Chicken Quesadillas with a Twist

My favorite chicken quesadillas recipe! My secret twist to the recipe brought out so much flavor and perfect cheesy consistency. This is not a typical Mexican or American quesadilla and to be honest, I am not sure how I would categorize it. You have to try it and let me know. 

Don’t skip any of the ingredients, it’ll be worth it! It’s very easy to make and hard to get wrong. 

I was meal prepping one day and with 2 bags of Costco chicken, I was preparing several meals. I separated some chicken for bbq popcorn chicken, some for chicken quesadillas, some for arroz con pollo (chicken and rice), and some for puree for my youngest son. While I was preparing the bbq popcorn chicken recipe, I had some bbq sauce leftover. It was so little that I didn’t want to put it back in my already packed fridge and I didn’t want it to go to waste. I had already added extra to the popcorn chicken so instead, I decided to add it to my chicken quesadillas. I was surprisingly in love with how good it tasted. It was not too much bbq sauce to become bbq chicken quesadillas, but it was enough to give it a little kick on the smokey side. It brought out an awesome flavor and my whole family loved it. 

I love cheesy and juicy filled chicken quesadillas. I don’t like it when the chicken is too dry (which is why I use chicken thighs since they are juicier). Some people change the ratio of cheese versus chicken so that it is more cheesy than dry chicken or they have to add a lot of sour cream (or other extras) to moisten it up…I prefer not to do any of that. I wanted the chicken itself to be juicy, flavorful, creamy, and cheesy so I decided to use cream cheese. Let me just say YUMMMMY!!! The only shredded cheese I add is mainly used just to “seal” the quesadillas when you fold it. You can add more if you want, but this recipe is so good that you have to try it.

Ingredients

• 110 oz chicken thighs (I use one pack of Costco Organic Chicken Thighs)

Spices

• 1 tsp salt

• ¼ tsp pepper

• 1 ½ tsp oregano

• 2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika

Sofrito

• ¾ green pepper

• ¼ yellow pepper

• ½ red pepper

• ¾ yellow onion

• 5-6 cloves garlic

• ¼ cup cilantro

Additional

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 2 tbsp bbq sauce (don't skip this one, you won't regret it)

• 2 tbsp cream cheese (another one you don't want to skip!)

• 1 bag (or 8oz) of shredded cheese (whichever is your favorite, I used mozzarella)

• 6-8 soft flour tortilla

• sour cream & pico de gallo for dipping (optional)

Instructions

1. Dice the chicken into small pieces. Dice all the peppers and onion, chop up the cilantro.

2. Add all the spices to the chicken and mix so that they cover all the pieces. In a pan over medium heat, drizzle a little bit of olive oil.

3. Once the pan is hot, start to brown the chicken and add the grated garlic (I always use a garlic press). About 4 min.

4. Add in the chopped pepper and onion and stir for about 2 min. Then add in the bbq sauce.

5. Lower the heat and cover. Cook for about 20 min or until the chicken pulls apart easily. For the last 5 min I cook uncovered to evaporate some of the liquid.

6. Once cooked, add in the cilantro and cream cheese and mix until melted completely.

Now to create the quesadilla

1. In a large pan over medium-low heat, place a flour tortilla.

2. Sprinkle some shredded cheese. Add a large scoop of the chicken mix and sprinkle a little more shredded cheese on top.

3. Fold over the tortilla and flip until it's toasted on both sides.

4. Serve warm with sour cream and pico de gallo if you like.

Feel free to fill the quesadilla with as much (or little) cheese as you want. You can serve with sour cream and tomatoes, but the flavor is so good by itself too. If you want spicier chicken quesadillas, then add your choice of hot sauce or jalapeño peppers. I am not a very big fan of spicy so this is perfect as it is written. Last but not least, I hope you love this recipe as much and my family and I love it!