The Cozy Cookbook is here! Learn the trick to getting super crispy tortillas when you make this cheesy chicken quesadilla recipe. Fill them up with your favorite Mexican ingredients like black beans, peppers, onions, seasoning, and more!
Serve these quesadillas with homemade salsa, guacamole, and my cowboy queso!
I am psyched to have nailed down the secrets to success when it comes down to making super crispy, restaurant-style chicken quesadillas.
No more soggy tortillas, I am promising you right now that you will hear a serious crunch when you follow these steps!
Ingredients
- Chicken
- Cajun Seasoning
- Flour Tortillas
- Shredded Cheese
- Black Beans
- Cilantro
- Onions
- Garlic
- Bell Peppers
- Olive Oil
The filling choices for these quesadillas are totally flexible. Aside from what’s in this recipe, you can also use corn, mushrooms, tomatoes, Jalapeños, and a variety of cheeses!
How to Make Crispy Chicken Quesadillas
Use flour tortillas
Flour tortillas will hold the cheese and fillings together much better than corn tortillas.
Let the cooked ingredients cool
This will give you extra crispy results and prevent the tortilla from getting soggy.
Don’t use any oil in the pan
This will prevent the tortilla from crisping. At most, use a small amount of butter just to achieve a nice browned color.
Don’t stack two tortillas on top of each other
Instead, spread the filling over half of one quesadilla. Let the entire surface area crisp on the stove top and then fold the tortilla in half once the cheese is melted, there’s no need to flip and the entire quesadilla will be crispy!
- ½ of a cup of filling per quesadilla is a good rule of thumb.
See below for an easy visual!
Freezing Them
Believe it or not, quesadillas make a wonderful freezer food.
- Let the cooked quesadillas cool completely.
- Wrap each in foil and freeze in a labeled freezer bag.
- To reheat, place the frozen/wrapped tortilla in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven until heated through, about 15 minutes.
What to Serve with Quesadillas
Try These Next!
- Salsa Chicken
- Copycat Taco Bell Mexican Pizza
- Taco Casserole
- Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Southwest Salad (with Cilantro Lime Dressing)
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Chicken Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ½ onion, finely diced
- ¼ bell pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 Tablespoon Cajun seasoning
- 1 cup Tyson Grilled & Ready Chicken Breast Strips
- ½ cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded
- ½ cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 4 (8-inch) flour tortillas
- 1 Tablespoon butter, optional
- Cilantro, to garnish or you may add to the filling.
Instructions
- Shred the cheese and set aside, allow it to come to room temperature if possible.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.
- Add the onions, diced peppers, and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Use a silicone spatula to stir in the black beans. Heat for 1 minute.
- Remove from the heat and let them cool.
- Add the cooked chicken strips to the pan. Sprinkle on the Cajun seasoning and toss to coat.
- Cook until heated through, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Let them cool, then dice into smaller pieces.
- Clean the pan and add ¼ of the tablespoon of butter over low heat. You want just a small amount for extra crispy results.
- Add no more than ½ cup of filling per quesadilla, and only add the filling to the top half.
- Begin with 1/8 cup of cheese, followed by the vegetables, beans, and chicken, and top with another 1/8 cup of cheese.
- Cover the pan and allow the cheese to melt, about 3 minutes.
- Use a spatula to fold the bottom half of the tortilla over the fillings. Press down gently. Remove from heat.
- Repeat for all quesadillas.
- Cut each folded tortilla into 2 slices to make 2 quesadillas.
Yummy and easy! Everyone in my house loves these quesadillas.
I’m so happy your family’s enjoying the chicken quesadillas Rachael! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!❤️
We usually have a hard time finding things my 7 year old will willingly eat. She ate her entire quesadilla on her own! This was a big hit in our house.
I’m so happy your picky daughter enjoyed the Chicken Quesadillas Tiffany! My picky 5 year old loves these, it’s definitely a kid friendly recipe. Thanks so much for the great comments and review!😂
I love quesadillas! I don’t stack whole tortillas but I do fold a tortilla before cooking in the skillet. If I were to let it cook flat, once it reached a given level of crispness it would break rather than fold. I can still cook two at a time if I gave the curved edges out, and I flip them over the flat side. And I use a smaller skillet to smash it all together and make sure the whole side of the tortilla cooks evenly.
This was really an amazing recipe and tasted like a restaurant dish.
Hey Tania! I am so happy that you enjoyed them! It was life changing when I figured out how to make these crispy like the restaurants do! 🙂 Thank you so much for the review, I really appreciate it!! -Stephanie
I make these all the time for my family, and they’re always a big hit. Sometimes I serve a side of Spanish rice, sometimes a side of refried beans, and often I top with guacamole. Make them as directed (leaving out the cilantro, as I have the unlucky genetics to not be able to taste it) and maybe add a little more seasoning as I go. I use the Tyson southwest style chicken strips to make these extra easy and flavorful.
Thanks Reiney, so glad you enjoyed them! These are very versatile, great for gameday snack or a meal! Serving with rice is a great idea!😀
Amazing. We used shrimp instead of chicken.
Hey Stephanie, that’s great! Using shrimp sounds so good, I’m glad that you enjoyed it!
super, great, i made mine with fresh made tortillas. just a touch less seasoning and added 2 tbsp salsa before folding. Thank you!
So happy you enjoyed the quesadillas Diane! Aren’t they so crunchy?! YUM! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment and a review, I really appreciate it!