Chicken Quesadillas are super flavorful tender chicken, ooey-gooey cheese on buttery, toasted flour tortillas with a jalapeño ranch dressing that creamy and perfectly tangy. It's a simple dinner, a quick and easy lunch, or a fantastic after-school snack for hungry bellies.
Let's get started!
Jump to:
- Pull Up A Chair and Let's Chat!
- What You'll Need
- Cast Iron Skillet: A Love Letter
- How To Make Them
- Top Tip: How To Shred Chicken
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Serving Ideas
- Tips and Tricks
- Substitutions and Variations
- Storage and Reheating Instructions
- Chicken Quesadillas Recipe
- Other Recipes You'll Fall In Love With
And, if you're in the mood for more quick and easy dinner ideas just like this, you've got to try my Skillet Lasagna, Instant Pot Chicken Thighs, or my Sheet Pan Salmon!
Pull Up A Chair and Let's Chat!
If you're a busy body like myself, sometime dinner can seem daunting. But, you have hungry people. This is one of my favorite go-to's when I need something super tasty, but it's quick and easy.
The combination of the Mexican-spiced chicken and bacon on homemade flour tortillas with melty cheese is enough to make anyone drool. Add in the jalapeño ranch and you've got a meal everyone will love.
What You'll Need
Instant Pot Taco Chicken - I use this super quick and easy chicken recipe for these chicken quesadillas. The chicken cooks in about 20 minutes and is shredded to perfection. It's flavorful, requires very little hands on work, and everyone love it!
Bacon - Because bacon makes everything better.
Homemade Flour Tortillas - Trust me here. Try this recipe once and you'll see. They are so easy, but the flavor and texture is superior to anything you can find at the store. I make a batch every week or so and keep them on hand for recipes just like this.
Cheese - I used a shredded cheddar because that's what I had in the fridge. Use your favorite! Just don't use the pre-shredded junk.
Jalapeño Ranch - Just the usual suspects for any good ranch plus some cilantro and jalapeño. This stuff is so good you'll be using it on everything!
Cast Iron Skillet: A Love Letter
I am not a gadget gal in the kitchen. I am also not a fan of accumulating stuff that you can only use for one thing. What I suggest is building a kitchen arsenal that is small, but mighty - workhorses that are great for multiple recipes.
A good quality cast iron skillet is a kitchen tool I would recommend to you until the cows come home. I am a huge fan of enameled cast iron products. I use them all the time. The maintenance is minimal, but the beauty of them is that they get hot, stay hot, and become almost nonstick if care for properly.
If you don't have one, invest in one. You'll use it all the time. I can show you how!
Buy Now → 
How To Make Them
Chicken Quesadillas are so easy and need little in the way of technical explanation. I'll give you the brief rundown of the festivities here, but the details will live in the recipe card below.
All you need to do is, simply:
- Make the jalapeño ranch..
- Add the chicken and bacon to the tortilla and top with cheese.
- Toast the chicken quesadillas on both sides in some butter.
- Drench in the ranch and devour.
The flavor and texture combinations of these chicken quesadillas is just fantastic. You've got to try them and I can promise they'll be on your rotation from now on!
Top Tip: How To Shred Chicken
So, you've made your chicken in the Instant Pot and, now, you need to shred it. Of course, you can do it with a fork and knife. However, one of the easy and quickest ways to shred cooked chicken is with a mixer!
You can use either a hand mixer or a stand mixer. Add the cooked chicken a large bowl or stand mixer bowl. Turn on your mixer of choice and let the machine do all the work. Within seconds the chicken will be perfectly shredded!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this recipe gluten-free?
All you need to do is swap out the tortilla situation. You can use your favorite gluten-free flour tortillas or a corn tortilla!
Serving Ideas
Mexican food is my love language. We eat it at least 3 times a week. It will take me about a week to tell you all my serving ideas, because they are plentiful. I won't keep you that long, but with chicken quesadillas...I have options.
- Salsas - Pico De Gallo or Salsa Verde are family favorites.
- Sour cream or Mexican crema - Tangy, creamy, and perfect for a dollop.
