Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillas
My love for quesadillas is right up there with pizza. They’re like brothers from a different mother. Both combine melty cheese, crispy bread, and whatever other creative combination of ingredients you can think of. Delicious flexibility!
These quesadillas combine hearty chicken with sweet pineapple, spicy red pepper flakes (although you could use jalapeño instead, if you’d like), hearty black beans, fresh green onion and cilantro. The result is fresh, filling, gooey, and crispy all at the same time. This, my friends, is the magic of quesadillas.
I had one chicken breast left in my freezer, so I used that. This recipe would also be great for using up extra rotisserie chicken if you have it. I cooked my chicken quickly on my George Foreman grill, but you could also cut it into chunks and then sauté in a skillet until golden brown on the outside and cooked through. And, as always, I purchase my chicken breast on sale and then keep them in the freezer (individually wrapped) to avoid paying $5/lb. You just have to keep your eyes peeled for the sales!
If you’re not into cilantro, fear not, you can just leave it out. Other ideas for great add-ins include: corn kernels, avocado, or red onion. I’m keeping the pre-made filling in my refrigerator so that I can quickly make fresh, hot quesadillas throughout the week. WIN!
Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillas
Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (about ¾ lb.)* ($1.50)
- 1 15oz. can pineapple chunks in juice ($1.14)
- 1 15oz. can black beans ($0.87)
- 3 whole green onions ($0.22)
- 1/4 bunch fresh cilantro ($0.25)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella or monterrey jack* ($1.99)
- 8 8-inch, soft taco size flour tortillas ($1.20)
Instructions
- Cook the chicken in a countertop grill until golden brown on the outside and completely cooked through. If you don't have a grill, cut the chicken into 1-2 inch chunks and sauté in a skillet until golden brown on the outside and cooked through. Allow the chicken to cool slightly as you prepare the rest of the filling.
- Drain the pineapple chunks well, then roughly chop the chunks into smaller pieces. Rinse and drain the black beans. Roughly chop the cilantro and slice the green onions. Combine the pineapple, black beans, cilantro, green onions, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt, and shredded cheese in a bowl. Stir to combine.
- Once the chicken has cooled some, chop it into small chunks (no need to make neat or tidy shapes, just chop roughly). Add the chicken to the rest of the filling in the bowl and then stir to combine.
- Place 1/2 cup of the quesadilla filling onto a tortilla and spread it out over half of the surface. Fold the tortilla in half and then cook it in a skillet over medium heat until golden brown and crispy on the bottom. Flip and cook on the second side in the same manner. Use oil or non-stick spray in the skillet as needed to keep the tortilla from sticking (I find that I don't need either when using a non-stick skillet).
- Use a pizza slicer to cut the quesadilla into three wedges and serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
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Step by Step Photos
Cook the chicken in a countertop grill (like a George Foreman) until golden brown and cooked through. This usually takes about 7 minutes on my grill. If you don’t have a little grill like this, cut the chicken into small chunks (so they cook faster) and sauté them in a skillet until golden brown and cooked through. Let the chicken cool slightly while you prepare the rest of the filling.
Drain the pineapple REALLY well and then roughly chop it into smaller pieces. The smaller pieces help the quesadillas stick together because large pieces are bulky and poke out. Plus, this way you’ll have a little bit o’ sweet in every bite. :)
Rinse and drain the black beans. Roughly chop the cilantro, and slice the green onions. Combine the pineapple, black beans, cilantro, green onions, cumin, salt, and crushed red pepper in a large bowl. Stir together…
Also add the 2 cups of shredded cheese. I used mozzarella because that’s what I had on hand, but I think monterrey jack would be AMAZING, too.
Now that the chicken has cooled some, chop it into small pieces. Again, the small pieces make sure that you get a little bit of chicken in every bite, plus big pieces tend to poke out and make it hard to keep the quesadilla together.
Stir the chicken into the filling…
I had about 4 cups of filling, so I used 1/2 cup of filling per tortilla. These were 8-inch or “soft taco” sized tortillas. Spread the filling over one half of the tortilla, then fold the empty half over top.
Cook the quesadillas in a skillet over medium heat until golden brown and crispy on both sides. Be sure to not keep the heat too high or the inside will not have time to heat and melt before the outside browns. So, I usually cook over medium heat or just slightly lower. If you’re using a non-stick skillet you may not need any oil or non-stick spray, but stainless steel skillets probably will need a little lubrication.
Use a pizza slicer to cut the quesadillas into three triangles and serve hot. NOTE: I find that if you run the pizza cutter from the outside edge TOWARD the center fold, less of the filling will squeeze out!
Yum! I love them! :D Quesadillas forever!
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I just made these for the 50th time. I love them, and I love this blog. I make a bunch and freeze some & they warm up great. Thank you Beth for your great recipes over the years and inspiring this lazy person to cook more often.
This was a real hit with the family tonight. I save time by pre cooking chicken breasts and freezing it so all I do is defrost the cooked chicken. I also cook many at the same time on a baking sheet sprayed w canola spray. I fill them and fold them. Then I sprayed the tops w more spray. Make at 400 for 8-10 minutes until golden. My daughter said this is one of the top dinners I make. I served with homemade peach salsa.
Can’t find 15 oz. cans of pineapple chunks. They make 8 oz. for and 20 oz. Just sayin’ I bought two 8’s.
Different brands make different sizes, I suppose, but it sounds like you made it work! :)
Thank you for the recipe! These were delicious (I wanted two!). I also froze the leftovers for later. They reheated well in the skillet. They might not have gotten *quite* as crisp as the fresh batch was, but it still had a satisfying texture to the tortillas. Now I’ll be off to try the same thing with the hearty black bean quesadillas. :)
If using rotisserie chicken how much cups would that equate too?
Probably about 1.5 cups.
Beth,
I made too much filling for my family to eat! Can I refrigerate the premixed filling and make this again as leftovers in a couple days? I think it would be better than making the quesadillas and refrigerating them.
Thanks!
Yep, the filling should be fine in the fridge for a few days at least. :)
Would the filling do well in the freezer?
It would do okay in the freezer. The only thing that would really be affected is the fresh cilantro, but I think the overall flavor would hold up well.
Made these tonight! Terrific. Added some sautéed mushrooms and zucchini. Everyone loved them!
Thanks so much for this recipe– it was delicious, and we will be making it over and over again. Also, thank you for this website. I’ve been trying to look for more affordable, yummy meals to make since becoming a stay at home mom, and have found SO many great recipes on this site!
Fantastic and easy recipe. My family things I’m a good cook, but it’s all thanks to your website. I like this one a lot, along with swamp soup, yakisoba. I just got an electric pressure cooker as a gift, hope I can find some recipes on that. Thank you!
This was soooo delicious! I used fresh pineapples. Thanks for the suggestion Andrea. I will try grilling the fresh pineapple next time.
One of the things I love most about your site are your PICTURES!! It gives us visual cooks something to grasp onto :) I took this recipe and went a little different (sauteed onion/peppers, your fajita seasoning, whatever cheese in freezer & no pineapple) YUM :) Thanks Beth!
Simply delicious!!! Thank you! :)
Once they are frozen, how are you defrosting and reheating them? – sorry if this sounds a simple question, I’m a less than simple cook lol :-)
I like to put them in a warm skillet. Try not to have the heat too high or else the outside of the tortilla will burn before the inside of the quesadilla has time to thaw and heat through. If you keep the heat low, the whole thing thaws and heats at about the same rate as the outside will brown and crisp up. :)