I'm a huge fan of tacos and quesadillas; they're my go-to Mexican dishes. Today, I had the idea of merging them into taco quesadillas for a delightful one tasty meal. I love this recipe because it is only 5-ingredient recipe, Super easy and quick to make and perfect for lunch or dinner.
Taco Quesadillas
These Taco Quesadillas are buzzing with flavourful Mexican seasoning, yummy ground beef, stringy cheese, and some crispy tortillas.
Seriously, kids and adults alike LOVE this dish. Although the best part truly is that it only takes about 30 minutes to prepare, that's my I love it. Believe me, there's nothing that screams one big happy family dinner like these Taco Quesadillas.
This is my go-to dish when I am in a hurry and need to make a fast yet good dinner.
Here is my trick to prevent the filling from spilling out: use a generous amount of cheese; it acts as the glue to hold the filling and tortilla together. This is why, if you pay close attention to the recipe, you'll see that I layered the tortilla with cheese before and after I added the meat. The cheese creates an excellent seal to pack the tortilla and prevent the beef from falling out.
What's in these Taco Quesadillas?
Note: This is an overview of the ingredients. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Ground beef: I like to use extra lean ground beef.
Taco seasoning: You can literally get this from any store, or you can even make your own
Tortillas: I use flour tortillas in making this dish; however, you may use corn tortillas.
Grated cheddar: I prefer mature cheddar cheese, but also Monterrey Jack, Mozzarella and Colby Jack work fine too.
Oil: I used vegetable oil to cook the quesadillas to get a crispy, golden brown outside.
How to make these Taco Quesadillas?
There will be a total of two main steps to make this recipe. In the first step, we'll cook the meat. And in the second step, we'll assemble the Taco Quesadillas.
First Step - Cook The Meat: Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and add the ground meat. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Now drain it and return to skillet.
Now stir in some water and taco seasoning, bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes, stirring often.
Second Step - Prepare One Quesadilla:
Before we begin, preheat a large skillet over medium heat and grease with oil.
On half of a tortilla, spread ¼ cup of cheese and ¼ cup of taco meat. Then add another layer of cheese on top of the beef and fold the tortilla over. Since we only spread the ingredients to about half the tortilla, it should be easy to fold.
Pro Tip: I know how exciting these Quesadillas are, but don't go overboard with stuffing your fillings. Stuff all the tortillas in the right proportions to avoid falling out and creating a mess while cooking.
Repeat this step with all the other tortillas.
Third Step - Cook The Taco Quesadillas
Heat a large pan on medium heat, lightly spray with oil. Cook the Quesadillas for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
Remove from the heat and allow them to cool.
Ta-da. Your cheesy, wholesomely stuffed Taco Quesadillas are ready to be served. Cut them into neat triangles and enjoy your hearty meal.
Top Tips!
- Don't use too much oil on the skillet because it can make your tortillas go a little too soft and soggy. You want them to be nice and crispy instead.
- If you're a cook who loves doing things from scratch, you should try making the tortillas all on your own. You'll enjoy the freshness, and oh, use a mixture of corn and regular flour for best results.
- You may also season your dish with my Quesadilla Seasoning recipe instead of taco seasonings.
Recipe Variations
- Although I love my ground beef, you can substitute it with any choice of protein that you may have at home.
- You can swap out the meat for some crunchy vegetables for a vegetarian option. We love quesadillas made with zucchini's, onion, bell pepper, cabbage, and mushrooms.
- If you're feeding a big family, you can even plop these quesadillas in the oven. This will avoid you having to stand over the griddle and flip one tortilla at a time.
Tacos Vs Quesadillas
Tacos comprise small tortillas (a type of thin bread) filled with beans, occasionally some rice, vegetables especially tomatoes and lettuce, served with some good old salsa as a snack throughout the world.
Quesadillas, however, are on the heavier side. The tortillas of quesadillas are usually made of corn or regular flour, folded in half and stuffed with meats, vegetables, and some cheese and cooked till the cheese is well melted. What we'll be cooking today is close to both these yummy recipes, so I'll be calling them Taco Quesadillas!
Serving Suggestions
I bet you're not going to be able to wait for these to even get off the pan to devour them, but just in case you are, here are some serving suggestions.
Whip up some guacamole (check my 4 ingredients Guacamole Recipe), Chunky Mango Habanero Salsa or plain old sour cream to serve with these Taco Quesadillas.
Recipe FAQ's
It may come as a surprise, but you can very quickly make your very own at home. Just mix some chilli powder, ground cumin, crushed red pepper, and salt in equal quantities. Then add some garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano and black pepper (this should be lesser in amount than the primary ingredients). If there's an ingredient you may not have available at home, you can go ahead and skip; you'll still land quite close to the flavour we're going for.
Fish, shrimp or lobsters don't go so well with all the cheese involved in making these Quesadillas. In fact, their flavours don't combine that well with the cheese and stuffing we're making here. You can go for other proteins like duck or chicken, which will substitute much better in place of the ground beef. Happy cooking!
Other Quesadilla Recipes
More Taco-Inspired Recipes
- Classic Taco Salad Recipe (Mexican)
- Mexican Shrimp Tacos Recipe
- Fish Taco Seasoning
- Cheesy Beef Taco Pasta
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Easy Taco Quesadillas Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g ground beef
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
- ½ cup water
- 6 flour tortillas
- 3 cups cheddar cheese , shredded
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Instructions
- To cook the meat: Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add the ground meat and cook for 2-3 minutes. Drain it and return to skillet.500 g ground beef
- Stir in water and taco seasoning, bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes, stirring often.1 tablespoon taco seasoning, ½ cup water
- To prepare one quesadilla: heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- On half of a tortilla, spread ¼ cup of cheese ¼ cup of the taco meat.6 flour tortillas, 3 cups cheddar cheese
- Then add another layer of cheese on top of the meat fold the tortilla over.
- Repeat with all other tortillas.
- Heat a large pan on medium-high heat, lightly spray with oil.
- Cook the quesadillas for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool, then cut into triangles and serve.
Notes
- Stuff all the tortillas in the right proportions to avoid falling out and creating a mess while cooking.
- If you're a cook who loves doing things from scratch, you should try making the tortillas all on your own. You'll enjoy the freshness, and oh, use a mixture of corn and regular flour for best results.
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