Corn Tortilla Quesadillas

If you usually make your quesadillas with flour tortillas, you should give these Corn Tortilla Quesadillas a try! Corn adds delicious flavor to these already tasty chicken, cheese, pepper, black bean, and corn stuffed quesadillas. They make for an easy dinner, lunch, or after school snack!

Jump to:

• ❓ What are Quesadillas?
• 💭 Can you make quesadillas with corn tortillas?
• ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🧈 Butter or oil?
• 🐓 How to cook chicken
• 🫑 How to cook vegetables
• 🔪  How to make corn tortilla quesadillas
• 🥑 Best toppings and sides
• 🎉 Variations on recipe
• ⏲️ How to store leftovers
• 🍽 More Easy Dinner Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

I think I could eat quesadillas for lunch and dinner every night and be perfectly happy. There's SO much you can do with them and so many ways to make them.

While they most often seem to be made with flour tortillas (and I do love these Flank Steak Quesadillas!), I've been on a major corn tortilla kick lately. Corn tortillas add a delicious flavor to quesadillas that flour tortillas just can't... Plus, they're great for anyone on a gluten-free diet and they're incredibly easy to make.

❓ What are Quesadillas?

Quesadillas are a traditional Mexican dish consisting of a tortilla filled with cheese, and often other things like meat, beans, vegetables, and more. They're usually grilled on a griddle with butter or olive oil.

You can think of them almost like grilled cheese sandwiches, but made with tortillas instead of bread.

People often make quesadillas by topping a tortilla with ingredients, folding it over, and then cooking it. This is known as a half quesadilla.

A full quesadilla is when toppings are added to the tortilla and then another tortilla is placed on top before cooking. That's what we'll be doing with this recipe.

💭 Can you make quesadillas with corn tortillas?

Yes you can! In fact, quesadillas are traditionally made with corn tortillas. But lots of modern recipes will tell you to use flour for a variety of reasons, a large one being that they're more flexible than corn tortillas.

But flexibility isn't necessarily a requirement for a quesadilla making. Though many people fold their tortillas into a half moon shape when making them, when you use corn, you'll simply place one on top of the other.

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

You'll love this recipe because the flavor from the corn tortillas makes these quesadillas so much tastier!

I utilize a chicken, black bean, corn, pepper, and cheese filling for theses, but you can really use any fillings you want for corn tortilla quesadillas. If you want to simply use cheese, you can do that, too!

You could also make these delicious BBQ Chicken Quesadillas with corn tortillas!

🥘 Ingredients

The ingredients for these chicken and vegetable corn tortilla quesadillas are pretty simple. The list may look long, but a majority of them are the spices I used to season the chicken.

As always, feel free to omit any ingredients you don't like and add any you do! (see recipe card below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions)

• Chili powder
• Cumin
• Garlic powder
• Dried oregano
• Paprika
• Salt and pepper
• Cayenne
• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Olive oil
• Onion
• Bell pepper: color of your choice
• Corn
• Black beans
• Corn tortillas
• Shredded cheese: I like sharp cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, or pepper jack cheese, but you can use your favorite
• Salsa, sour cream, avocado, cilantro, etc., for topping if desired

🧈 Butter or oil?

I find that using olive oil to cook my quesadillas helps them crisp up a bit and turn golden brown more than butter does. I simply brush one side of each tortilla before putting it on the griddle.

🐓 How to cook chicken

I like to season my chicken breasts with a mixture of spices and then cook them in a skillet. If you want an easy shortcut, you can use shredded rotisserie chicken or even leftover chicken. Toss is in whatever spices you want or use it as is.

If you're following my recipe, start by mixing all the spices in a small bow.

Rub chicken breasts all over with the spice mixture.

It's a lot, but I like a lot. Feel free to use less if you want or save the leftover spices for another use.

Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Place chicken in skillet and cook for 5-7 minutes on each side until golden and cooked through.

Remove to cutting board and once cool enough to touch, dice and put in a medium bowl.

🫑 How to cook vegetables

In addition to the chicken, I used onion, bell pepper, black beans, and corn in my corn tortilla quesadilla filling. Here's how to prepare them.

In the same pan you cooked the chicken in, add onions and bell peppers. Cook for 3 minutes to soften a bit.

Add corn and black beans and cook for another minute to heat through.

Add mixture to chicken in bowl and toss to combine.

Just shred your cheese and your filling is all ready to be turned into delicious corn tortilla quesadillas!

