These chicken and cheese quesadillas are baked in the oven for the ultimate easy button spin on the classic recipe. With endless possibilities for customizing, you’re going to find yourself coming back to this recipe for both an easy dinner or lunch again and again!

This recipe is…

There aren’t a whole lot of recipes that can beat a good ole classic chicken and cheese quesadilla! This recipe takes the classic that we know and love and utilizes the oven for an even easier, hands-off spin. It’s quick, reliable, and as tasty as can be!

Looking for more easy chicken recipes? You’re in luck – we’ve got a bunch! These ground chicken tacos are crunchy and delicious, this sheet pan quesadilla is made with the tastiest avocado cilantro sauce, these chicken gyros are simple and delish, these bang bang chicken skewers are the perfect meal prep lunch, and this chicken enchilada casserole takes another classic and transforms it into an easy, weeknight meal.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • It’s easy and hands-off – besides actually assembling the quesadillas, the oven does all of the work for you! You’ll set the temperature, pop the assembled quesadillas onto a sheet pan and into the oven, set a timer, and then let the oven do its thing.
  • It’s a classic – chicken, cheese, and tortilla? Yes please. There isn’t much that’s more comforting and delicious than a good ole crispy quesadilla.
  • It’s customizable – while the classic is obviously a home run, know that there are ways to make this recipe your own! We’ve listed some ideas below.

Recipe Ingredients for Air Fryer Quesadillas

As with a traditional stovetop quesadilla, you don’t need a whole lot to make a chicken and cheese oven quesadilla! Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.

  • Taco seasoning – feel free to buy taco seasoning or make your own! If you want to make your own, our taco seasoning recipe is easy and delicious.
  • Chicken – you’ll need about 2 cups of cooked and shredded chicken for this recipe. You can either purchase and shred a rotisserie chicken, grab a container of pre-cooked and shredded chicken (a lot of stores offer this!), or throw a pound of chicken breast in either the slow cooker or Instant Pot to make your own batch of slow cooker shredded chicken or Instant Pot shredded chicken.
  • Shredded cheese – feel free to grab any cheese you love for this recipe. Cheddar, Colby Jack, and Monterey Jack will all work, though Colby Jack and Monterey Jack will make for a gooier quesadilla. If you really want a gooey, picture-perfect cheese-pull quesadilla, grab a block of Monterey jack or Colby jack and shred it yourself!
  • Flour tortillas – any flour tortillas you love will work here! The ones we used were about 7 inches in diameter, so keep that in mind when looking at filling amounts (if yours are much larger or much smaller, you’ll need to adjust the amount of filling you use).

A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

Recipe Variations and Modifications

  • Add caramelized onions – caramelized onions make EVERYTHING better. They’re rich, slightly sweet, totally delicious, and would make for a great quesadilla add. Simply layer them on top of the chicken (before the last cheese layer).
  • Add green chiles – if you like a little spice, try mixing a can of chopped green chiles in with the shredded chicken and taco seasoning!
  • Top with pickled onions pickled onions are another personal favorite and would make for a delicious quesadilla garnish.
  • Change up the dipping sauce – we made a creamy salsa dipping sauce for this recipe, but there are a lot of dipping sauces that would be delicious. A spicy jalapeno ranch or salsa verde would both be dynamite.
  • Use a different protein – feel free to swap the shredded chicken for shredded beef, shredded pork, or shredded turkey. This is a great way to use up any leftovers you have in the fridge!
  • Make it dairy-free – though dairy-free cheeses don’t typically melt as well as regular cheese, you could absolutely use a bag of dairy-free shredded cheese to make this recipe dairy-free. You’ll also want to use either a dairy-free sour cream or switch up the sauce entirely.
  • Make it grain-free – Siete makes delicious grain-free tortillas (the almond flour and cassava variations are our favorites) that you can use in place of the flour to make the recipe grain-free.
  • Make it gluten-free – we used gluten-free flour tortillas for this recipe, so if you can find them at your local grocery store, that’s a great option. If you can’t, you can use Siete grain-free tortillas or corn tortillas in their place!

How to Make Air Fryer Quesadillas

This recipe is incredibly easy to make! Follow along below for the full how-to.

Step 1: Add the shredded chicken to a large mixing bowl and sprinkle the taco seasoning over top. Toss until the seasoning is evenly distributed.

Step 2: Spray a sheet pan with avocado oil spray, and preheat the oven to 300°F. Lay 6 tortillas out on the sheet pan (you will either need to work in batches or use more than one sheet pan). Place a ¼ cup of shredded cheese on each tortilla that’s laying on the sheet pan. Then, top the cheese with a ⅓ cup of the seasoned chicken, followed by another ¼ cup of cheese.

Step 3: Place a tortilla on top of each open quesadilla, spray the top tortilla with avocado oil spray, and then bake for 5 minutes.

Step 4: While the quesadillas are in the oven, whisk together the sour cream and salsa in a bowl. After 5 minutes in the oven, flip the quesadillas over, and bake them for 3 more minutes. Let the quesadillas cool for a couple of minutes, then cut them and serve alongside the dipping sauce!

