These Easy Grilled Chicken Quesadillas are like an entire plateful of sunshine, and perfect for hot summer evenings! Loaded with cheeses and chicken, these come together quickly and easily, and can be dressed up any way you want! Pick up the ingredients tonight, and make your favorite restaurant-style cheesy chicken quesadillas right in your own backyard!
What could be better on a hot summer night than a plateful of cheesy chicken quesadillas, right?
They’re fast and easy to make, and take minimal ingredients that all come together even better than your favorite Saturday night hangout! Just a few simple tricks to know, and these will be the best you ever tasted!
And with summer always being so busy, I’m not going to delay you from getting started right now!
Because I was an airhead, I forgot to take pics of the chicken being prepped, so I’m just using ones from another one of my recipes to show you how to butterfly them.
After slicing then almost in half through one long side, open them up and pound them to about a 1/2 of an inch thick using the flat side of your meat mallet.
There isn’t much to seasoning them at all, and it’s the same way that restaurants do it, too. Just seasoned salt, pepper, chili powder and cumin! Yep, that’s it!
Go nicely with the seasoned salt and pepper, and lightly with the chili powder and cumin seasoning both sides of each.
Then just grill them with the lid close, turning them over once, and remove them to rest.
Some people use those packets of taco seasoning, but the problem with that is one, they really don’t have much flavor.
And two, not only do they add a ton of preservatives, they also thickeners such as flour and cornstarch. Who wants that on their chicken when grilling. Not me, that’s for sure!
So just add the flavor without all the fluff. Done.
Then slice your chicken into cubes going one direction,…
…and then the other. And don’t cut them into dinky wimpy mulchie little pieces either. These go a long way, so you can cut them into nice-sized chunks.
Next, wet some paper towels under the faucet and squeeze out most of the water, leaving them damp but not wet. Place 2 of the tortillas between them, and microwave them until softened and pliable. I do mine on High for just 10 seconds and they’re perfect.
Lay a nice pile, don’t wimp out on this, either, of a cheese blend of shredded cheddar and monterey jack.
DO NOT use a high quality cheddar, though. The longer cheddars are aged, the worse they are when melting like this. They will separate into an oily icky mess.
Now, on the other hand, use a GOOD quality monterey jack cheese.
I used Great Value for the cheddar and cabot for the monterey jack and had perfect results. ONLY use the block cheeses and NOT the pre-shredded. Pre-shredded cheeses add awful things such as sawdust and flours to keep the tiny pieces from clumping together which makes them not melt nearly as well. You want these to blend and melt into a creamy liquid gold!
Next, top your grated cheese with as much chicken as you want, going pretty heavily on this too, then top again with a heavy-handed amount of grated cheese.
Now you’re almost done! Just add some good butter to a frying melt, carefully place the quesadillas into the pan, and brown them on both sides cover the pan with a lid. This will help melt the cheese all the way through.
If you accidentally add too much butter, just place the cooked quesadillas onto a paper towel and lightly press the tops with another to absorb any excess grease.
Then slice them into as many triangles as you like!
Just look at how gorgeous that melty cheese is inside!
Quesadilla perfection!!!
We enjoy ours nice and mild with just a hint of spice from the chicken. That’s the way our favorite restaurant here makes them, and these are identical to theirs.
But you can dress these babies up any way that makes you happy!
Want a little heat inside? Add some sliced pickled jalapeño rings or chopped green chiles!
Wanting a little more protein? Add some spicy black beans! Or spread one side with a little smear of refried beans!
Other additions can be grilled corn kernels, hot sauce, sliced black olives, or chopped green onion.
If you want to keep them simple and easy to turn, but still want a little extra flavor, consider adding ingredients to the outside!
We like to just have a little hot baja sauce and cool sour cream for dipping, but you can certainly dip in some taco sauce or salsa.
But adding shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes or pico de gallo, guacamole, or drizzles of crema or other mexican-style sauces can slo be fun, too!
Just do whatever your own heart desires!
No matter how you decide to make and serve these, you’ll definitely end up with a super fun, summer evening supper!
These Easy Grilled Chicken Quesadillas will become your go-to meal whenever the weather is just too hot to mess with much, and time is of the essence!
Just as good as any restaurant, these quesadillas are sure to please the entire family! Hope you all enjoy!
Easy Grilled Chicken Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded to 1/2" thickness
- seasoned salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste, I used Goya seasoned salt
- chili powder and cumin to taste, about an 1/8 - 1/4 tsp. per side
- 1 (8 oz.) block inexpensive store-brand sharp cheddar cheese, grated, I used Great Value
- 1 (8 oz.) block quality monterey jack cheese, grated, I used Cabot
- 12 medium-sized flour tortillas
- 1 Tbl. Minerva Dairy Butter with Sea salt per 2 quesadillas
- dippers and drizzles such as salsa fresca, sour cream, mexican crema, and/or guacamole
Instructions
Trim chicken breasts of any excess fat. Butterfly them and pound each to about a 1/2 inch thick. A little less is fine, but you don't want them too thick. Season each side with seasoned salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste, along with about a 1/4 of a teaspoon each chili powder and cumin per each side.
Heat grill until nice and hot, oil grates and place chicken breast filets onto grill. Close lid and grill for about 5 - 6 minutes until deep golden and lightly browned, turn and grill, with lid closed another 5 - 6 minutes until done inside. Remove to a plate rest, then cut into 1/2 inch cubes and cover.
Grate cheeses, toss together to mix, set aside.
Wet several sheets of paper towels and wring out until still damp but not wet. Place 2 tortillas between the sheets and microwave on high 10 seconds to make them soft and pliable.
Top each on upper half with lots of cheese. Top with cubes of grilled chicken, then lots more cheese coming to within a 1/2 inch from edge. Fold empty bottom half over filled side like a taco, and lightly press.
In large frying pan, melt about 1 tablespoon butter. Place quesadilla halves into pan over medium-low heat, cover with a lid, and fry until golden. Turn over and repeat until other side is golden and cheese is melty. Transfer to a cutting board, and slice into triangles from center of straight edge going outward. Serve hot with drizzles and/or dippers if desired.
