These leftover turkey quesadillas are a delicious, family-friendly way to turn extra turkey into a new meal! If you have plenty left to use then I'm all about leftovers > actual Thanksgiving food, I've got even more healthy recipes for leftover Thanksgiving turkey here.
These turkey quesadillas are packed with protein from turkey and cheese and fiber from black beans and veggies, they're crispy, cheesy, and perfect for lunch or an easy dinner in less than 20 minutes. It honestly doesn't get easier than that!
Quick Look: Leftover Turkey Quesadillas
- ✅ Recipe Name: Leftover Turkey Quesadillas
- 🕒 Ready In: 20 Minutes or less
- 👪 Serves: up to 12 quesadillas
- 🍽 Macros: 284 Calories | 16g Pro | 6g Fiber
- 🥣 Main Ingredients: Leftover turkey, tortillas, cheese, black beans, bell pepper, onion
- 📖 Dietary Info: high protein, macro friendly, gluten and dairy free swaps available
- ⭐ Why You'll Love It: ready in 20 minutes, high protein high fiber way to use up leftover turkey, family friendly
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Why You'll Love These leftover turkey quesadillas as much as we do
- Easy. Crispy, cheesy quesadillas that don't require much brain power to make-exactly what you need after cooking a big holiday meal!
- Ready in 20 minutes. If you were the one cooking the turkey, chances are you're over the dishes and ready for a break from the kitchen. These quesadillas come together quickly with minimal mess.
- Versatile and customizable. Kids don't want the extras? Make theirs plain. Prefer a low-carb tortilla? Go for it! Use the recipe as a starting point and add or leave out ingredients to make it work for your family.
Key Ingredients
Swaps & Substituitions for Leftover Turkey Quesadilla
- Avocado Oil: Use any oil you like! Avocado oil is my go-to cooking oil.
- White Onion & Bell Pepper: Any type of onion or bell pepper works. Have leftover celery or carrots? Toss those in too!
- Turkey: Both light and dark meat work. No leftover turkey? If you don't have leftover turkey, make these healthy chicken quesadillas with rotisserie chicken instead.
- Black Beans: You can use pinto beans instead or omit them. If you want a meatless option or are running light on leftover turkey, try my 10-minute black bean quesadillas.
- Sweet Corn: Optional! Canned or frozen (cooked) corn both work great. If you use canned, rinse and pat it dry before adding it.
- Green Onion & Cilantro: Optional, but great if you have them on hand!
- Tortillas: I used Siete, but any brand works, including low-carb tortillas.
- Mexican Shredded Cheese: I used a Mexican cheese blend. Feel free to swap in medium cheddar or a dairy-free cheese.
These turkey quesadillas are easily customized to meet your needs. Serve with my creamy Southwest chipotle sauce for quesadillas for an extra kick! If you love that flavor combination, try my Southwest black bean quesadillas with chipotle sauce next.
How to Make Leftover Turkey Quesadillas
Leftover Turkey Quesadilla FAQs
Honestly, you can put turkey, cheese and whatever else you like in a quesadilla! I wanted to amp up the classic Tex-Mex flavor, so I went with bell pepper, onion, fresh herbs, black beans and corn. Bonus: the beans, corn and veggies add a nice boost of fiber, which we could all use the day after a holiday feast! Feel free to customize them with your favorite fillings. There is not right or wrong choices to fill your quesadillas.
You can microwave the turkey briefly first so it isn't ice cold going into the quesadilla and has no trouble heating through. That said, as in this recipe I usually just toss it in with the rest of the ingredients and it gets plenty hot. Since properly stored leftover turkey is safe to eat cold straight from the fridge, I don't worry too much about it. Still, the general rule is to reheat leftovers to 165°F. This is especially important for pregnant women and anyone who is immunocompromised.
In my humble opinion, leftover turkey is the best part of Thanksgiving. The possibilities are endless, so think about what kind of cuisine you're in the mood for and go for it! If you need ideas, check out my healthy leftover turkey recipes here!
How to Freeze and Store Leftover Turkey Quesadillas
How to Store Turkey Quesadillas: We stored ours in Pyrex containers and reheated the quesadillas in the air fryer until crispy, or put them back in a skillet to crisp them up again.
Freeze Turkey Quesadillas: This recipe isn't freezer-friendly.
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- Tag me if you make these! I love to see what you guys make! You can tag me on Insta @hungryhobbyRD and Facebook @hungryhobby!
- Like this recipe? Don't forget to pin this recipe for later and follow @hungryhobby on Pinterest for more healthy recipes, quick workouts, and nutrition tips!
Turkey Quesadillas
Equipment
- non stick skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or EVOO
- ½ white onion chopped
- ½ bell pepper chopped
- 2 cups cooked turkey
- 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
- ½ can sweet corn rinsed and drained
- ⅓ cup green onion
- ⅓ cup cilantro
- 12 tortillas
- 2 cups mexican shredded cheese
- 1 batch chipotle sauce optional
Instructions
- Heat oil on medium in a large nonstick skillet. Add onions and bell pepper and saute until tender.1 tablespoon avocado oil or EVOO, ½ white onion, ½ bell pepper
- Add cooked turkey and saute for 1-2 minutes. Then add black beans, corn, green onions, and cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste.2 cups cooked turkey , 1 can black beans, ½ can sweet corn , ⅓ cup green onion, ⅓ cup cilantro
- Remove the turkey mixture from the skillet and wipe the skillet clean. Spray skillet on medium-high and add one tortilla. Add a layer of cheese, turkey mixture, a second layer of cheese, and top with a final tortilla. (How much cheese and mixture will depend on the size of your tortilla.)12 tortillas , 2 cups mexican shredded cheese
- Flip the quesadilla with a wide spatula when one side is brown and crispy. Cook until the remaining side is brown and crispy.
- Repeat with the remaining tortillas, turkey mixture, and cheese. If you like extra heat, I recommend serving with fiery chipotle sauce!1 batch chipotle sauce
Notes
Nutrition
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