Chipotle sour cream full of bright lime, smoky peppers, and taco spices
jazzes up a classic chicken quesadilla with barely any extra effort!
inspiration
This is not the recipe I intended to post this week. I had planned on posting Taco Bell-inspired spicy potato tacos instead, but they didn’t turn out. (They weren’t bad, but definitely not up to the standards I require for posting). That’s totally fine—it happens and some recipes require more testing than others—but at the end of it I was left with the only part of the recipe that did work: a tub of chipotle sour cream.
I didn’t want to waste it, so I decided to make quesadillas for dipping. The sauce is bright and zingy and full of flavor, so I kept the quesadillas simple: flour tortillas, shredded rotisserie chicken, a sprinkle of taco seasoning, and my favorite quesadilla cheese combination. Simple chicken quesadillas with chipotle sour cream are a jazzed-up version of a weeknight classic that requires barely any more effort.
why i love this recipe
When you eat something often, you sometimes need to shake it up a bit to keep it interesting. While I never get tired of melted cheese and flour tortillas fried in olive oil until golden, the same old version can get a little boring.
We keep the quesadilla classic here—a blend of white cheeses, rotisserie chicken for ease, a sprinkle of taco seasoning—and add a super quick and simple sauce. Chipotle sour cream is full of lime, smoky peppers, and taco spices. It literally takes five minutes to make and freshens things up a bit.
The quesadillas are still quick and easy like they should be. Sour cream mixed into the chicken and onions helps the cheeses melt into an almost-liquid, and we get those tasty crispy cheese edges where the cheese meets the hot pan. The simplicity of it makes the chipotle sour cream shine, and shows that putting in just a tiny bit of extra effort can bring new excitement into a routine meal.
details
All you need for the chipotle sour cream is a handful of ingredients, a blender, and five minutes. You’ll just combine all of the ingredients and blend until smooth, which only takes a few seconds! Chilling it while you assemble and cook the quesadillas helps the flavors to blend. As is, the recipe doesn’t have much heat, but you can easily add another pepper or two if you want!
The quesadilla process is pretty standard. I like to grate my own cheese—it melts better and tastes better—but it’s totally understandable if you don’t want to! A bag of Mexican blend will work great, too.
The amounts listed here are just guidelines. Adjust them to your preferences!
notes
chipotle peppers in adobo: you can find these in a can in the international aisle by the Mexican ingredients!
olive oil: I strongly recommend using olive oil for this, but another mild-flavored oil will work too!
onion: white or sweet will also work! I wouldn’t use red—the flavor is too mild.
tortillas: flour, please! Corn doesn’t work as well for quesadillas and will crumble if you try to fry them. I used taco sized, but you can use whatever size you want—you’ll just have to adjust the cheese and filling amounts a bit.
cheeses: I like use freshly grated Monterey jack and white cheddar, but since I totally understand that not everyone has the inclination to grate their own cheese, a bag of Mexican or quesadilla blend will work too.
hot sauce: I like Cholula’s, but use what you’ve got! (Nothing too weird, though; you want a traditional hot sauce for this.)
I hope you love simple chicken quesadillas with chipotle sour cream! Here are some other easy Tex-Mex dinners: weeknight arroz con pollo, bean & cheese burrito bowls, and sweet pork tacos with cilantro ranch.
simple chicken quesadillas with chipotle sour cream
Ingredients
Method
- Make chipotle sour cream. In a blender, combine sour cream, chipotle peppers, salt, taco seasoning, and lime juice. Blend until smooth, and chill until time to use.
- Make quesadilla filling. In a medium frying pan, heat a couple tablespoons of oil until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and mostly golden, but with some brown spots—about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook 2 more minutes. Transfer onion-garlic mixture to a small mixing bowl and add shredded chicken, ¼ cup chipotle sour cream, and a few shakes of hot sauce. Mix well.
- Make quesadillas. Wipe out the onion pan with a paper towel (careful not to burn yourself) and heat another tablespoon or so of oil over medium heat. Add one tortilla to the pan, then top with cheese. Add chicken filling to taste—you may have some left over if you don’t want a lot of chicken—then sprinkle on some taco seasoning and top with more cheese and another tortilla. Once the bottom tortilla is golden brown, flip the quesadilla carefully and cook on the other side until it’s browned, too. Repeat with the second quesadilla.
- Serve. Slice into the desired number of wedges and serve with guacamole, pico de gallo, and the remaining chipotle sour cream.
Can’t wait to try this!