Quesadillas
People – Have you been to the beach? Where did you get that tan?
Me – No beach. The ballfield.
From spring through fall, my two daughters are on the softball field. We have tournaments nearly every weekend. My son also plays tee ball, so there is some serious juggling that happens all week long to get the kids where they need to be.
At times, I have less than 30 minutes to change, cook and eat before I have to run to the field, or else dinner doesn’t get on the table until 8 or 9 o’clock.
I took to the Connect in the Kitchen Facebook page and asked for some quick, throw-together meals. My life-long friend, Christine, came to my rescue with a no-brainer quick meal. The extremely versatile … quesadilla.
I’ve mentioned that I’m a fan of throwing chicken thighs in the crock pot and using them in different ways throughout the week, and quesadillas are perfect for that. I do tend to eat low-carb/keto pretty often, but luckily, there are some great low-carb tortillas at local grocery stores. I’ve also crisped up some cheese on a hot pan for taco shells, and could do so for a zero-carb quesadilla, too.
As Christine pointed out, you can stuff these with anything. You can turn most sandwiches into wraps or quesadillas. Philly cheese steak is a good recommendation, or pizza quesadillas. I used to make the pizza ones, spread the top with marinara sauce, sprinkle on lots of Parmesan cheese, and eat it with a fork and knife.
While my kids wouldn’t eat the onions and peppers in her recipe below, just throwing in chicken and cheese in there is super quick and win for them. For them, I make smaller quesadillas just buy folding a tortilla shell in half.
Thanks for the recipe, Christine!
Quesadillas Recipe
Ingredients:
- Any protein – Chicken, Steak, Pork, Shrimp (can opt out of the protein and just use veggies too!)
- Bell peppers (Red, Yellow, Green)
- Jalapenos if you want
- Green Chiles (optional)
- Onion (White or Red/ or can use Green Onions)
- Tomatoes
- Shredded cheese – Cheddar, Monterey Jack
- Tortilla shells
Directions:
- Prepare your protein.
- Mix together diced Peppers, Onions and Tomatoes. (If using chiles, add them as well.)
- Build Quesadillas by layering shredded cheese, protein, pepper/ tomato mix on one shell and adding more shredded cheese and top with a 2nd tortilla shell.
Cooking options:
- Oven – Preheat Oven to 350 (400 if you want a crisper shell), place the built quesadillas on a sheet pan that has been lightly coated with olive oil or spray oil.
- Bake for 8-10 mins until cheese are melted and to your desired crispness
- Skillet – Put skillet on medium high heat, coat with small amount of olive oil. Microwave the built quesadillas for 30 sec – 1 min to start the melt of the cheese and hold the quesadilla together. (This step helps the quesadilla stay together when flipping it on the skillet.)
- Place built quesadilla in skillet and grill as you would a grilled cheese sandwich.
- Flip and grill other side until cheeses are melted and shell is a golden-brown color.
- (You can also grill them or use a panini press. They also make actual quesadilla makers!)
Cut quesadillas with a pizza cutter and serve with your favorite taco sauces, salsa, sour cream or guacamole.
