Black Bean Quesadillas

These cheesy, delicious black bean quesadillas are made with a secret flavor weapon that also cuts down on prep work! Ready in 10 minutes!

Okay, I’m just gonna come out and say it.  But, how to say it?

I’m a pregnant food blogger with all-time low motivation to cook.  I mean low, low, low motivation.  When I was pregnant with KJ, I secretly wondered if my motivation to cook and my love of food would ever return. It did, and so this time, I know it’s just a phase in life. 

A phase in life where I don’t enjoy cooking as much as I usually do, or sometimes at all.  A phase in life where I prefer most meals with cheese and less meat.   On the one hand, it’s good. I’ve been trying to incorporate more beans in my diet for years now, but I mostly fail outside of chickpea pasta. 

My vegetarian preferences in pregnancy help me branch out and be more accepting of beans.  On the other hand, I still hate cooking when pregnant.  Motivation = zero.  Food just isn’t worth the hassle. 

Enter quesadillas.  No matter what stage in life, I always love a good quesadilla. I love them all: Healthy Breakfast Quesadillas, Healthy Chicken Quesadillas, Tuna Melt Quesadillas, and Veggie Packed Southwest Chipotle Quesadillas.  

The problem? Except for my breakfast quesadillas, most healthier versions require prepping and chopping veggies and mixing up filling that I’m not motivated to complete.  So, most of the time, I end up eating literal cheese and tortilla with my toddler.  So, I started thinking, how could I add veggies and flavor to my quesadillas with MINIMAL work.  

And then I don’t know how, but it came to me!  A can of beans paired with pre-made pico de gallo.  Pico de Gallo has basically chopped tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and lime juice.  PERFECT!  And that’s what you see here!  I did end up sprinkling some taco seasoning and salt for extra flavor, but really these were super delicious and SUPER EASY to make even without the seasoning.  

How to Make Black Bean Quesadillas

First, open up a can of beans and rinse the can.  Yes, you can make your own beans if you want.  I won’t be doing that, though.  I’m 100% pro canned beans – although I do like BPA free organic brands. Next, heat your nonstick skillet sprayed with avocado oil, add your whole-grain tortilla (gluten-free is fine if needed) and start building.  

I added cheese and then the pico de gallo.  No, I don’t have a recipe for pico de gallo. Add it as is to your shopping list. You can find it in the cold section next to the pre-made guac and perishable salsas.  If you have your Nana’s world-famous pico de gallo, sure, go ahead and make it and use it.  The rest of us will have to hold in jealousy and purchase our pico de gallo from the store. 

Pile on as many beans as you think you want and will fit on the skillet.  Then add some more cheese, because it’s not a quesadilla if it isn’t exploding with cheese!

Fold it over on itself and finish cooking your quesadilla!  Easy peasy!  

No, but really, it’s so easy I think I’m gonna print it out for Mr. Hungry and put him in charge of making these.  I mean, it’s so easy, and you can’t really screw it up. Now, I can enjoy something healthy, delicious, and not even make it because it’s so easy I can make my husband do it.  This recipe gets better and better!

PS I made a bunch of these at once to take pictures for the blog, so we had some leftovers.  I reheated them the next day for lunch in the Air Fryer. Oh. M. Gee, that machine is AH-MAZING, isn’t it?  Highly recommend that if you decide to batch prep these that you reheat them in your air fryer.  If you don’t have one, you should get one (aka an obnoxiously big appliance I know you’ll love), or you can reheat these on the pan till crispy!  Either way, soooooo cheesy, easy, and delicious!

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