These are the best homemade chicken quesadillas! They have sauteed onions, bell peppers, shredded chicken, Oaxaca Mexican cheese, and a special chicken quesadilla spice blend.
Jump to:
🥰 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easy meal the entire family will love!
- You can prep the chicken filling ahead of time and use it as needed.
🧀 Ingredients & Substitutions
Oil: You need a neutral oil to cook the vegetables and to brush on the tortilla for a perfectly crispy quesadilla.
Onion: Use any onion you have, red onion, yellow onion, or sweet onion. They all work.
Bell Peppers: Adds flavor, color, and vegetables to your quesadilla.
Shredded Chicken: You can make shredded chicken in a slow cooker or on the stove or use leftover chicken. You can also use chicken from a rotisserie chicken. You would need one whole rotisserie chicken for this recipe.
Shredded Cheese: Oaxaca cheese is the perfect cheese for quesadillas. It melts very quickly, and you always get a nice cheese pull. You can also use Monterey Jack cheese or a Mexican blend.
Quesadilla Seasoning: In this recipe, I use a blend of spices that is perfect for a chicken quesadilla. You can use that blend or use a store-bought taco seasoning packet.
Lime Juice: The lime juice brightens up the chicken and adds another layer of flavor
Flour Tortillas: I used taco-sized flour tortillas.
Toppings: Fresh Cilantro, Pico de Gallo, Sour Cream
Full ingredient list with quantities in the recipe card below
🔪 How to Make Pulled Chicken Quesadillas
1. Cook: Cook onions and bell peppers in a skillet over medium-high heat until they are softened.
2. Add Chicken: Mix in shredded chicken and quesadilla seasoning. Remove from heat and add lime juice.
3. Fill Tortilla: Spay or brush one side of a tortilla with oil. Place it on a clean skillet (oiled side down) over medium heat.
4. Cook: Layer ¼ cup of cheese, ⅓ cup of chicken mixture, and another ¼ cup of cheese on half of the tortilla. Fold the tortilla, coving the filling, and press down gently. Cook until the tortilla is golden brown, then flip and cook until the other side browns.
👩🍳Tips
Instead of brushing olive oil on the tortilla, you can spray it with nonstick cooking oil spray.
You can prepare the chicken filling up to 3 days ahead of time.
🥗 Sides
- Quesadilla Dipping Sauce - a creamy avocado sauce with tomatillos, jalapenos, and green onions.
- Tortilla Chips and salsa - an easy classic side
- Cilantro Lime Rice - this recipe is easy to make
- Black Bean Salad - a combination of beans, peppers, onion, tomatoes, and jalapenos
If you need more options, check out this list of easy sides that will go perfectly quesadilla dinner.
❓ Recipe Questions
Oaxaca cheese melts very easily and stretches to make those yummy cheese pulls. Monterey Jack cheese melts easily and is easy to find. Mexican Cheese Blends also have a mix of great cheese that melts well and has tons of flavor.
Flour tortillas will give your quesadillas a great crunch, while corn tortillas will add more flavor to your quesadillas. Both are great options.
Shredded Chicken Quesadilla
Ingredients
Pulled Chicken Quesadilla
- 2 tablespoon neutral oil
- ½ small onion diced
- 1 bell peppers diced
- 3 cups shredded chicken*
- 3 cups shredded cheese Oxacca, Monteray Jack, or Mexican Blend
- 1 batch of chicken quesadilla seasoning or 1 packet of taco seasoning
- juice from one lime
- 12 taco sized flour tortillas
Quesadilla Seasoning
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat one tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, bell peppers, and sauté until they are softened for about 5-7 minutes
- Mix in shredded chicken and quesadilla seasoning. Add 2 tablespoons of water if the mixture is a little dry. Cook for a few more minutes until the chicken is warm.
- Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the lime juice.
- Brush one side of a tortilla with oil. Place the tortilla oiled side down onto a clean skillet over medium heat. Layer ¼ cup of cheese, ⅓ cup of chicken mixture, and another ¼ cup of cheese on half of the tortilla. Fold the tortilla, coving the filling, and press down gently. Cook until the tortilla is golden brown, then flip and cook until the other side browns.
- Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!