Name: 15-Minute Cheesy Chicken Quesadilla
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Quick And Easy
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

This chicken quesadilla is the best! It’s easy, it’s cheesy, it’s flavorful, it’s a bit spicy. It even has some vegetables in it, so you might actually label it as healthy if you’re super generous about it.

Not a lot of clean-up is involved, and the best part…if you’re in a hurry you can use this easy chicken quesadilla recipe and make yourself a quick dinner in about 15 minutes. Or even less.

So, let’s use up some leftover chicken and make this super simple cheesy chicken quesadilla, it is perfect for a cozy weeknight!

What’s In 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. The motto is: when in doubt, make a quesadilla with it! It’s always GOOD and gets eaten by everyone at the table.

Here’s what’s in the filling for this quick chicken quesadilla:

cooked chicken
cream cheese and cheese
tomato paste
spices: cumin, coriander, crushed red pepper
vegetables: jalpeno, arugula, basil or dill, garlic

Put it all together and everyone will be so happy…I mean who wouldn’t be happy with cheese, chicken and garlic wrapped in a tortilla?

How To Make The Best Cheesy Chicken Quesadilla

You will actually enjoy the process of preparing these easy chicken quesadillas, as it’s pretty fail-proof. Here’s what you’ll be doing:

Make the spicy sauce: Mix cream cheese, herbs, spices and tomato paste in a bowl

Shred or chop the cooked chicken: if you don’t have shredded chicken, now’s the time to do it! You can use two forks as shown here it or just chop the chicken with a knife.
Add shredded chicken to the spicy sauce, then the basil and jalapeno. Then mix everything together. This will be the filling for our cheesy chicken quesadilla.
Spread this chicken filling 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!

Tips

Let’s address the chicken in the room – you’ll need some pre-cooked chicken. Whatever leftover chicken you have – boiled, grilled or rotisserie, shred it 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 chicken quesadillas.
Fold the tortilla in half: I prefer to make 1/2 quesadillas as it helps with the flipping. Things almost never fall out and this makes the process of making quesadillas so much more enjoyable!

What To Serve With This Easy Chicken Quesadilla

You can definitely enjoy the quesadillas just the way they are, but if you want to have something on the side you can try:

guacamole
some salad with arugula, tomatoes and avocado (that’s what I did)
any other type of dipping sauce you like

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.