One-Pan Easy Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas
with Smoky Red Pepper Crema
- Wheat
- Soy
- Milk
These quesadillas are big on flavor AND ready in just 15 minutes with the help of a few kitchen tricks. We start with chicken breast strips, which are sautéed with scallions and Southwest spices to make the zesty filling. It’s layered onto tortillas with pepper jack and Monterey Jack cheese, then pan-toasted to achieve perfectly golden, gooey results. Each quesadilla is paired with smoky red pepper crema for dipping. A good thing just got a whole lot better.
Ingredients
2 unit
Flour Tortillas
(Contains: Wheat, Soy)
10 ounce
Chopped Chicken Breast
2 tablespoon
Smoky Red Pepper Crema
(Contains: Milk)
½ cup
Pepper Jack Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
¼ cup
Monterey Jack Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
2 unit
Scallions
1 tablespoon
Southwest Spice Blend
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce. • Trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens.
• Pat chicken* dry with paper towels. • Heat a drizzle of oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken, scallion whites, and Southwest Spice. Cook until chicken is browned and cooked through and scallions are slightly softened, 4-6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. • Turn off heat; remove from pan and set aside. Wash out pan.
• Place tortillas on a clean work surface. Evenly sprinkle pepper jack onto one half of each tortilla. Top with chicken filling, then sprinkle with Monterey Jack. Fold tortillas in half to create quesadillas. • Heat a drizzle of oil in pan used for filling over medium heat. Add quesadillas and cook until tortillas are golden brown and cheese melts, 3-4 minutes. TIP: Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to work in batches.
• Cut quesadillas into wedges and divide between plates. Sprinkle with scallion greens. Serve with smoky red pepper crema on the side.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many enjoyed the tasty quesadillas, though some found them a bit bland; adding extra herbs or salsa boosted flavor 🌶️.
- Ease of prep: Quick and simple to make, perfect for busy weeknights or when cooking with kids.
- Suggestions: Consider adding veggies like peppers or tomatoes; include more cheese and crema for better texture and taste.
- Portions: Some felt it wasn't quite filling enough as a main dish; try pairing with a side salad or beans.
Reviews from our home cooks
Delicious. One of our favorites. We prefer to use a little less oil in our nonstick pan and then add just a bit of water to the meat after the scallion whites and spice have been added to pan. Less oily and also helps keep the spice from sticking to pan and infuses the flavor into the meat. We also use two pans with a medium one for meat and a large chicken fryer for the quesadillas so both can be cooked at the same time. Was happy that the chicken was leaner and with no gristle this time. Still would like even more if there was a Roma tomato added for topping with the red pepper crema and scallion greens.
This meal was perfect when I wanted a quick lunch. It was very easy to make, and tasted great. I liked that it was flavorful without being spicy. It was very generous with the chicken, too. My only complaint is that I think the instructions should be tweaked. My scallion whites wound up being much more than "slightly softened", and the first side of the quesadillas got burnt from being in the pan too long with the heat too high. It didn't ruin the meal, but it could have been better.
The smoky red pepper crema was AMAZING. I loved this recipe and how easy it was, and also delicious. It made me want to make quesadillas a lot more regularly. I wasn't too crazy about the seasoning for the chicken. The taste wasn't very exciting and the consistency was dry and thick.
This recipe is good, and very easy, but the chicken pieces need to be smaller in order to easily fit in the quesadillas. More importantly, this meal really needs some sort of vegetable element to be complete (both in terms of taste AND nutrition) - fresh tomatoes, a quick salsa, roasted red peppers, or something. Otherwise it's tasty but quite boring ad really lacks a sense of "freshness."
Simple and tasty! I do recommend cutting the chicken into really small chunks (IMO smaller than the instructions say) but the combo is so yummy. I love the smoky crema too.
This was a quick and easy week night dinner...I would say we would love a bit more red pepper crema...there wasn't alot and it went fast. If you could add a GF option for the tortillas that would be great too.
Put the red pepper crema inside the quesadilla and thank me later.
I lessened the smoky red pepper cream as I don't care for spicy food. That made the quesadillas taste better to me. My husband enjoyed the extra cremma.
The cheesy chicken quesadillas were delicious! They were easy to make, went together quickly, and tasted great!
Easy to prepare. I sauted some red pepper and poblano pepper with the onion before adding the chicken and spice. Served with sour cream and the red pepper crema. Took the meal up a notch.
