These cheese quesadillas are the ultimate quick dinner! A blend of cheeses, pico de gallo, and taco seasoning take them from a struggle meal to something you’ll actually want to eat.
It’s getting down to crunch time on my dissertation and I am so busy! To be honest, my diet the last few weeks has consisted of frozen pizza, ramen noodles, and the packets of apple cider my mom sent for Christmas. I don’t have a lot of time to cook, so I’ve been gravitating toward quick, familiar things like these cheese quesadillas.
It might sound silly to write a recipe for cheese quesadillas since they’re so simple, but trust me—they deserve better than just slapping some cheddar in a tortilla. And they’re so fast! They’re the ultimate quick dinner, and there are a few little things you can do to take them from a struggle meal to something you actually want to eat! This recipe calls for a mix of white cheddar and Monterey jack cheeses. Don’t skip out on the Monterey jack—it’s what makes quesadillas taste like you got them from a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant. You can buy the pico de gallo premade if you want, or make it yourself. Taco seasoning is really, really good here, so be generous but don’t overdo it. And they’re not even hard to flip! The filling is mostly cheese, and that melts fast and keeps the quesadillas from falling apart when you flip them.
I like to cut my quesadilla into sixths and put it on a plate piled high with lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo. You might not think these would be very filling, but Abby and I both barely finished ours for dinner!
Honestly, I loved these. They barely took any time at all, and they made me think of home.
cheese quesadillas
time: ~20 minutes
makes 2 quesadillas
ingredients
olive oil
4 flour tortillas
½ cup white cheddar cheese
½ cup Monterey jack cheese
taco seasoning
4 tablespoons Pico de gallo
directions
- Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. While the oil is heating, assemble the quesadillas: tortilla first, then ¼ cup of the mixed cheeses, a sprinkle of taco seasoning (to your taste), two tablespoons of pico de gallo, then another ¼ cup of cheese and top with another tortilla. Repeat with the last two tortillas and the rest of the ingredients.
- When the frying pan and the oil are hot, carefully add one quesadilla. Cook until the cheese is melting and the tortilla is golden brown on one side, about 5 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side for another 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Repeat with the second quesadilla.
- Serve with sour cream, lettuce, guacamole, and more pico de gallo.