BBQ Chicken Quesadillas
BBQ Chicken Quesadillas are a quick and easy meal or snack that comes together in about 15 minutes. Using flour tortillas, cooked chicken, BBQ sauce, cheese, and veggies, they are crispy on the outside and full of melty cheese on the inside. Perfect for busy weeknights or when you want a quick lunch or snack. They also make a great appetizer.
Made with simple ingredients and ready in under 15 minutes, BBQ chicken quesadillas are a quick and easy option. Full of flavor, these chicken quesadillas are perfect for a quick meal or snack.
Serve them with a simple side of air-fried french fries for a complete meal.
When we need a quick meal, quesadillas are one of our go-to’s.
They are simple to prepare, require just a few ingredients, and take less than 15 minutes from start to finish.
These BBQ chicken quesadillas are one of our favorites when we have leftover chicken in the fridge. With the addition of a few veggies, like bell peppers and sliced green onion, they are super simple to prepare.
We like to use a combination of Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese in these quesadillas as the cheddar provides a nice sharp flavor while the Monterey Jack smooths it out and creates that oozy melty goodness.
One of the best things about quesadillas is that you don’t need to be precise with any measurements. You can just add what you have, and ingredients can easily be swapped out.
While we prefer to use sliced chicken breasts, you can use chicken thigh instead, or grab a store-bought rotisserie chicken. Or if you are meal prepping on the weekend, Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken is easy to prepare and will give you chicken for the week, perfect for recipes like this.
As far as cheese, we like a blend of Monterey Jack and sharp cheddar, but we’ve also used mozzarella, swiss, and even shredded cheese blends like Tex-Mex.
You can serve the quesadilla wedges with a dish of BBQ sauce for dipping, or other sauces such as ranch or honey mustard.
These easy quesadillas can be cooked on the stovetop, an electric griddle, or for larger batches a Blackstone Griddle.
Leftovers taste great cold, making them great for the lunchbox, but you can also pop them in the air fryer, or onto a skillet for a couple of minutes to reheat and crisp up.
Ingredients & Substitutions
For a full list of ingredients and measurements, see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Flour tortillas – While we use 10-inch tortillas for quesadillas, you can use any size. Flour tortillas work best as they are pliable and easy to work with without preheating them. White flour or whole wheat flour tortillas can be used; if needed, you can also use gluten-free tortillas.
Cheese – We recommend using a blend of Monterey Jack and cheddar for these quesadillas, but you can use almost any cheese that you like. You can use just Monterey Jack or Cheddar instead of a blend, but you can Swiss, mozzarella, marble, or any combination you have on hand. While normally we recommend using freshly shredded cheese, pre-shredded cheese will work fine for this recipe. Blends such as Tex Mex are a good choice for this recipe.
BBQ Sauce – You can use your favorite store-bought BBQ sauce. We love these quesadillas with hickory or honey-hot BBQ sauce, but any type will work. If you have a homemade BBQ sauce that you love, you can use that too.
Chicken – You need cooked chicken for these quesadillas. Store-bought rotisserie chicken works great for recipes like this, but you can also cook and slice some grilled chicken breasts, or air-fried chicken thighs.
Vegetables – We like to add diced bell peppers to these chicken quesadillas along with sliced green onions. You can also add veggies such as diced red onion, jalapenos, tomatoes, or even greens like spinach or arugula.
Optional fillings – If you want to dress them up even further, you can’t go wrong with cooked bacon. You can even try adding sliced pepperoni or crumbled sausage.
Assembling the Quesadillas
To assemble your quesadilla, spread a thin layer of butter on one side of the tortilla, then flip it over to fill it.
Spread or drizzle BBQ sauce over the whole tortilla, then sprinkle cheese on one half of the tortilla, followed by the chicken, bell peppers, green onions, and another layer of cheese. Fold the other half of the tortilla over the filling.
Now you can cook the quesadilla using your preferred method; you can use a skillet on the stovetop, and electric griddle, or cook them outdoors on a Blackstone griddle.
Blackstone BBQ Chicken Quesadillas
Cooking quesadillas on a Blackstone Griddle is quick and easy. Because of the large surface, it’s a great way to cook a large batch at one time.
Heat the griddle to medium heat, then place the prepared quesadillas on the surface. If you have a lid on your griddle, close the lid, this will help trap the heat allowing the cheese to melt faster.
Cook the quesadillas for 4-5 minutes, checking to make sure the bottom isn’t getting too crispy. Once they are golden brown, flip them using a metal spatula and cook for another 2-3 minutes until crispy and golden brown and the cheese is melted.
Remove from the griddle, slice, and serve.
Storing Leftover Quesadillas
Leftover quesadillas can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
They can be enjoyed cold, or you can reheat them in a skillet over medium heat, or pop them into the air fryer at 350° F for 2-3 minutes.
More 15-Minute Meals
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
BBQ Chicken Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 2 10- inch flour tortillas
- 4 tbsp BBQ Sauce
- 4 oz (1 cup) cooked chicken breast sliced or shredded
- 1/2 cup bell pepper diced
- 6 oz (2 cups) shredded cheese cheddar, Monterey Jack
- 2 tbsp green onion or chives
Instructions
- Heat a 10 or 12-inch skillet to medium heat.
- Spread a thin layer of butter, or spray with a small amount of cooking oil, on one side of the tortilla.
- Flip the tortilla over, and drizzle BBQ sauce over the whole tortilla. Then sprinkle one half with cheese, then cooked chicken, diced bell pepper, green onion, and a second layer of cheese.
- Fold the empty half of the tortilla over the filled half.
- Place the folded quesadilla into the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes until the bottom is golden brown.
- Carefully flip the quesadilla and cook for another 3-4 minutes until both sides are golden brown and the cheese is melted.
- Remove from the skillet, slice, and serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
