Easy Grilled Chicken Quesadillas Everyone Will Love
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Grilled chicken quesadillas are one of those rare, magical dinners that makes everyone in my family happy. They come together fast with smoky leftover grilled chicken, melty cheese, and crispy tortillas—comfort food in golden, handheld form. Serve them with salsa, sour cream, or our favorite avocado lime dressing for dipping.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This grilled chicken quesadilla recipe is my go-to when I need something quick, satisfying, and low-effort. It’s perfect for using up leftovers and whatever bits and bobs you happen to have in the fridge. Our favorite version uses leftover Mexican Grilled Chicken piled into tortillas with onions, green chiles, and a generous layer of gooey, melty cheese.
This recipe is endlessly flexible. Don’t have green chiles? Toss in some bell peppers. Prefer rotisserie chicken? Go for it. Want a little more heat? Use our Spicy Grilled Chicken Marinade.
My favorite part? You can keep the quesadillas warm in the oven while you make a batch, which means no one’s stuck eating cold cheese. And if you’re making these for a crowd, a big electric griddle makes cooking multiple quesadillas at once a breeze.
Paired with Black Bean and Corn Salsa or a summery Tomato and Corn Chopped Salad, this is an easy 30 minute dinner that everyone in the family will love.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Flour Tortillas – Use large, soft tortillas that crisp up beautifully in a skillet.
- Shredded Mexican Cheese or Chihuahua – Melty cheese is key to a good quesadilla. Chihuahua cheese is my favorite for quesadillas, but you can use a blend of whatever odds and ends you have on hand.
- Leftover Grilled Chicken – Smoky, tender, and packed with flavor. This recipe works great with chopped rotisserie chicken, too. Use my Mexican chicken marinade for juicy, flavorful chicken.
- Canned Green Chiles – These add a subtle heat and depth, and don’t require any prep. Bell peppers are a great substitute.
- Yellow Onion – Sauteed until soft for that sweet, savory base.
- Unsalted Butter – The key to a browned and crispy tortilla.
- Optional Toppings – Top your quesadillas with salsa and/or sour cream, avocado slices or guacamole, and fresh cilantro. For a quick dip, I love to use sour cream with a few squeezes of lime juice and dash of chili powder or hot sauce.
How to Make These Grilled Chicken Quesadillas
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 175°F and place a cooling rack on a baking sheet to keep quesadillas warm. In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add diced onion and cook for about 5 minutes, until softened. Stir in green chiles and cook 2 more minutes. Set aside.
Step 2: Add a sliver of butter to the pan and swirl to coat. Lay down one tortilla and sprinkle cheese over the entire surface. Add a few spoonfuls of the chile-onion mixture and chopped leftover chicken to one half of the tortilla. Cook until the cheese is bubbly and melty.
Step 3: Fold the tortilla over the filling and press gently with a spatula. Let it cook 1–2 more minutes until golden and crispy. Transfer to the rack in the oven to stay warm while you repeat with remaining tortillas.
Recipe Tips & Variations
- Use a griddle for batch cooking: If you’re feeding a crowd, break out the electric griddle. You can make 2–4 quesadillas at once without juggling pans or rushing the flip.
- Switch up the filling: No green chiles? Use sautéed bell peppers or chopped green onion. Add black beans, pinto beans, or even some leftover Mexican rice for a heartier version. Anything that’s already cooked can find a home inside a good quesadilla.
- Go meatless, or use a different kind of meat: Try this with leftover crock pot taco meat or marinated skirt steak.
- Go cheese-forward: Try mixing pre-shredded cheese blends with freshly grated Monterey Jack or Oaxaca for extra meltiness. Melty cheese is key—don’t be shy, and be sure to sprinkle all the way to the edges!
- Skip the prep: On nights when things are really falling apart, or we have an extra short window of time to scarf down a meal, I skip the sauteed onions entirely and get right to making the quesadillas! They’re still delicious and flavorful!
Storage and Make-Ahead Instructions
- Make it meal-prep friendly: Quesadillas reheat surprisingly well! Store leftover quesadillas in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat in a dry skillet or toaster oven to bring back that crispy tortilla texture. They’re great for packed lunches or quick dinners on busy nights.
Recipe FAQs
Use a dry skillet or minimal butter and cook over medium heat. After the quesadillas are cooked, place them in a single layer on a cooling rack lined baking sheet in a warm oven. Never stack cooked quesadillas or cover them with foil. The steam is a sure-fire way to get soggy quesadillas.
Mexican blend, Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack or Chihuahua cheese all melt beautifully. I’ve even used slices of Meunster or havarti in a pinch! Avoid low-moisture hard cheeses like Parmesan for best results.
Yes! Any cooked chicken works!
Whether you’re cleaning out the fridge or craving cheesy comfort food, grilled chicken quesadillas are a dinner win. It’s one of my favorite ways to stretch leftovers into something genuinely crave-worthy. Try them tonight, and don’t forget to leave a comment sharing your favorite fillings or dips!
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Easy Grilled Chicken Quesadillas Everyone Will Love
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter (divided)
- 1/2 small yellow onion (diced)
- 1 can diced green chiles
- 4 large flour tortillas
- 2 cups shredded Mexican blend or Chihuahua cheese
- 2 cups chopped leftover Mexican grilled chicken
- Sour cream
- Salsa
- Avocado Lime Dressing (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to warm, or about 175 degrees. Place a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet.
- In a large non stick skillet, melt one tablespoon of the butter. Add the onion and saute until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the green chilies and saute another 2 minutes. Remove the mixture to a bowl and set aside.
- Add another sliver of butter to the skillet and melt, swirling it evenly around the pan. Add a tortilla, and spread cheese evenly over the whole thing, all the way to the edges.. Add a few spoonfuls of the green chile mixture to one half of the tortilla. Top with chopped chicken.
- When the side without toppings is melty and starts to bubble, fold it over the toppings and use your spatula to press down so the cheesy sides melt together. If needed, give the quesadilla another 1-2 minutes to brown. Otherwise, remove to the cooling rack and place in a warm oven. Repeat with remaining tortillas and fillings.
- Slice quesadillas into wedges with a knife or pizza cutter. Serve with sour cream, salsa or pico de gallo, or avocado lime dressing, for dipping.
Notes
- Use any leftover grilled chicken for this recipe. We’ve linked our favorite above, but these are also fantastic with our Spicy Grilled Chicken Marinade. You can also use leftover rotisserie chicken.
- Use a griddle for batch cooking: If you’re feeding a crowd (or just hungry teens), break out the electric griddle. You can make 2–4 quesadillas at once without juggling pans or rushing the flip.
- Make it meal-prep friendly: Quesadillas reheat surprisingly well! Store leftover quesadillas in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat in a dry skillet or toaster oven to bring back that crispy texture. They’re great for packed lunches or quick dinners on busy nights.
- Switch up the filling: No green chiles? Use sautéed bell peppers or chopped green onion. Add black beans, pinto beans, or even some leftover Mexican rice for a heartier version. Anything that’s already cooked can find a home inside a quesadilla.