I love the summer time! There is nothing better than grilling in the backyard and family get-togethers. However, we always have leftover grilled meat during the week. The best way to use up those leftovers are these super easy grilled chicken quesadillas with cilantro-crema sauce. Even better, they make great appetizers during an impromptu party the next day!
Start with a 10-inch flour tortilla. I always try to have these on hand. They are great for feeding a crowd, and they have multi-functional uses. If you’re looking for ideas, check out my recipe for pizza quesadillas or cinnamon sugar chips.
To create the super flavorful quesadillas, take the leftover chicken about 1/3 cup (if you don’t have leftovers you can always buy a rotisserie chicken) and chop, slice or shred it. My husband and brothers like the big chunks of chicken so I usually to a loose chop. Warm up the chicken in the microwave, I usually only do about 30 seconds (or microwave until just warm to the touch) because you’re going to heat up the chicken in the quesadilla and you don’t want the meat to completely dry out.
Add the rest of the ingredients, my favorites are bell pepper (yellow shown here), white onion, cilantro, and jalapeno. For cheese, I like using Chihuahua. However, the next best thing is any type of Mexican blend.
Once you’ve filled your quesadilla, fold over and gently place on a hot skillet over medium heat. Once the cheese is melted, turn over until just browned. I like mine to be extra crispy and have these beautiful marks on them (shown above).
Wait until slightly cooled and cut into bite size bites with a pizza cutter.
To make the sauce:
Add cilantro, lime, Mexican crema and salt to a food processor, pulse until smooth.
Enjoy!
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Leftover Chicken Quesadillas
- Total Time: 13 mins
- Yield: 1-2 1x
Description
Quick and easy dinner using leftover grilled chicken from all those summer nights grilling in the back yard
Ingredients
- Quesadilla:
- 10-inch Flour Tortilla
- 1-Cup shredded Chihuahua cheese
- 1/3 cup chicken
- 1/4 cup yellow pepper (or green pepper)
- 1/4 cup white onion
- 1/4 cup minced cilantro
- 1/2 chopped Jalapeno
- The Sauce:
- 1 cup cilantro
- 1/2 of fresh lime juice
- 4 Tablespoons of Mexican crema
- 1 Teaspoon of salt
Instructions
- For Quesadilla:
- Reheat chicken if cold
- Loosely chop chicken
- Add shredded cheese, chicken, yellow pepper, onion and cilantro to the tortilla
- Fold tortilla in half
- Place on skillet over medium high heat
- Once cheese is melted flip over until browned
- For Sauce:
- Add cilantro, lime juice, crema and salt to a food processor
- Pulse until smooth
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 8 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Mexican
