These turkey quesadillas are the perfect easy and kid-friendly way to use up your leftover turkey! Served with an optional chipotle sauce for the adults!
Hi friends! I hope everyone had a Thanksgiving that was a little better than ours. On Sunday night, I got more sick than I’ve been in over a decade. I literally can’t think of one time I’ve been bedridden by an illness since before having kids. Needed naps? Sure. But bedridden for multiple days in a row, definitely not. Mr. Hungry had to take work off Monday and Tuesday to hold down the fort while I slept. It’s five days later, and I still have a narly cough and low energy, but at least I’m out of bed. Whatever it was made its way through the kids, so needless to say, we didn’t head to my in-laws for Thanksgiving. That was nice enough to drop us off some leftovers at the door, though! So that was nice. Needless to say, it wasn’t the best Thanksgiving we’ve ever had, but that’s life!
Now, about the Turkey Quesadillas. Personally, I’m team leftovers. I LOVE to make delicious things with leftover turkey. Especially when made with enchilada sauce:
- Leftover turkey enchiladas
- Leftover turkey enchilada casserole
- Leftover low carb turkey enchilada casserole
- Leftover turkey enchilada breakfast bake
- Leftover turkey and sweet potato enchilada casserole
And of course there are the classics:
- Leftover turkey pot pie skillet with biscuits
- Leftover turkey and wild rice soup
- Leftover turkey salad
- The BEST leftover turkey sandwich
- Thanksgiving Turkey Chili
But what if you are so freaking tired or maybe a little hungover, or maybe have tiny little humans screaming about how they don’t like the food and want something a bit more simple. That’s where my life is at, tiny humans, if I’d been able to participate in Thanksgiving, I might be a touch hungover or tired. Quesadillas are always easy and delicious. I loaded these up with easy ingredients you probably have on hand, but of course, you can modify or skip the fillings for the kiddos. They are very modifiable! Hope you enjoy it!
How to Make Turkey Quesadillas
Note* this is a visual descriptive how-to section for the printable recipe card. Please scroll to the bottom.
First, we make the filling! Saute some chopped onions and red pepper until tender, and then add your turkey. Saute until hot, then add rinsed black beans, stir, add sweet corn, stir, and finally, add some fresh green onion and cilantro.
Now, remove your filling from the skillet.
Place the one tortilla in an oiled skillet (I used siete, but you can use your favorite tortilla brand). Add a layer of cheese, then a layer of filling, and another layer of cheese before topping with the final tortilla. Spray the tortilla with oil so it’s oiled when you flip it. When the bottom tortilla is browned, use a wide spatula to flip the entire thing over.
It’s done when the cheese is melty, and it’s brown on both sides!
Swaps and Substitutions
These turkey quesadillas are easily customized to meet your needs.
- Avocado Oil – use any oil you prefer! Avocado oil is my preferred cooking oil.
- White Onion – feel free to swap whatever you have on hand, any type of onion, like yellow, sweet, white, or even red, will be delicious! Omit if needed as well!
- Red Bell Pepper – Sub-green bell pepper if needed or omit. If you have leftover carrots or celery from stuffing, you could try that as well!
- Turkey – Sub rotisserie chicken if you want to try these but don’t have any leftover turkey!
- Black Beans – could use pinto beans or omit them.
- Sweet Corn – optional!
- Green Onion – Optional, but great if you have it on hand!
- Cilantro – Optional, but great if you have it on hand!
- Tortillas – I used Siete, but use your favorite brand!
- Mexican Shredded Cheese – I used a Mexican shredded cheese blend. Feel free to sub-medium cheddar.
- Chipotle Sauce – Feel free to omit it! But it’s worth making if you love a lot of heat!
How to Freeze and Store Turkey Quesadillas
How to Store Turkey Quesadillas: We stored ours in Pyrex containers and reheated them in the air fryer or plopped them back on the skillet to crisp them up again.
Freeze Turkey Quesadillas: This recipe isn’t freezer-friendly.
Turkey Quesadillas
Equipment
- non stick skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp avocado oil or EVOO
- 1/2 white onion chopped
- 1/2 bell pepper chopped
- 2 cups cooked turkey
- 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1/2 can sweet corn rinsed and drained
- 1/3 cup green onion
- 1/3 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 tbsp avocado oil or EVOO, 1/2 white onion, 1/2 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, 1/2 can sweet corn, 1/3 cup green onion, 1/3 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
Nutrition
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