Bold, cheesy, and craveable: that’s what these quesadillas are! They deliver everything you love about a jalapeno popper, plus the addition of bacon and sliced chicken, all packed into a crispy, golden baked tortilla.
Crispy & Crunchy Baked Quesadillas
There are nights when I don’t have the energy to cook a full meal, or we just aren’t super hungry. This is where these sheet pan quesadillas are a lifesaver! These come together in mere minutes and are way better than the stovetop ones.
Baking them on a lightly oiled pan in the oven gives them the same ‘skillet’ richness, but you also get the crispiness from the oven’s dry heat. You get that creamy flavor of a jalapeno popper, the saltiness of crispy bacon, tender chicken, and gooey melted cheese all wrapped in a crispy, cheese-crusted tortilla.
Why You’ll Love This Baked Quesadilla Recipe
- Budget-friendly: This means no fancy or obscure ingredients
- 5 Simple Ingredients
- One Bowl and One Pan: not 487 dirty dishes
- Easy to Customize: add more or fewer jalapeno peppers, different cheese, and so forth.
- Perfect any time: meal prep, game day, cookouts, or snack time
Watch How To Make Crunchy Quesadillas
In the video, I walk you through the steps to make these crispy, delicious bites! Y’all, these are so incredibly good that it was our lunch for three straight days in a row!
Chicken Jalapeno Popper Quesadilla Ingredients
Man, I so love recipes like this! They are perfect when you want to clean out the fridge or don’t want to fuss over making a huge meal.
- Cooked Chicken: sliced or shredded
- Jalapenos
- Cheese: cream cheese and cheddar cheese
- Bacon
- Flour Tortillas
Chef Lori’s #1 Tip for Sheet Pan Popper Quesadillas
- Cheese: Use freshly grated cheese. Do not use pre-shredded material because it contains an additive starch that affects its “meltability”.
Jalapeno Chicken Popper Filling
This filling is a riff on a bacon-wrapped jalapeno popper, but with the addition of chicken. I did this because I needed to clean out my fridge, and I wanted something easy, light, and delicious.
- Add the cream cheese, bacon, jalapeno, and 1 cup of shredded cheese to a bowl and mix until well combined.
EASY WAY TO SHRED COOKED CHICKEN
If you want to use shredded chicken instead of sliced chicken, do the following:
- To obtain smaller shredded pieces, you can use two forks or place the hot chicken in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Turn the mixer to low and slowly increase the speed until the chicken is finely shredded.
How to Assemble Sheet Pan Quesadillas
- Spread some of the popper mixture onto one half of a flour tortilla. Fold to close. Repeat until all of the mixture and tortillas are used up.
- Brush a rimmed half sheet pan with a bit of olive oil and place the folded tortillas on the pan. Brush the tops of each quesadilla with the remaining olive oil. Place the pan into the oven and bake for 8 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven, carefully flip, add the remaining cheese, and place the pan back into the oven, baking until the cheese is melted and the quesadilla is crispy.
GBD: Golden Brown and Delicious Crispy Quesadillas
What you’ll love about these when you pull them out of the oven is how the cheese that gets onto the pan will crisp up frico-style, and that the quesadilla is crunchy!
Sheet Pan Quesadillas FAQs
- What type of tortillas can I use? You can use any type or size of flour tortillas, including gluten-free options. You can use corn tortillas, BUT I find the baked texture of them off-putting.
- Can I make these on the stovetop? Absolutely! Just follow the same steps, but use a cast-iron or heavy-bottom pan over medium-high heat.
How to Reheat Baked Quesadillas
- Oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a pan with cooking spray and reheat until warmed through.
What to Serve With Chicken Jalapeno Popper Quesadillas
- Dips: Sour cream, Guacamole, Salsa, or Baja Cream Sauce
Chicken Popper Quesadilla Recipe Customizations
- Meatless: Omit the bacon and chicken. They are still tasty this way!
- Heat Level: Add more jalapenos for a more decisive kick or substitute them with bell peppers for a milder flavor.
- Different Meat: Skip the chicken and add pulled pork, chopped brisket, ground meat, or even chopped seafood
- Veggies: Add black beans, charred corn, or caramelized onions
Here’s what I used:
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Baked Chicken Jalapeno Popper Quesadillas Recipe
Bold, cheesy, and craveable: that’s what these quesadillas are! They deliver everything you love about a jalapeno popper, plus the addition of bacon and sliced chicken, all packed into a crispy, golden baked tortilla.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 quesadillas
- Category: appetizers, easy recipe, finger foods, game night, munchies, snacks
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: appetizers, easy recipe, finger foods, game night, munchies, snacks
Ingredients
- 6 8” flour tortillas
- 4 ounces softened cream cheese
- 2 strips crispy bacon, chopped small
- 1 jalapeno, deseeded and minced
- 2 cups freshly shredded sharp cheddar, divided
- 4 ounces cooked chicken – sliced or shredded
- ~2 Tablespoons Olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Add the cream cheese, bacon, jalapeno, and 1 cup of shredded cheese to a bowl and mix until well combined.
- To one half of a flour tortilla, spread out ~2-3 Tablespoons of popper mixture. Add a few slices of chicken. Fold to close. Repeat until all of the mixture is used up.
- Brush a rimmed half sheet pan with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and place the folded tortillas on the pan. Brush the tops of each quesadilla with the remaining olive oil. Place the pan into the oven and bake for 8 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven, carefully flip each quesadilla over, and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Place the pan back into the oven and bake for an additional 7-9 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the quesadilla is crispy.
- Immediately remove from the pan and plate, then enjoy. Store any leftovers in a covered dish in the fridge.
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