Chicken Quesadillas (Quesadillas de Pollo)
Chicken, onion and bell pepper sautéed together, spread over a tortilla with cheese and browned in a dry skillet. Thirty-five minutes, four servings, and the lid is what melts the cheese.
Servings: 4
Calories: 440kcal
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
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.
Notes
The skillet stays dry. There is no oil in the pan for this stage: the tortilla toasts against the metal and any fat added makes it greasy instead of crisp. The tablespoon of olive oil in the list is for the chicken and vegetables at the start. Cover it. A lid traps the heat above the quesadilla so the cheese melts at the same time as the bottom tortilla browns, and without it you get a burnt base and cold cheese in the middle. Let the filling cool slightly before it goes on the tortilla, which is what the third step is asking for. Hot filling steams the tortilla from the inside and softens it. Cheese is what holds a quesadilla together, so it needs to go right out to the edges. If it stops short, the two tortillas separate the moment you cut it.
Nutrition
Calories: 440kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 76mg | Sodium: 1343mg | Potassium: 391mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 845IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 337mg | Iron: 3mg