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Quesadillas Four Ways

Seth Jovian
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Four kinds of quesadilla tortillas:
– 1 cheese
– 3 cheese + chicken
– 3 cheese + chicken + bell peppers
– 3 cheese + chicken + bell peppers + onions
Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: chicken
Servings: 10 servings

Equipment

  • 2 standard baking sheets
  • 2 large baking sheets
  • 5 medium bowls
  • 2 woks or large saucepans
  • 1 kitchen scale
  • parchment paper
  • 1 cutting board
  • 1 spatula
  • 1 pizza cutter or kitchen shears (or a knife)

Ingredients

  • 10 10" flour tortillas
  • 2 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast
  • 2 lb (possibly shredded) cheese (mixture of Cheddar/Monterrey/etc; or shred your own)
  • 10 oz whole green bell peppers (about 2 medium peppers)
  • 10 oz whole red bell peppers (about 2 medium peppers)
  • 10 oz whole onion (1 large onion)
  • 1 packet fajita seasoning (roughly 1.1 oz)
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • some salsa (as a topping)
  • some sour cream (as a topping)

Instructions

Dice (45 min)

  • Get five medium bowls and line them up
  • If it's not shredded, shred the cheese, and put it into the fourth bowl.
    2 lb (possibly shredded) cheese
  • On the cutting board, dice the red and green peppers, into the size you'd like to find in your quesadillas (about 30 min)
    10 oz whole green bell peppers, 10 oz whole red bell peppers
  • Put the first, empty medium bowl on the kitchen scale and zero out its weight
  • Put all the diced peppers into this first medium bowl and note their weight.
    About a third pound of pepper should have been discarded material, so we should have roughly 14 oz left
  • Take 2 cups of the peppers and put them into the second medium bowl.
    (There should now be about 6 oz left in the first medium bowl. If not, adjust the amounts to get to a roughly 3:4 ratio between first and second bowls.)
  • On the cutting board, dice the onion into the same size as the peppers
    10 oz whole onion
  • To the first medium bowl, that has the ~6oz peppers, add the same weight of diced onions.
  • Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper
  • On the cutting board, dice the chicken into cubes the size you'd like to find in your quesadillas (10-15 min)
    2 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast
  • Put the raw diced chicken into the fifth medium bowl; the third bowl is still empty for now: that's where the cooked chicken will go.
  • Add the packet of fajita seasoning and toss with the raw, diced chicken
    1 packet fajita seasoning

Broil the chicken (15 min)

  • Turn the broiler on high
  • Spread the seasoned, raw, diced chicken from the fifth medium bowl onto the lined large baking sheet.
    (We don't need that fifth bowl anymore. Down to 4 bowls!)
  • Place the baking sheet with the diced chicken under the broiler and cook until the pieces are no longer pink in the center — about 5 minutes.
  • Once the chicken is done, turn the broiler off and preheat the oven to 350°F
  • Put the third, still empty medium bowl on the kitchen scale and zero out its weight
  • Put the diced chicken into this bowl on the scale and note the weight. We want to distribute the chicken across the first three bowls in roughly a 2:3:4 ratio. The next steps assume using 26 oz of chicken, but substitute your own numbers if need be.
    (You can also throw away the parchment paper now)
  • Take 6 oz of the chicken and add it to the first medium bowl, with the peppers and onions
  • Take 8 oz of chicken from the third bowl and add it to the second medium bowl, with just the peppers.
    The last ~12 oz will remain in this third bowl.
    You now have 4 bowls with different quesadilla fillings: one with chicken, peppers, and onions; one with chicken and peppers; one with just chicken; and one with all of the cheese.

Cook the fillings and prep the quesadillas (15 min)

  • Heat 1 tbsp of oil for a few minutes in each of the 2 woks or pans over medium heat.
  • While that's heating, lay 2 overlapping, open tortillas directly on each of the standard baking sheets, and 3 on each of the large baking sheets:
    2 on the first: one of these will be cheese, the other cheese + chicken
    2 on the second: these will be cheese + chicken
    3 on the third: these will be cheese + chicken + bell pepper
    3 on the last: these will be cheese + chicken + bell peppers + onions
  • Into the left wok with the now-hot oil, stir in the mixture from the first medium bowl — the one with onions — and put the bowl back as first in the line-up.
  • Into the right wok, stir in the mixture from the second medium bowl — the one without onions — just chicken and peppers, and put the bowl back as second in the line-up.
  • Keep stirring occasionally until the vegetables have softened — about 10 minutes
  • Meanwhile, let's add cheese to the first three bowls, in the same 2:3:4 ratio.
    Put the first bowl (currently empty) on the scale, zero out the weight, and add 6 oz of shredded cheese to it.
  • Put the second bowl (currently empty) on the scale, zero out the weight, and add 8 oz of shredded cheese to it.
  • Put the third bowl on the scale (with the cooked chicken), zero out the weight, and add 12 oz of shredded cheese to it.
    (There should now be about 6 oz of cheese left in the fourth bowl.)
  • Mix the chicken and cheese in the third bowl
  • Find one of the baking sheets with 2 tortillas. Spread all the cheese left in the fourth bowl into half of one of the tortillas and fold the other half of the tortilla over.
    (We're now done with the fourth bowl. Three left!)
  • For the other tortilla, spread half of it with ⅓ of the chicken and cheese mixture from the third bowl, and fold the other half of the tortilla over.
  • Don't forget to occasionally stir the veggies
  • Find the other baking sheet with 2 tortillas. Spread half of the remaining chicken and cheese mixture from the third bowl to each of these tortillas and then fold the other half of each tortilla over.
    (We're now done with the third bowl. Just 2 bowls left!)
  • When the veggies in the left wok — with the onions — are softened, transfer that whole mixture back into the first bowl and mix it with the shredded cheese already there.
  • When the peppers in the right wok are softened, transfer that whole mixture back into the second bowl and mix it with the shredded cheese already there.
  • Find one of the baking sheets with 3 tortillas. Spread ⅓ of the onion mixture from the first bowl over half of each of these tortillas and then fold the other half over.
  • Get the last baking sheet, with 3 tortillas. Spread ⅓ of the onion-less mixture from the second bowl over half of each of these tortillas and then fold the other half over.
    Our 10 tortillas are now assembled and we are done with the Saga of the 5 Bowls!

Bake the quesadillas (15 min)

  • Put all 4 baking sheets in the preheated oven until the cheeses have melted — about 10 minutes.
  • When the quesadillas are done, use a spatula to transfer them from the baking sheet to their serving plates.
  • Let them cool for a few minutes, then — with a pizza cutter or kitchen shears — slice them into halves or thirds, like pizza slices.
    Serve them with salsa and sour cream.

Notes

Adapted from Chicken Quesadillas at AllRecipes.