Chipotle Chicken Quesadillas is a quick and easy dish for a weekday. Mildly spiced and smoky dish with cheese served with diced avocado and sour cream.
Searching for an easy way to make the kids and yourself happy on a busy weekday night? Or maybe you have some leftovers from last Sunday’s roasted chicken feast? Chipotle Chicken Quesadillas are the way to go! A quick and easy recipe filled with flavour and approved by kids, what else can you ask for?! Served with diced avocado with a squeeze of lime and sour cream to smooth things up a bit.
Chipotle Peppers in Adobo
Chipotle peppers are mildly spicy and sold in a can that contains a sensational “adobo” or marinade making the perfect seasoning for this chicken. No worries about the heat factor, this pepper is mild and has this special touch of smoke to it which give the impression of a charcoal-cooked chicken.
Often people at the table have different tolerances to heat, chipotles are a great start, to begin with! It’s like the first step into the world of spiciness. If you are a spice lover, simply add a nice bottle of hot Habanero Mexican sauce to the table to satisfy your palate. I do love an extra sweet touch of maple syrup or honey to complement the chipotle peppers. I believe it levels up the spice a bit and makes it more kid-friendly, but this is up to you.
The Smooth Sides
I do love creamy sides with my “spicy food” to contrast the heat. Whether it’s sour cream, plain Greek yogurt or Creme fraiche they all do the trick. Plus, if you take a 0% fat you make it way lighter. But the sides are up to your family’s taste, it could be a nice fresh pico de gallo, full-on guacamole or even an artichoke dip. Feeling too lazy after a hard day at work to make full guacamole? Skip the whole guacamole and simply cut an avocado and squeeze some lime and salt on it!
Queso Equals Quesadillas
For the ones who don’t know; the word ‘Quesadillas‘ comes from the word “queso” which means cheese in Spanish. Therefore the main rule of a Quesadilla is “Needs to contain cheese” the rest (filling) could be basically anything you’d like.
The original cheese they use for quesadillas in Mexico is called Oaxaca which is a fresh cheese, similar to Italian mozzarella, that once melted makes those irresistible strings that we love so much. But if you are like me, living far away from the goods… we have to survive with “alternatives”. The most string”y” cheese I know is mozzarella which, of course, is a great choice for this recipe but personally I like my cheese to taste “stronger”, especially with an already “spicy filling” so I’ve used a cheddar.
Other Variations of Cheese
Another great alternative widely used in the US is Monterey Jack cheese which is this great, young “mildly spicy” cheese but then again not an easy product to find outside of the area. Anyhow, as long as it melts rapidly you’ll get a great quesadilla, avoid aged cheeses as they don’t melt well. Ultimately, the amount of cheese is up to you, go with what your diet allows you to have.
Other Mexican recipes
Easy Chipotle Chicken Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 4 big tortilla bread
- 2 chicken breast (pre-cooked)
- 1/2 red pepper (diced)
- 100 g cheddar cheese (mozzarella or Monterey Jack)
- 3 chipotle pepper
- 2 tbsp maple syrup (or honey)
- 1 tbsp sauce of the chipotle can
- salt and pepper
Sides
- 1 avocado
- 1/2 lime
- 80 ml sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt)
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Start by blending the Chipotle peppers and some of its marinade.
- Shred the chicken with the help of a fork.
- Add the chipotle mix, maple syrup, salt, pepper and diced red pepper to the chicken and mix.
- In a nonstick pan, medium-high heat, spray a bit of oil.
- Add the tortilla bread; on half the bread, add grated cheese, chicken filling, and another layer of cheese and close it into half.
- Cook for 1 minute on each side until golden and crisp; turn mid-way with the help of a big plate.
- Cut into three pieces each.
9 Comments
Oh my goodness this looks so amazing! What a great combo of flavours… my mouth is watering
glad to have this effect on you;)
Oh yum, you had me at quesadilla! I love to add onions and peppers to mine, for extra veg. This sounds so good, and I’m hungry right now, so I’m drooling… haha Thanks for the inspiration!
Anything with chipotle and I’m in! This looks like a great weeknight dinner. Love the makeshift guac too! 👍
Thanks!
Loved the recipe………its too good 🙂
Yum! These look good! My wife will love when I add these to our meal plan! Loving the video by the way!
Yum, these look delicious … and those bowls!!!!
Glad you like it;)!