15 Minute Meal - Quesadilla Recipe

Quesadillas are so easy to make and they're kind of like pizza… you can make one to fit anyone's favorite flavors. I think we probably eat quesadillas far more than my kids would like, but it sure beats eating at McDonalds and rarely do I have an argument from anyone about what they want on their special order. Now I am calling this a 15 minute meal, but really, if you have all the ingredients ready to go, this is really a 5 minute meal. You just load what you want onto a tortilla, grill it and BAM, dinner is ready!

This is also a great meal to make for kids. If you have a picky eater, let your kids make their own quesadillas. They can pick which ingredients, build the whole thing and even watch you cook it!

Here's my take on a quesadilla recipe…

Ingredients you need:

Flour tortillas
Cheese
Meat and/or veggies – pre-cooked

Our favorite combination is cheese, roasted chicken and chopped onions. I roast the chicken ahead of time but when I grill the quesadillas, I add freshly chopped onions. The flavor from the chicken and the onions goes really well with the melted cheese!

To make quesadillas:

Lay the tortilla flat and add a bit of cheese.
Pile on whatever other ingredients you want.
Add a little more cheese.
Cover with a second tortillas.
Grill for 3-5 minutes, flip with a spatula and grill another 3-5 minutes. The goal is to melt the cheese and warm the other ingredients, that's it. If you want your filling ingredients more cooked, cook them ahead of time.

You don't HAVE to start with cheese, but it makes it easier to hold everything together if the cheese is on the tortilla first. Also, you don't even need to add other ingredients, there's nothing wrong with a plain old yummy cheese quesadilla.

Ingredient tip: I cook my meat and veggies ahead of time. I grill the chicken or veggies or chicken with veggies, etc. Do whatever you like. I also like to prep this food days in advance and store in containers in the fridge so we can make quesadillas on the go anytime we want instead of going through the drive thru for dinner.

Cooking: I have a fun little panini grilling pan I use so we get those fancy grill marks on the tortillas, but, you can use any kind of skillet. You can even throw them onto a cookie sheet and bake them if you want. You just want to melt the cheese.

I usually use regular white flour tortillas, but recently tried making these quesadillas with a 100% whole wheat tortillas. It's not the same. The wheat tortillas are a little chewy when they are grilled, however, if you are watching your food choices, a whole wheat tortilla quesadilla is WAY BETTER than no quesadilla at all! (Don't forget to add more veggies ~wink).