For this recipe, I used cooked chicken so everything came together quite quickly.
All you need to do is distribute the chicken on half of each tortilla and top with everything else.
Fold over, brush with a touch of oil and bake (or pan fry) until they are heated through and the cheese is melted.
You may want to wait a few minutes before cutting, though, ’cause that cheese is all hot and melty….not that that’s a bad thing, if you ask me!
What Goes with Chicken Quesadillas?
You know me and my garnishes and little sidekicks (love ’em). They’re what takes a meal from yummy to something special.
Some off my faves to serve with these chicken and cheese quesadillas are:
- Salsa
- Greek yogurt
- Sour cream
- Guacamole
- Lime
- Pickled red onion
- Cilantro
Tips for Making this Easy Chicken Quesadilla Recipe
- Make sure your beans are rinsed, drained and patted dry so they don’t leak too much moisture into the quesadillas….same with the banana peppers.
- Omit the chicken if you prefer a vegetarian option.
- Speaking of chicken, if you don’t have leftover chicken, cook about 1 boneless skinless chicken breast and 2 boneless/skinless chicken thighs in a cast iron skillet in a 400 F degree oven for about 22-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and internal temperature reaches 165 F at the thickest part. Let cool slightly before chopping up for use in quesadillas.
- Want something besides chicken in these cheese quesadillas? Shredded cooked pork or roast beef works wonderfully here too
- Don’t have, don’t like or don’t want to use adobo sauce? Your favourite BBQ sauce works awesome too.
- Cheddar cheese was used here, but you could use another variety if you prefer (or mix some). Just pick a nice melting cheese. Bon Appetit has some great melting cheese options.
- These make awesome leftovers. You can certainly reheat in the microwave, but they won’t have that same exterior crunch, but still taste delicious. If you want, you can reheat in the oven on 400 F for about 10 minutes or until heated through.
- There’s two methods here for cooking these chicken and cheese quesadillas – oven or stovetop. While both are great, the stovetop method yields crispier results, which is always a good thing when we’re talking quesadillas!
Like these Chicken Quesadillas? You May Enjoy These Too
- Breakfast Quesadillas – With perfectly cooked scrambled eggs, lots of cheese and black beans, this breakfast quesadilla recipe is ready in about 15 minutes.
- Cheesy Ground Beef Quesadillas – Super savoury, and totally delish, these cheesy quesadillas are sure to be a family favourite that will disappear fast.
- Oven Baked Fish Tacos – Panko coated white fish is oven baked and drizzled with a smoky chipotle sauce. Perfect for taco Tuesday (or any day of the week, really)!
Hope you love this easy chicken quesadilla recipe as much as we do!
Until next time, take care and chit chat again soon 🙂
~Dawn
P.S. If you think this is the very best chicken quesadilla recipe (YAY!), please be sure to hit that little Pin button. Many thanks, you guys! XO
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Easy Chicken Quesadilla Recipe {with cheese}
Ingredients
- 6 large tortillas
- 2.5 cups cooked chicken -cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2.5 cups cheddar cheese -shredded
- 3/4 cup canned black beans -rinsed, drained and patted dry of excess moisture (I used an unsalted variety)
- 1 ear corn -kernels removed
- 1/3 cup banana peppers -squeezed with paper towel to remove excess moisture
- 2 tbsp adobo sauce -or more to taste
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil -or cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Distribute cooked chicken evenly over tortillas (on one half of each tortilla).
- Top chicken with cheese, black beans, corn, banana peppers and adobo sauce. Fold over top so you have half moon shapes. Cook per either method below.
Stovetop Method (preferred method)
- Preheat oven to 200 F (to keep quesadillas warm while preparing batches). This is optional.
- Brush top of tortilla with olive oil (or spray a non stick pan with cooking spray).
- Place 2 half moons in pan at a time, cook on medium heat about 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy, being careful not to burn. Once golden and cheese is melted, place quesadillas in oven on a sheet pan to keep warm while finishing batches (3 batches in total). Lest rest for about 5 minutes before cutting in half. Makes 12 pieces. Serve with salsa, Greek yogurt, guacamole or sour cream. Enjoy!
Oven Baked Method
- Brush top of tortilla with olive oil. Bake for about 10 minutes until heated through and cheese melted. Lest rest for about 5 minutes before cutting in half. Makes 12 pieces. Serve with salsa, Greek yogurt, guacamole or sour cream. Enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure your beans are rinsed, drained and patted dry so they don’t leak too much moisture into the quesadillas….same with the banana peppers.
- Omit the chicken if you prefer a vegetarian option.
- Speaking of chicken, if you don’t have leftover chicken, cook about 1 boneless skinless chicken breast and 2 boneless/skinless chicken thighs in a cast iron skillet in a 400 F degree oven for about 22-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and internal temperature reaches 165 F at the thickest part. Let cool slightly before chopping up for use in quesadillas.
- Want something besides chicken in these cheese quesadillas? Shredded cooked pork or roast beef works wonderfully here too
- Don’t have, don’t like or don’t want to use adobo sauce? Your favourite BBQ sauce works awesome too.
- Cheddar cheese was used here, but you could use another variety if you prefer (or mix some). Just pick a nice melting cheese.
- These make awesome leftovers. You can certainly reheat in the microwave, but they won’t have that same exterior crunch, but still taste delicious. If you want, you can re-heat in the oven on 400 F for about 10 minutes or until heated through.
- There’s two methods here for cooking these chicken and cheese quesadillas – oven or stovetop. While both are great, the stovetop method yields crispier results, which is always a good thing when we’re talking quesadillas
Nutrition (estimate only)
