Chicken, onion and bell pepper sautéed together, spread over a tortilla with cheese and browned in a dry skillet. Thirty-five minutes, and the lid is what melts the cheese.
The pan stays dry
There is one tablespoon of olive oil in this recipe and it belongs to the first two steps, with the pepper, onion and chicken.
When the tortilla goes into the skillet, the pan is clean and dry. A tortilla toasts against hot metal: it blisters, browns in patches and goes crisp. Add fat and it fries instead, which makes it greasy and heavy and stops it holding together.
The recipe says a clean skillet, and dry is what it means.
Put a lid on it
The fifth step mentions covering the skillet almost in passing and it is the most useful thing in the recipe.
A quesadilla has heat coming from one side only. The bottom tortilla browns quickly against the pan, but the cheese sitting on top of the filling is a long way from that heat and takes considerably longer to melt.
A lid solves it. Trapped heat circulates above the quesadilla and the cheese melts at roughly the same rate as the base browns. Without it, most people either flip a quesadilla with unmelted cheese or burn the first side waiting.
Cheese to the edges
Cheese is the glue. It is the only thing holding the top tortilla to the bottom one, and when it stops short of the rim the two separate the moment a knife goes through.
Spread the filling first, then cover the whole surface with cheese right out to the edge. Some of it will run into the pan and caramelise, which is not a problem.
Let the filling cool
The third step sets the cooked chicken and vegetables aside to cool slightly before assembly, which looks like an unnecessary pause.
It is not. Filling straight off the heat gives off steam, and that steam has nowhere to go except into the tortilla above and below it. The result is a soft, damp quesadilla that will not crisp however long it sits in the pan.
More things with tortillas
- Chicken or beef burger — the other quick one.
- Colombian chicken sandwich — with mortadella.
- Crispy parmesan chicken breasts — breaded and fried.
- Colombian ají — something sharp to go with them.
Chicken Quesadillas FAQ
No. The skillet stays dry for that stage: the tortilla toasts against the metal, and fat makes it greasy instead of crisp. The tablespoon of olive oil in the list is for the chicken and vegetables at the start.
Put a lid on the skillet. It traps heat above the quesadilla so the cheese melts while the bottom tortilla browns. Without it you get a dark base and cold cheese in the middle.
Eight if you stack them in pairs, four if you fold each one into a half-moon. The recipe allows both and the folded version is easier to turn.
Because hot filling steams the tortilla from the inside and softens it. A few minutes on a plate is enough.
The cheese did not reach the edges. Cheese is what glues the two tortillas together, so it needs to go right out to the rim, not just sit in the middle.
Either, and the recipe says so. Wheat is more pliable and folds without cracking; corn has more flavour and crisps harder.
Yes. Chicken, onion and pepper keep for a couple of days in the fridge and the assembly takes minutes.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 corn or wheat tortillas (or 4, if you fold each one into a half-moon instead)
- 1 chicken breast (diced)
- ½ red bell pepper (cut into cubes or strips)
- ½ onion (cut into cubes or strips)
- 1 bag of shredded mozzarella cheese (about 200 g)
- 4 slices cheddar cheese (use as much cheese as you like)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Notas
Instructions
- Cut the red bell pepper and the onion into cubes or strips and sauté them in a pan with a dash of oil and a pinch of salt over medium heat.
- Once they are well sautéed, add the diced chicken breast seasoned with salt. You can marinate the chicken with cumin or thyme first if you like.
- Sauté the chicken through, then set it aside on a plate to cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, put a tortilla in a clean, dry skillet and spread the chicken, onion and pepper mixture over it.
- Cover it evenly with cheese and lay another tortilla on top. If you prefer, skip the second tortilla and fold the first one in half. Let the bottom tortilla brown for about a minute. Putting a lid on the skillet helps the cheese melt.
- After a minute, flip it with tongs to brown the other side.
- Once both sides are golden, lift it onto a plate and cut it into wedges.
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