BBQ Chicken Quesadillas are a fun, delicious snack. Tangy, cheesy, and done in under 15 minutes!
We're looking at a busy weekend: the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, then Cinco de Mayo on Sunday.
What will you be cooking?
Lately, we've been making BBQ Chicken Quesadillas on the weekends. But we start craving them several days in advance!
The flavor of these quesadillas is out of this world: I love the smoky tanginess combined with the sharp meltiness of the cheese.
Plus, since they start with Costco rotisserie/roast chicken, they're incredibly quick and simple to make.
Building BBQ Chicken Quesadillas
"pizza style" or folded?
Phil likes to build the quesadillas right in the skillet using 2 tortillas. He puts the bottom tortilla in the skillet.
Then, he layers on cheese, the meat mixture, minced onion, more cheese, and the top tortilla.
I'm totally fine letting him do this: after all, he's responsible for flipping the monster.
But last week, this approach ended in semi-disaster: a large portion of the filling ended up on the floor. D'oh!
If I'm the one making the quesadillas, I use one tortilla for each.
The filling goes onto the bottom half, and then I fold the rest of the tortilla over the top.
This version is much easier to flip.
To make two quesadilla servings, you'll need 1 ½ cups of diced cooked chicken.
Mix that with ¼ teaspoon of coarse salt, ⅛ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper, and ½ of your favorite BBQ sauce (ours is Sweet Baby Ray's; step 1 in the photo collage below).
Grate 1 ½ cups of sharp cheddar cheese and finely chop ½ cup of sweet onion.
For the 2-tortilla approach
Lightly rub one side of a large, burrito-sized tortilla with olive oil.
Place the tortilla, oiled side down, into a preheated skillet over medium-low heat.
Add ¾ cups of cheese (step 2 below). Add the meat mixture (step 3) and sprinkle with the onions (step 4).
Top with the remaining cheese (step 5) and the other tortilla (step 6).
Lightly oil the top tortilla and lid the skillet (step 7).
Let cook for 1–2 minutes, or until the bottom tortilla is golden-brown.
CAREFULLY flip the quesadilla and continue cooking (lid the skillet again) until golden-brown on the second side (step 8).
Carefully transfer your quesadilla to a cutting board. Cut into servings.
If you used Phil's method (pictured in the collage above), you can cut the quesadilla like a pizza.
If you used my method (two folded quesadillas), cut each quesadilla into 3 slices:
From start to finish, these quesadillas will be on your plate in 15 minutes flat. That's a win in my book!
As a light party snack, up to 6 people can nosh on these quesadillas.
Otherwise, this recipe will supply a nice lunch for two. For a lighter version, choose whole wheat tortillas instead of flour. They're still really yummy.
That's all there is to it!
These barbeque chicken quesadillas are one of our favorite weekend snacks, right up there with Cubano Quesadillas and Perfect Loaded Nachos. I hope your family loves them too!
—xoxo Michelle
Recipe
BBQ Chicken Quesadillas
BBQ Chicken Quesadillas are pure tangy, melty goodness. They're a great use of leftover roast chicken! Serves 2 for lunch, or up to 6 as a light party snack.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups cooked chicken, cut into small, bite-sized pieces
- ½ cup barbeque sauce, (see Recipe Note #1)
- ¼ teaspoon coarse salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ½ cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- ½ cup sweet onion, finely minced
- 2 flour tortillas, (large/burrito size; see Recipe Note 2)
- 2 teaspoon olive oil, extra virgin (divided)
Instructions
FOR "PIZZA STYLE" QUESADILLAS (one giant quesadilla with the filling sandwiched between the two tortillas)
- Lightly rub one side of a large, burrito-sized tortilla with olive oil (1 tsp). Place the tortilla, oiled side down, into a preheated nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Spread ¾ cups of cheese onto the tortilla, leaving about ½" of space between the cheese and the edge of the tortilla. Add the meat mixture and sprinkle with the onions. Top with the remaining cheese and the other tortilla. Lightly oil the top tortilla and lid the skillet. Let cook for 1–2 minutes, or until the bottom tortilla is golden-brown. CAREFULLY flip the quesadilla and continue cooking (lid the skillet again) until golden-brown on the second side, an additional 2–3 minutes.
