Corn and Chili Quesadillas
This is a super simple recipe, so simple I feel a little bit silly sharing it! But it's been requested a bunch of times since it's appeared in my menu posts repeatedly.
I got this recipe from Dinner Illustrated, a very useful cookbook from America's Test Kitchen; it's nothing but dinner meals (which are the most necessary recipes, in my opinion!)
(Click here to read my full review of Dinner Illustrated.)
These quesadillas are vegetarian, and everything in the filling is inexpensive...corn, cheese, chilies, green onions, cilantro, and lime.
If you don't like chilies, you can leave them out (I've done that plenty of times when feeding spice-averse people!)
Or if you are just a little sensitive to heat, you can reduce the number in the filling.
To make these, first brown frozen corn in a hot skillet with oil.
Put the corn in a bowl to cool down a bit, and then mix in the rest of the ingredients...cilantro, cheese, lime zest, green onions, and chilies if you're using them. Plus salt and pepper to taste!
Then toss it all together.
Divide the filling evenly between four flour tortillas and fold each in half.
You can use corn tortillas if you'd like, but when I do that, I use two tortillas for each quesadilla.
Corn tortillas are so small and so inflexible, it doesn't really work to fold them in half, so two, one for the top and one for the bottom, work perfectly.
The original recipe calls for baking the quesadillas, which is handy if you are feeding a crowd. But since I am decidedly not feeding a crowd these days (!), I always just make my quesadillas in a skillet on the stovetop.
As an added benefit, this skips the heat from the oven, which is significant in the summertime.
I heat a skillet over medium heat, spread softened butter (oil would work too!) on the outside of the folded tortillas, and cook them for several minutes on each side, until they're browned and the cheese is melted.
And then I cut them into halves or wedges.
I usually serve these with sour cream. Or guacamole. Or salsa. Queso would work too.
So would the cilantro-lime dipping sauce from this kebab recipe.
And you could also just eat the quesadillas as-is, with no sauce. But we know I would never do that. 😉
Scroll down for the printable recipe!
Corn and Chile Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup frozen corn
- salt and pepper
- 10 ounces Monterey Jack cheese
- 4 ounces chopped canned green chilies
- fresh cilantro
- 2 scallions
- 1 lime
- 4 10-inch flour tortillas
Instructions
Notes
If you want to bake these instead, heat your oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, then lightly brush the surface with oil. Place the quesadillas on the baking sheet, and brush the tops lightly with oil. Bake for 10 minutes (top surface should be brown), then flip and bake for another 5 minutes, or until second side is browned.
Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 508Total Fat 29gSaturated Fat 15gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 12gCholesterol 63mgSodium 850mgCarbohydrates 41gFiber 4gSugar 2gProtein 23g
I like the idea of baking them (because I am feeding a crowd). Do you have the directions for how I would do that?
I'm adding the directions in the recipe card!
I love quesadillas. All you need is a little creativity! I make them for breakfast, too. Egg, cheese, potato cubes - so good dipped in a salsa-sour cream combo sauce. I try to buy the HEB bakery tortillas which are fairly close to authentic. Yum, might make one right now!
Oh, those sound so good! Going to have to tell my husband about these, (he does most of the cooking these days while I am recovering from an injury, plus he works from home), he would love them. We usually have those small corn tortillas in the freezer so thanks for the tip on the best way to use them.
We love the Spicy Pork Tinga recipe, and have been planning to try variations of it, maybe with chicken thighs or stew beef.
That sounds like a wonderfully quick meal, if only I could eat it! I have to be cautious with corn, can't have gluten or hot peppers, and cilantro tastes like soap to me. I can have the cheese and scallions, though 😉
Seriously, though, that recipe would make a good, quick, summery meal. I will make a double batch of cassava tortillas at a time and freeze them, so I like to pull one out now and then to make a quick meal of fresh shredded greens, onion, mushrooms, cheese, leftover cooked meat bits, whatever, folded into a tortilla and cooked a bit in a skillet. Add fresh fruit on the side and done.