Recipe Tips

  • Stuff as you’d like – use the measurements we gave for both the cheese and chicken as a guide! If you like a cheesier quesadilla, don’t be afraid to up the cheese (and the same goes for the chicken). The baking temperature and time will stay the same.
  • Make them extra gooey – who doesn’t love a gooey cheese-pull when you slice (or bite into) a quesadilla? Grabbing a block of cheese and shredding it yourself is always going to result in a gooier end product (the anti-caking agents in pre-shredded, bagged cheese usually prevent that classic pull), and if you’re trying to decide which cheese to buy, we recommend either Colby Jack or Monterey Jack for the gooiest quesadilla.

How to Serve

Serve your quesadillas as-is alongside the creamy salsa dipping sauce! If you want to zhuzh your quesadillas up a bit, feel free to garnish them with diced tomatoes, sliced avocado, chopped cilantro, pickled onions, or any other garnish that sounds delicious to you!

How to Store

Store any leftover quesadillas in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

To reheat, simply pop a quesadilla in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, in the oven for 4-5 minutes, or in a pan on the stovetop for 4-5 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are my quesadillas not crispy?

Our best hack for getting a crispy oven-baked quesadilla is to spray both the pan (where the outside of the bottom tortilla will lay) and the top of the final tortilla with avocado oil spray.

What is the best melting cheese for quesadillas?

Colby Jack and/or Monterey Jack cheese will melt best, resulting in a gooey, delicious quesadilla. If you can, grab a block of cheese and shred it yourself (this will also help it to melt better).

If you tried this Air Fryer Quesadillas or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!

Oven-Baked Chicken and Cheese Quesadillas

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Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 8 minutes
Total: 18 minutes
Servings: 6 Quesadillas
These chicken and cheese quesadillas are baked in the oven for the ultimate easy button spin on the classic recipe. With endless possibilities for customizing, you're going to find yourself coming back to this recipe for both an easy dinner or lunch again and again!

Ingredients  

  • Avocado oil spray
  • 12 flour tortillas
  • 2 cups shredded chicken
  • 2 tablespoons taco seasoning, store-bought or homemade taco seasoning
  • 3 cups shredded cheese, Monterey Jack or Colby Jack work best!
  • ½ cup salsa, for the dipping sauce, optional
  • ½ cup sour cream, for the dipping sauce, optional

Instructions 

  • Spray a sheet pan with avocado oil spray, and preheat the oven to 300°F. Lay 6 tortillas out on the sheet pan (you will either need to work in batches or use more than one sheet pan).
  • Add the shredded chicken to a large mixing bowl and sprinkle the taco seasoning over top. Toss until the seasoning is evenly distributed.
  • Place a ¼ cup of shredded cheese on each tortilla that's laying on the sheet pan. Then, top the cheese with a ⅓ cup of the seasoned chicken, followed by another ¼ cup of cheese.
  • Place a tortilla on top of each open quesadilla, spray the top tortilla with avocado oil spray, and then bake for 5 minutes.
  • While the quesadillas are in the oven, whisk together the sour cream and salsa in a bowl.
  • After 5 minutes in the oven, flip the quesadillas over, and bake them for 3 more minutes. Let the quesadillas cool for a couple of minutes, then cut them and serve alongside the dipping sauce!

Recipe Notes

Recipe Modifications:
  • Add caramelized onions – caramelized onions make EVERYTHING better. They’re rich, slightly sweet, totally delicious, and would make for a great quesadilla add. Simply layer them on top of the chicken (before the last cheese layer).
  • Add green chiles – if you like a little spice, try mixing a can of chopped green chiles in with the shredded chicken and taco seasoning!
  • Top with pickled onions pickled onions are another personal favorite and would make for a delicious quesadilla garnish.
  • Change up the dipping sauce – we made a creamy salsa dipping sauce for this recipe, but there are a lot of dipping sauces that would be delicious. A spicy jalapeno ranch or salsa verde would both be dynamite.
  • Use a different protein – feel free to swap the shredded chicken for shredded beef, shredded pork, or shredded turkey. This is a great way to use up any leftovers you have in the fridge!
  • Make it dairy-free – though dairy-free cheeses don’t typically melt as well as regular cheese, you could absolutely use a bag of dairy-free shredded cheese to make this recipe dairy-free. You’ll also want to use either a dairy-free sour cream or switch up the sauce entirely.
  • Make it grain-free – Siete makes delicious grain-free tortillas (the almond flour and cassava variations are our favorites) that you can use in place of the flour to make the recipe grain-free.
  • Make it gluten-free – we used gluten-free flour tortillas for this recipe, so if you can find them at your local grocery store, that’s a great option. If you can’t, you can use Siete grain-free tortillas or corn tortillas in their place!
Recipe Tips:
  • Stuff as you’d like – use the measurements we gave for both the cheese and chicken as a guide! If you like a cheesier quesadilla, don’t be afraid to up the cheese (and the same goes for the chicken). The baking temperature and time will stay the same.
  • Make them extra gooey – who doesn’t love a gooey cheese-pull when you slice (or bite into) a quesadilla? Grabbing a block of cheese and shredding it yourself is always going to result in a gooier end product (the anti-caking agents in pre-shredded, bagged cheese usually prevent that classic pull), and if you’re trying to decide which cheese to buy, we recommend either Colby Jack or Monterey Jack for the gooiest quesadilla.
  •  

Nutrition

Calories: 421kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 978mg | Potassium: 234mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 425IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 737mg | Iron: 3mg

Additional Info

Course: Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine: American, Tex Mex
Servings: 6 Quesadillas
Calories: 421
Keyword: oven quesadilla

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Brandi Schilhab


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