Easy Pork Quesadillas

Easy Pork Quesadillas

Quesadillas are great when you are stumped on what to have for dinner on a busy weeknight. I had just made a large pork loin in the slow cooker the night before and everyone was kind of burned out on pork and potatoes, so I figured quesadillas would be a good 180. They were a hit! These are easy to make, filling, and have great added flavor. I adapted my recipe from one I found from A Well-Seasoned Kitchen.

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp olive or vegetable oil, divided
  • 1/3 large yellow or red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 green, red or orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • Taco seasoning or Mexican seasoning of choice
  • 2 cooked pork loin chops (around 1/2-inch thick), chopped
  • 8-inch flour tortillas
  • shredded sharp or mild Cheddar cheese, divided
  • Salsa of choice, for serving
  • Additional optional garnishes: sour cream, nonfat yogurt, chopped avocado, chopped cilantro

Directions

  1. In a large, flat bottomed skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat.
  2. Add sliced onion and bell pepper; sprinkle with a coating of taco or Mexican seasoning and cook, stirring frequently, until soft.
  3. Stir in chopped, cooked pork and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  4. Place tortillas side by side on a cutting board or plate. Sprinkle cheese on half of each tortilla.
  5. Spoon pork filling on top of cheese, dividing evenly between the 2 tortillas.
  6. Sprinkle remaining Cheddar cheese on top of filling.
  7. Fold tortillas in half around filling.
  8. Reheat the same large skillet (no need to clean it out) over medium heat and spray with nonstick spray. Add stuffed tortillas, side-by-side in the pan. Cook until lightly browned on the bottom, around 3 to 4 minutes. Flip tortillas over and continue cooking until lightly browned on the other side, around another 3 to 4 minutes.
  9. Cut each quesadilla into wedges (3 or 4 wedges per quesadilla) and serve with any or all of the recommended garnishes.
Advertisement
Easy Chicken Quesadillas and Sauce

Easy Chicken Quesadillas and Sauce

 

I honestly don’t know anyone that doesn’t like quesadillas, so this one is always a winner. I was searching for a good Taco Bell quesadilla sauce recipe (fancy…) and the one I came up with definitely doesn’t taste like theirs, but… I actually like it better, so I’ll call it a win! I altered a sauce recipe I found from Food.com, so check out their original if you’re interested!

I baked chicken for the quesadillas and used a homemade taco seasoning sauce recipe I found from allrecipes.com because I didn’t want to bust open a whole pack of seasoning just for a small amount of baked chicken. Use your own seasoning or prepackaged-either way, they turn out great!

Ingredients

Taco Seasoning

  • 1 Tbsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper

Sauce

  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • Dash of chili powder
  • 3/4 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/8 tsp Gaelic powder
  • Dash of salt

Quesadilla

  • Chopped backed chicken (or any other meat or protein if you’d like!)
  • Taco size flour tortillas
  • Shredded quesadilla cheese
  • Shredded mild cheddar cheese
  • Vegetables (optional)
  • Salsa for serving (optional)
  • Sour cream for serving (optional)

Directions

  1. Prepare the sauce by mixing all ingredients and storing in the refrigerator until serving.
  2. Fully cook all meat or protein.
  3. Preheat a large skillet on medium heat and spray with cooking spray.
  4. Sprinkle quesadilla cheese on one half of a tortilla.  Add chicken, then sprinkle mild cheddar cheese on top of the chicken.  Fold the tortilla over the cheese and chicken.
  5. Add the quesadilla to the pan and brown one side of the quesadilla.  Flip the quesadilla over and brown the other side.
  6. Enjoy with quesadilla sauce, salsa, or sour cream.
    •