- With Instant Pot Pinto Beans - Another super simple recipe I love. Great for freezing, too!
- What is a Mexican-themed dinner without queso? My queso fundido is just the thing. It's cheesy and creamy and super easy because you just stick everything in the oven to melt!
- Never underestimate the power of a simple, classic tortilla chip. Dip it in the jalapeño ranch. See what I'm sayin'?!
- Guacamole. Always and forever.
Whatever you decide to serve with your chicken quesadillas, you just can't go wrong.
Tips and Tricks
- If using my Instant Pot Taco Chicken, make sure to remove as much cooking liquid as possible before adding to the tortillas. This will prevent the chicken quesadillas from getting soggy.
- Let the butter get nice and melted on a medium heat before you add the chicken quesadillas to the skillet. The tortilla will toast instead of absorb the butter. I like it toasty and a bit crispy and this is how you do that.
- Add the chicken and cheese to half of the tortilla and then fold over to create the quesadilla. I find this to be much easier that making a full circle quesadilla during the toasting portion. You don't have to pick up and flip over an entire situation and risk slinging chicken everywhere.
- Shred your own cheese. Please. I beg you. This is a ooey-gooey cheesy recipe. If you use the junk in the bag, it won't get ooey-gooey cheesy.
- If you don't like a lot of heat, remove the seeds from the jalapeños. You can also leave them out. I don't find that one pepper makes the ranch spicy at all.
Substitutions and Variations
- Instead of chicken, Instant Pot Carnitas or Carne Guisada would be phenomenal substitutions.
- Sautéed onions, peppers, and mushrooms are fantastic mix-ins!
- Make it spicy and add either fresh and sautéed jalapeños to the inside of the chicken quesadillas!
- Use whatever cheese you have in the fridge. Everything from shredded cheddar to pepper jack would be great.
- If you don't like cilantro, leave it out.
- You can also use a rotisserie chicken for this recipe.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
The components of these chicken quesadillas will stay good in the fridge for up to 3 days. I like to keep everything separate and assemble just before ready to eat. Heat and toast in butter in a cast iron as instructed in the recipe card below.
The chicken freezes wonderfully. It will stay good for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container.
Chicken Quesadillas Recipe
Equipment
- food processor or blender
Ingredients
The Jalapeño Ranch
- 1 cup sour cream
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 3 green onions rough chopped
- 1 jalapeño rough chopped
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- juice of 1 lime
- kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
The Chicken Quesadillas
- 1 recipe Instant Pot Taco Chicken chicken shredded and liquid drained away
- 1 recipe Homemade Flour Tortillas
- 6-8 strips cooked bacon diced
- 2 cups shredded cheese of choice
- butter approximately 1-2 tablespoons per quesadilla
Instructions
The Jalapeño Ranch
- Add all of the ranch ingredients to a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Set aside or in the fridge until serving.
The Chicken Quesadillas
- Melt butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
- Spoon shredded chicken and diced bacon over half of a flour tortilla, top with cheese, and fold.
- Toast the quesadilla on both sides or until the filling is warm and the cheese is melted.
- Cut in half, drizzle with the ranch, and devour!
Notes
Nutrition
If you guys make this Chicken Quesadillas, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a star rating in the recipe card! I absolutely love to hear from you all and always do my best to respond to each and every one of your comments! And, as always, be kind. I’m only human.
Thank you!
I am so incredibly happy that you are here! I hope you try my Chicken Quesadillas recipe and fall in love with it. If you make this recipe, please share and tag me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or YouTube! And, please leave a comment or star rating in the recipe card above. I absolutely love seeing each and every one of your kitchen masterpieces. It makes my heart so happy! And, as always, if you ever have any questions about any of my recipes, please don't hesitate to contact me!
Rufus for Real is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. I may earn a commission, with no additional cost to you, if you purchase through those links.
Other Recipes You'll Fall In Love With
- Skillet Chicken Enchiladas - A one-pot chicken enchilada recipe that is super simple and comes together in no time.
- Beef Enchiladas - With a homemade red sauce, this version of enchiladas is SO good!
- Taco Bake - A one-skillet dinner recipe for when you need good food on the table in no time!
Leave a Reply