@JD, cilantro or as we call it coriander, yuck! I’m in the ‘tastes like soap’ club too.
I have grown it this year in my herb garden as eldest son loves it, I can barely brush past it without gagging!!
@JD, I buy a brown rice tortilla made by Food for Life. They are in refrigerated or freezer of lots of stores.
But can you have the lime zest?? 🙂
@Kristen,
I'm laughing. Yes, I can have lime zest.
@JD, YOu might be interested in these baked zucchini tortillas. https://alexandracooks.com/2022/07/16/zucchini-tortillas-4-ingredients-gluten-free-baked Her site also has cabbage tortillas with no gluten.
@Lindsey, P.S. Another soap cilantro person here, so I just leave them out of recipes that call for them.
These look yummy! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I think the only ingredient I need is cilantro.
My oldest son is starting to take off with cooking. Nothing super fancy. However he is definitely interested. I think I will get him a copy of this cookbook for Christmas. You have posted so many good looking recipes from it:)
Those quesadillas look so good! We have a salad recipe that includes toasted corn, and it's such a tasty addition. I'll have to try adding some to a quesadilla!
Hello! If you do want to use corn tortillas, they must be heated first to make them pliable. Check out this video https://youtu.be/ddJMrxoq56o?si=4y6iXPPPSQHE-pYA (Ethan Chlebowski on using corn tortillas) for details about the chemistry- and lots of corn recipes for different stages of freshness.
I had never eaten or made these things. Hungry and checking the fridge I had corn tortillas, Italian cheese mix, pepperoni, and tomato pesto. Pizza quesadillas dipped in tomato pesto. It was good and I got the idea here. Faster than any take out.
Oooh, that sounds really good!
Corn tortillas instead of flour. I wonder if any ‘healthier’. Yummy, I will try.
@Maureen and @JD,
My plain old supermarket (Giant) has tortillas made with cassava flour and cauliflower. I don’t have a gluten allergy but I do like healthier food when it works out. They bend like regular flour tortillas.
Took a package home to see how they taste. Delicious! I used them to make little tortilla pizzas. I like that we can each customize with our own toppings and the tortillas make a thin crust, which I like, too.
Yum, these sound really delicious! Perfect little summer meal. Thanks for sharing!
Where I live, cilantro is a winter garden item, while tomatoes are obviously a summer item. Makes it tricky to put the two together without spending money. Oh, that's right, my garden is P A T H E T I C, so never mind about growing food.
But I can grow basil, lots and lots of basil, which is perfect with tomatoes.
Cilantro reminds me of arugula: both seem to be in the category of Love Or Hate. I wonder if people who hate cilantro also hate arugula. . . inquiring mind, always wanting to know.
@Central Calif. Artist, It is not hate based on nothing. It is that some people carry a gene that makes cilantro taste like soap.
@Lindsey, I've heard that. Makes me wonder if it is related to the whatever-it-is that makes people hate arugula.
I've also witnessed that people who hate watermelon also hate cucumbers.
@Central Calif. Artist, it turns out that the "soapy" flavor that people who don't like cilantro report, is a hereditary/genetic trait. About 10% of the population has this trait. It is not tied to the slightly bitter taste of arugula.
Yum! thank you! My flavor loving child would love this! Have you added chicken before? I think I might add some if I have left over just to bulk up the protein.
Yep, chicken is a great addition!
I had these ingredients on hand, which made for a lovely lunch yesterday. I substituted jalapenos for the green chiles, knowing as I did it that you would approve.
Bonus: the frying pan was kind of crusty from browning the corn and frying the quesadillas (of course I used the same pan), so I made a batch of Mexican Rice afterward. Now all those nice browned bits are in the rice, which is neatly parceled out and tucked into the freezer. The pan was a breeze to clean after that.
Thank you!