Chicken Quesadillas with Cheddar in a Grill Pan: 20-Minute Recipe

Step-by-step recipe

1. Chicken quesadillas are quick to make at home, since you can buy all the ingredients, ready-made tortillas included. All that's left is to cook the chicken fillet and make a spicy salad or sauce: salsa, pico de gallo or guacamole, whichever you prefer.
   
2. Preparing tortillas for quesadillas
3. I must admit I was surprised that you can buy excellent ready-made tortillas in stores. It's worth checking that their diameter fits your frying pan, unless you're using a grill. Corn or wheat tortillas are extremely easy to make: flour and water make a dough that you roll out thinly, cook on both sides in a hot dry pan and fold in half.
   
4. Making the filling
5. The only ingredient that needs any prep is the chicken breast. Trim off any bits of bone and large pieces of fat. Slice the fillet horizontally so it opens like a book. Then pound the meat so it's the same thickness all over: lay it on a cutting board, cover with plastic wrap and pound lightly.
   
6. You can cook the fillet in an ordinary frying pan without oil or in a grill pan. By the way, it's even tastier over hot coals on a barbecue: an idea for a picnic. Turning the meat, cook the fillet until done and lightly browned. Then let it cool a little so you don't burn your fingers.
   
7. For tasty chicken quesadillas, use good-quality hard or semi-hard cheese that melts easily when heated. Of the easy-to-find kinds, that's Emmental, cheddar or Gouda. Coarsely grate the cheese into a bowl. Pull the chicken apart into shreds with your fingers and add it to the cheese.
   
8. Assembling and grilling the chicken quesadillas
9. Add chopped fresh chili to taste and 1-2 pinches of ground coriander, then stir the filling. Lay a tortilla on the table or a flat plate. Spread the filling over one half of the tortilla, level it and press it down lightly. The layer of filling can be fairly thin, in principle. But a lot of filling is always great! Don't hold back; it'll be delicious.
   
10. Fold the tortilla in half over the filling, then press lightly. A chicken quesadilla holds its shape quite well and doesn't break or lose its form. It's easy to move and flip. Quesadillas are usually 1.5-2 cm thick. Get all of them ready for cooking.
    
11. Get the grill or frying pan ready. The folded tortilla must fit flat in the bottom of the pan without bending. My square grill pan fits two quesadillas diagonally, which is very handy. Heat the pan and, without greasing it, lay in two filled quesadillas.
    
12. Cook the filled tortillas until the cheese is clearly melted and the tortillas are browned. A grill pan gives you beautiful, clearly visible stripes that tell you when to stop so they don't burn. When you're happy with the result, move the tortillas to a board and cut them into 2-3 wedges with a sharp knife.
    
13. How to make a salad for serving
14. The easiest sauces to serve are salsa, guacamole or just a hot tomato sauce. I suggest making a spicy Mexican salad similar to pico de gallo, one of my favorite cold Mexican snacks. Just finely chop bell and chili peppers, cilantro and garlic. Mix everything, salt it and add 1-2 tbsp of lime juice. Then dress with olive oil.
    
15. Put the hot quesadillas on a serving plate. Put the salad in a small bowl, which can go on the same plate. Such snacks usually come without cutlery: you can eat the salad straight with the tortilla.
    
16. When you make snacks like this, all the ingredients should be ready to eat by the time they go into the tortilla. Although a “classic” quesadilla is just cheese, use your imagination: the fillings can be very varied.