#1 Best Grilled Chicken Quesadillas Recipe
Quesadillas Have Definitely Come A Long Way In The Last 500 Years
Surprisingly, quesadillas have been around for centuries! They are a Mexican dish that dates way back to the 1500s. The early Aztecs made quesadillas from corn tortillas. Today, most quesadillas are made with flour tortillas.
Over the centuries, other cultures also contributed to the evolution of quesadillas, making them more similar to those we eat today.
Dominican monks from Italy brought cheese-making to Mexico. The Oaxaca cheese often used in today’s quesadillas is a semi-hard, stringy cheese made from cow’s milk and is similar to mozzarella cheese that originated in Naples.
The diet of the indigenous people of Mexico was largely plant-based. However, when the Spanish arrived in Mexico in the early 1500s, they brought their love for meat, and quesadillas began to have pork or beef in the filling.
Interestingly, the early Aztecs often stuffed corn tortillas with pumpkin and squash and baked them in clay ovens for a treat. I’m not sure we’d be excited about that dessert today, but sugar was also not a staple in the people’s diet in early Mexico.
What You’ll Need For This Recipe:
1 small white onion
2 medium red bell peppers
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 8 ounces each
chili powder
ground cumin
dried oregano
8 medium flour tortillas
Monterey Jack cheese
Cheddar cheese
Green onions
Guacamole
Sour cream
Here’s How To Make Amazing Quesadillas Right In Your Own Kitchen
Today we’ll start with grilled chicken quesadillas. But not just boring grilled chicken, this chicken explodes with flavor, and here’s how you do it. It’s quicker than you think! Begin with boneless, skinless chicken breast. Season it well with chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper for authentic Mexican flavor.
Oil the grates on a grill pan and preheat it over medium heat. Grill the chicken, turning it occasionally until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. While the chicken is cooking, toss the onion and bell pepper with 1 teaspoon of oil in a medium bowl and season them with salt and pepper.
Remove chicken to a cutting board when it’s finished cooking and let it cool while you cook the vegetables. Grill the vegetables in the same pan, occasionally turning, until lightly charred in places and just tender, about 8 to 10 minutes total. Now remove the vegetables from the grill to a cutting board.
No grill pan? Make quesadillas anyway! You can use a cast-iron skillet. The only difference is you won’t get the grill marks. Or, you can toss the chicken on your grill outside if that’s important to you! And, a pancake griddle works just fine, too. Let nothing stop you from making these awesome quesadillas!
Bring On The Cheese And Put Together Some Delicious Chicken Quesadillas
Queso is the Spanish word for cheese. So, translated, quesadilla means “little cheesy thing,” and they are loaded with cheese. And I mean, they’re loaded with two kinds of cheese! That’s one of the things that makes these tortillas melt together so beautifully and a huge part of why they taste so utterly amazing!!
Slice the chicken into thin strips and roughly chop the peppers and onion. Next, oil the grill grates and place one flour tortilla on the grill. Carefully top the tortilla with 3/4 cup each of the Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese, 1/4 of the chicken, the cooked vegetables, and the green onion.
Place another tortilla on top and cook over medium heat for about three minutes, until the cheese begins to melt. Carefully flip the quesadilla over and continue cooking for about three more minutes, or until it is golden brown on both sides. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
Slice each quesadilla into wedges and serve warm with sour cream and guacamole. Sprinkle with more green onions and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!
Of course, you can use shredded beef in place of the chicken or even pulled pork! But don’t stop there!
Because quesadillas can be anything you want them to be! Breakfast? Fill them with scrambled eggs, ham, or crisp bacon, and of course, cheese!
Snack? How about peanut butter, bananas, and chocolate chips?
Dessert? Pie filling and cream cheese inside, a dusting of powdered sugar outside! Yum!
What’s your favorite quesadilla?
Printable recipe:
#1 Best Grilled Chicken Quesadilla
Crispy, cheesy quesadillas stuffed with amazingly flavorful chicken, grilled veggies, and oodles of cheese!
Ingredients
- Avocado oil, as needed, to brush on grill
- 2 8-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 medium red bell peppers, seeded and sliced into rounds
- 1 small white onion, sliced into rounds
- 8 medium flour tortillas
- 3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp oil to toss with vegetables
- Kosher salt to taste
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- Guacamole for serving, if desired
- Sour cream for serving, if desired
Instructions
- Season the skinless chicken breast well with chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper for authentic Mexican flavor.
- Brush avocado oil on the grates of a grill pan and preheat it over medium heat.
- Grill the chicken, turning it occasionally until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
- While the chicken is cooking, toss the onion and bell pepper with one teaspoon of oil in a medium bowl and season them with salt and pepper to taste.
- When chicken is cooked, set it aside on a cutting board and let it cool.
- Grill the red pepper and onion in the same pan, occasionally turning, until lightly charred in places and just tender, about 8 to 10 minutes total.
- Remove the vegetables from the grill to a cutting board.
- Slice the chicken into thin strips.
- Roughly chop the peppers and onion.
- In the same grill pan, oil the grill grates and place one flour tortilla in the pan.
- Carefully top the tortilla with 3/4 cup each of the Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese, 1/4 of the chicken, 1/4 of the cooked vegetables, and 1/4 of the green onion.
- Place another tortilla on top and cook over medium heat for about three minutes until the cheese begins to melt.
- Carefully flip the quesadilla over and continue cooking for about three more minutes, or until it is golden brown on both sides.
- Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
- Slice each quesadilla into wedges and serve warm with sour cream and guacamole. Sprinkle with more green onions and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 787Total Fat: 48gSaturated Fat: 24gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 172mgSodium: 1102mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 4gSugar: 3gProtein: 55g
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Nutritional information please
I was surpriesed when you aske dbecause the program always calculates the nutrition for some reason it did not this time so I’m grateful that you asked! It’s there now if you return to the post, thank you!