BBQ Chicken & Rice Quesadillas
A mixture of rice, chicken, BBQ sauce, and cheese make these crispy quesadillas a deliciously filling meal or hearty snack. The economical meal is also an excellent way to stretch your leftovers—and it’s speedy too!
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded rotisserie or leftover cooked chicken (about 2 medium breasts or ~10 ounces cooked)
- 1 cup (5oz) cooked rice, brown or white
- ½ cup (132g) barbecue sauce (plus more for serving, if desired)
- 2 cups (8oz) shredded sharp cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
- 4 large (10-inch) tortillas, regular or whole wheat (gluten-free as needed)*
- Olive oil spray
- Optional: 1-2 green onions, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Prepare the filling: In a mixing bowl, toss the chicken and rice with the barbecue sauce and optional green onions until evenly coated.
- Make the quesadillas: Sprinkle ¼ cup of cheese over half of each tortilla; top each with one-quarter of the chicken mixture, spreading it out evenly over the half. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining cheese (another ¼ cup on each tortilla—you can eyeball this) and fold each tortilla over to enclose the filling.
- Cook the quesadillas: Spray a large skillet or lightly drizzle with oil and set it over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add a tortilla (depending on the size of your skillet, you may be able to cook two at once), and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until golden brown and the cheese melts. Spray the pan again and repeat until all the tortillas are cooked. Cut each quesadilla into 2 or 3 wedges and serve, as is, or with extra barbecue sauce (or even salsa) for dipping.
Video
Notes
*Tortillas, regular and gluten-free: With their 10-inch diameter, burrito-size flour tortillas are ideal for this recipe. That said, I’ve used Mission gluten-free tortillas, which are somewhat smaller, and they work well too. If all you have is the smaller corn tortillas, feel free to use the filling in those. Simply eyeball the amounts, which will yield 8 to 10 taco-like quesadillas.
Running low on chicken or rice? You could add some frozen and thawed (or canned and drained) corn or black beans. Some finely chopped bell pepper would be nice too.
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