This easy chicken quesadilla recipe is so good! Ready in about 15 minutes, this is a cheesy chicken quesadilla that is spicy and so simple to make for a quick cozy weeknight dinner!
What’s Inside This Cheesy Chicken Quesadilla
Made with cream cheese, tomato paste, garlic and shredded rotisserie chicken this easy quesadilla is perfect for when you don’t have much left in your fridge. In fact, you can change up ingredients and actually clean out your fridge by making this recipe.
Have some old vegetables? You can put them in there. When in doubt, make a quesadilla with it!
Here’s what I put inside of this one:
- cooked chicken
- cream cheese and cheese
- tomato paste
- spices: cumin, coriander, crushed red pepper
- vegetables: jalpeno, arugula, basil or dill, garlic
- flour tortillas
How To Make The Best Easy Chicken Quesadillas
- Make the spicy sauce: Mix cream cheese, herbs, spices and tomato paste in a bowl
- Shred the chicken: if you don’t have shredded chicken, now’s the time to do it! You can use two forks to do it.
- Add the chicken to the spicy sauce, then add basil and jalapeno – this will be the filling for the quesadilla.
- Spread this chicken mixture over 1/2 of a flour tortilla, top with cheese and fold in half
- Toast in a non-stick pan with olive oil until golden brown and then flip carefully to do it on the other side as well.
- Slice and enjoy immediately, optionally with salad or guacamole!
Tips
- Let’s address the chicken in the room – you’ll need some pre-cooked chicken. Whatever leftovers you have – boiled, grilled or rotisserie, shred the chicken and use it in this recipe. You can also use another type of cooked meat here.
- Making a spicy, creamy sauce: I used tomato paste, cream cheese, garlic herbs, and spices to make the creamiest, tastiest sauce that went perfectly in these quesadillas.
- Fold the tortilla in half: I prefer to make 1/2 quesadillas as it helps with the flipping. Things don’t fall out.
I hope you enjoy this simple chicken quesadilla, it sure is one of my favorite things to make when I have chicken and flour tortillas at home.

15-Minute Cheesy Chicken Quesadilla
Delicious easy chicken quesadilla recipe that you can make when you want to clean out your fridge. Or any other time - this tasty cheesy quesadilla is a great quick weeknight dinner idea!
Ingredients
- 1 cup shredded chicken
- 2 Tbsp cream cheese
- 1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/3 tsp cumin
- 1/3 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1 jalapeno, chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped arugula
- handful basil leaves or some chopped dill
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese
- 2 flour tortillas
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix the cream cheese, garlic, tomato paste, cumin, coriander and crushed red pepper, a tsp of water until smooth.
- Add the chicken, basil (or dill), chopped jalapeno and the arugula to the mix.
- Spread 1/2 of the mixture on one half of a flour tortilla and top with cheese of your choice - mine was mozzarella. Repeat for the other tortilla.
- Fold each tortilla in half and toast in a non-stick pan with olive oil until golden brown. Flip and toast on the other side as well.
- Slice in 3-4 pieces and serve like this, or with guacamole.
Notes
I tried this quesadilla one time with basil, the other time with dill and I can't decide - both are great, so use whichever herb you have.
Nutrition Information
Yield 2 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 462Total Fat 22gSaturated Fat 10gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 92mgSodium 522mgCarbohydrates 35gFiber 3gSugar 3gProtein 30g