- Carefully transfer the quesadilla onto a cutting board and cut into slices as you would a pizza.
FOR FOLDED QUESADILLAS (2 separate quesadillas with the filling folded inside)
- Divide the cheese into 2 piles with ¾ cups each. For each tortilla, spread half of one cheese pile onto half of each tortilla, leaving about ½" between the cheese and the edge of the tortilla (see the photo here: these are not the same quesadillas, but you can see how I've arranged the filling). Add half of the meat mixture to the same half of each tortilla and sprinkle each with half of the onions. Now, for each tortilla, spread the remaining cheese in each pile over the top of the filling. Fold the other half of the tortilla over the filling. Rub ¼ teaspoon of olive oil onto the top of each quesadilla. Place the quesadillas, oiled-side down, into a preheated non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. Rub ¼ teaspoon olive oil onto the exposed side of each quesadilla. Lid the skillet. Let cook for 2–3 minutes, or until the bottom tortilla is golden-brown. Carefully flip the quesadillas and continue cooking (lid the skillet again) until golden-brown on the second side, an additional 2–3 minutes.
- Carefully transfer the quesadillas onto a cutting board and cut each quesadilla into 3 roughly equal slices.
Notes
- Use your favorite store-bought sauce. We like Sweet Baby Ray's.
- To lighten up these quesadillas, use whole wheat tortillas.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
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About Us
Hi there! We're Michelle and Phil, the blogging duo behind flipped out food. Our mission is to inspire you with our favorite strategies for delivering easy, healthy dishes—even at the busiest of times.
Jhuls | The Not So Creative Cook says
Now, I want quesadillas. 😀
Michelle says
Haha, thanks Jhuls!! I hope you love them. 😉
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie says
BBQ chicken in a quesadilla??? YES PLEASE! May be drooling a little bit... Eb x
Michelle says
LOL, thanks Eb! (I MAY be eating this for lunch today, heh heh) 😛
Jo Allison / Jo's Kitchen Larder says
I'm definitely one tortilla kind of girl myself 🙂 Had few flipping disasters like the one you've mentioned before so sticking to folding now instead 🙂 We love quesadillas here as well so any excuse is good and bbq chicken sounds just divine!
Michelle says
Thank you, Jo! My hubby STILL does the pizza-style quesadilla—even AFTER the filling-on-the-floor disaster! I just watch him and shake my head. 😛
Hannah says
Finally, someone who makes a quesadilla the sensible way - folded! I keep seeing people make pizza-style ones and I'm clueless as to how they ever manage to flip them!
Michelle says
LOL, Hannah! I totally agree. I cringe every time I see the hubster flip his quesadillas!
Jenny Walters says
These are my sort of food! I adore them and have made them before a couple of times. These look epic. It's a big yum from me!
Michelle says
Thank you, Jenny!! They are the BOMB!
Monika Dabrowski says
This reminds me of the kind of food they made in a movie called Chef, which I watched last night. Super entertaining and lots of great food in it too! Thank you for sharing your delicious quesadillas with #CookBlogShare
Michelle says
Chef is one of my favorite movies! I've probably seen it 10 times. 😛 Thanks for stopping by, Monika!
Cat | Curly's Cooking says
Yes! These look amazing! I must admit I used to make quesadillas like your husband using two tortillas. I now tend to make them like you for easy flipping.
Michelle says
Thanks, Cat!! I attempted it ONCE, to disastrous results. 😛
Jen says
Love this new spin on the quesadilla! YUM.
Michelle says
Thanks so much, Jen!!
Mikayla says
Oh I love quesadillas for a quick meal! Yum! I'm a pizza style quesadilla girl myself!
Michelle says
Thanks, Mikayla! I love them pizza-style too—just as long as I'm not the one who has to flip them! 😀