Chicken Quesadillas
Crispy pan-fried flour tortillas with melted cheese, chicken, and bell peppers.
- Preparation
- 15 min
- Cook/bake time
- 15 min
- Total
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Calories
Crispy pan-fried flour tortillas with melted cheese, chicken, and bell peppers.
Crispy pan-fried flour tortillas with melted cheese, chicken, and bell peppers. Less filling is actually more here, because only with a thin layer does the cheese melt evenly and the tortilla get really crispy on the outside. A quick dinner that children and adults like equally.
Cheese melts when it consistently reaches about 60 °C. With a thick filling, the cheese insulates itself. It is liquid on the outside and still firm in the middle, and by the time the middle catches up, the tortilla is burned. A thin layer is completely melted through in less than a minute, which is why the tortilla reaches exactly the right crispy browning in the same amount of time.
Mix the chicken strips with cumin, paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Fry them in 1 tablespoon of hot oil over high heat for about four minutes until they are browned all over and just cooked through. Take them out and set them aside, as they will continue to cook a little in the quesadilla.
Sauté the bell pepper and onion in the same pan with another tablespoon of oil for four minutes until they are soft and have slight roasted spots. The garlic is added in the last half minute. It is important that the vegetables no longer release any liquid, otherwise the tortilla will soften from the inside later.
Place a tortilla in a dry pan, sprinkle cheese on the lower half, and distribute the chicken and vegetables sparingly on top. Sprinkle a little more cheese over it, because it acts as a glue that holds everything together when folded. Fold the tortilla into a half-moon and press it down lightly.
Fry the folded quesadilla over medium heat for three minutes per side until it has golden brown spots and the cheese is completely melted inside. Turn it with a wide spatula in a decisive movement. Too much heat browns the tortilla before the cheese has melted.
Let the finished quesadillas rest on a board for a minute so the cheese sets slightly. Then cut them into two to three wedges with a large knife or pizza cutter. Serve them with sour cream, salsa, and fresh cilantro.
Replace the chicken with black beans and fried mushrooms, plus a little corn.
Place four filled quesadillas next to each other on the baking sheet and bake at 220 °C for 10 minutes, turning halfway through.
| Calories | 686 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 44 g |
| Carbohydrates | 52 g |
| – of which sugar | 6 g |
| Fat | 32 g |
| Fiber | 4 g |
Good melting varieties like Gouda, Cheddar, or Monterey Jack. In Mexico, Oaxaca cheese is used, which is similar to mozzarella.
Flour tortillas are more common for quesadillas because they are more pliable and brown better. Corn tortillas break more easily when folded.
The filling yes, up to two days in the refrigerator. They are best fried fresh, otherwise they lose their crispiness.
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Warren
20. Juli 2026
Simple and good. Do not overfill them or it all falls out.
Angelika Vogel
16. Juli 2026
Schnelles Abendessen, das bei den Kindern immer geht. Der Tipp mit dem Käse als Kleber funktioniert.
Here some of the ingredients never reach the plate: most frying oil stays in the pan, and in a stock the solids are strained off. How much of it ends up in the food cannot be calculated – counting a litre of oil would quintuple the figure, leaving it out would describe a dish baked without fat. So this is an editorial estimate rather than a total that would look dependable without being so.
A guide value, not a lab measurement: no two onions weigh the same, and fat content varies from pack to pack.
