Perfect Chicken Quesadillas

You GUYS! Somehow I put together the perfect chicken quesadilla recipe. Ah! I am so excited about this!

The chicken is cooked with salsa in the slow cooker for 5-6 hours. After adding the cream in and waiting for a bit it pulls apart like butter.

And even better yet, I found a way to make the tortillas actually crispy! Whenever I have made these before at home they usually turn out soggy and greasy, but nope, not these babies! Trust me, you are going to love them!

My husband isn’t a big fan of Mexican food (but chipotle is his favorite restaurant…) LOVED these quesadillas, so if that tells you anything right there, they are DELISH!

The quesadilla is built with a crisp tortilla, chicken, Mexican Rice, and freshly grated cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

NOTES:

It is very important to make the tortilla crisp first in order to not get a soggy quesadilla. How you do this is warm up a 10 or 12 inch saute pan on medium heat. NO OIL, just heat and throw the quesadilla on there. Wait for the top to bubble a little bit, then flip over until golden.
For the salsa, it doesn’t matter what kind of salsa you use. I bought freshly made mild salsa from the store. If you like a little more spice and heat go for a medium or hot salsa!
You can add in other toppings if you’d like. I sometimes use roasted poblano peppers, because the flavor is amazing, or you could add red onions, lettuce, tomatoes, really whatever you want! I just like to keep it simple with just a few added toppings to the outside like sour cream, guacamole and salsa.

LEFTOVERS: This meal lasts us a while for just the 2 of us. I don’t make all of the quesadillas in one setting. My suggestion for leftovers is only making what you will actually eat that night. Store the rest of the ingredients separately, and when you want another quesadilla, just throw them in the pan and make it! It should only take about 5 minutes.

Now, if you’re taking this to work and don’t have time to remake it- that is totally fine. You can refrigerate a premade one. It will last for 1 to 2 days before the ingredients get soggy when you heat them up! That is why I suggest keeping all ingredients separate until time to cook!

ALRIGHT! Are you guys ready to make the perfect Chicken Quesadillas?! Let’s get cooking!

Servings: 4-5 Quesadillas
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 6 hours
Assembly: 15 minutes
Total Time: 6 hr 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breasts
12 ounces of Salsa
1/4 C Chicken Broth – low sodium
1/4 C Heavy Cream
1 1/2 C Cheddar Cheese
1 C Monterey Jack Cheese
6 Medium/Large Flour Tortillas
Pam Cooking Spray

Mexican Rice Ingredients

1 C Long Grain Rice
1/8 C Olive Oil
1/2 Tsp Salt
4 oz Tomato Sauce
1 Tsp minced Garlic
2 C Chicken Broth – Low Sodium
Cumin
Paprika

Slow Cooker Marinated Chicken

Instructions:

Add chicken breast to crockpot, dump salsa (see note 2) and chicken broth and set to low for 5 hours (it will cook for 6 hours total) or high for 3 hours.
After the chicken has been cooking for about 5 hours (on low), shred the chicken with a fork, add the heavy cream. Stir to combine.
Continue to cook for 1 more hour until ready.
When chicken is ready to be put into quesadillas, set crockpot to warm and scoop chicken onto quesadillas.

Mexican Rice

Instructions:

Heat oil on medium heat, add rice and brown for about 3-4 minutes or until golden. Make sure the rice actually does get a chance to turn golden, this is key to the finishing product.
When rice is golden, add the salt, tomato sauce, minced garlic, chicken broth and a dash of cumin and paprika and stir until combined.
Cover pan, turn heat to medium-low and let it simmer for 30 or so minutes until it is fully cooked and no liquid remains. Remember to stir occasionally
Fluff with a fork and enjoy!

Assembling/Cooking Quesadilla

Instructions:

Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Take a tortilla and spray both sides lightly with Pam cooking spray. Lay tortilla on the pan until the top starts to bubble. Flip over and cook until the bottom has a few golden spots on it.* (Note 1)
To make the quesadilla, turn the heat to Medium, lay tortilla in the pan and spread shredded cheeses on one half and let it melt for about 30 seconds. Next, add about a half cup (or more if you’d like) of shredded salsa chicken and about a ¼ C of rice on top.
Fold the other half of the tortilla on top of the ingredients and give it a good press. Let it cook for about 30 seconds to a minute.
Take a wide spatula and flip entire quesadilla over and cook for just a short time more, maybe a minute.
Move cooked quesadilla to a cutting board and cut into 4 triangles. Top with some freshly cut tomatoes, sour cream, lettuce, and Guacamole! And there ya go! You have yourself a super yummy meal! Serve and enjoy!