🔪  How to make corn tortilla quesadillas

The quesadilla making process is really easy! You can make them in a skillet, but I prefer using a griddle so I can make multiple at once (here's my favorite griddle!).

Heat the skillet or griddle to medium heat and brush one side of each tortilla with olive oil.

Place a tortilla oil-side down in the skillet. Top with some shredded cheese and about ½ cup of the chicken mixture. Sprinkle more cheese on top and top with another tortilla oil-side up.

Cook for 2-3 minutes, until cheese melts and tortilla gets crispy. Use a spatula to flip the quesadilla over and cook for another minute, or until the second side is also crispy and golden brown.

If the tortilla starts curling up, just use a spatula to press it down.

Repeat with remaining tortillas, cheese, and chicken mixture.

And then you're ready to dig in!

I recommend slicing the quesadillas into quarters using a sharp knife or pizza cutter and enjoying them with all kinds of sides.

I feel like just one of these makes a meal... But I can never stop at one! I love the melted cheese and deliciously crispy tortilla.

I often make these easy corn tortilla quesadillas for weeknight dinner when I'm stumped as for what to make. They're the perfect way to keep the whole family happy!

Next up, I can't wait to make this walking taco casserole!

🥑 Best toppings and sides

Here are some of my favorite corn tortilla quesadilla toppings, dippers, and sides. Really, these ones are filled with so much good stuff you don't even need anything else, but part of enjoying quesadillas for me is everything that goes with them!

• Sour cream
• Salsa: You can use store-bought salsa or homemade... I personally love salsa verde
• Guacamole or sliced avocado
• Shredded lettuce
• Cilantro
• More cheese
• Refried Beans
• Rice
• Fried egg: If you put an egg on a corn tortilla quesadilla, you can call it breakfast!

Once you have quesadillas made with corn tortillas, you'll never want to make them with flour tortillas again! The corn adds so much delicious flavor and a whole different and in my mind, better, texture.

🎉 Variations on recipe

I'm sharing my crispy corn tortilla quesadilla recipe filled with chicken, peppers, onions, black beans, and corn... But you can literally do whatever you want with your homemade quesadillas! Here are some options, but feel free to use your favorite filling:

• Just cheese! Some of the best quesadillas are simply corn tortilla filled with cheese... Nothing else is needed but that cheesy filling.
• Cheese and salsa: The combination of melty cheese and salsa warmed between two tortillas is absolutely perfect.
• Rotisserie chicken: If you don't feel like cooking chicken breasts from scratch like I do here, you can use shredded meat from a rotisserie chicken.
• Steak, seafood, pork, ground beef, etc.: You can fill your quesadillas with any protein you like. Or leave them completely vegetarian.
• Leftover taco meat: If you had taco night earlier in the week, you can use the leftover taco meat for taco quesadillas!
• Clean out the fridge quesadillas: Since the options are really endless for fillings, you can use quesadilla night as an opportunity to clean out your fridge and use any ingredients you have on hand.
• Beef Birria Quesadillas
• Air Fryer Quesadillas
• Breakfast Quesadillas
• Sheet Pan Quesadillas

⏲️ How to store leftovers

These corn tortilla quesadillas are definitely best when made and eaten fresh off the griddle. But you can also make them ahead and keep them in your fridge until you're ready to eat them. I'll be totally honest and let you know I sometimes eat them cold!

To store, I recommend wrapping the quesadillas tightly in plastic wrap or foil or storing in an airtight container. They should keep for 3 days in your fridge.

You can reheat in the microwave, but they're even better when you pop them back in the skillet to warm them and get them a little crispy again.

You can also heat them in the oven, toaster oven, or air fryer.

🍽 More Easy Dinner Recipes

Quesadillas are one of my favorite recipes for an easy dinner because they can be made with so many different fillings and can be ready in no time at all. Here are some more of my favorite easy dinners:

• Cast Iron Skillet Pizza
• Lemon Pepper Pasta with Shrimp
• Greek Stuffed Chicken
• Pasta Puttanesca with Sausage
• Chicken and Spinach Calzone
• Flank Steak Tacos
• Chicken Avocado and Corn Burritos
• Thai Beef Basil
• One-Pan Creamy Chipotle Salmon
• Baked Chicken Chimichangas

If you've never had quesadillas made with corn tortillas, I hope this recipe at least convinces you to try them! You may never go back to flour.

What's your favorite filling for quesadillas?

📖 Recipe