Easy and Cheesy Chicken Quesadilla Pie Recipe
If there were ever a “viral” post on my original blog this was it. Back in 2012 I had been blogging for a few years and needed easy weeknight meals with a baby on my hip. I looked to places like great food magazines for inspiration, Cook’s Illustrated, Bon Apetit, and Food and Wine. Publishers like America’s Test Kitchen were my go-to! The original recipe hailed from Cook’s Country, but over the years I’ve made this my own.
The baby who wasn’t even crawling at the time yet making me feel like my life was “so busy” is now a teenager and never would I have thought I’d have a two year old running around so many years later with two other brothers sandwiched in between. I’m sure I made this recipe back then and it fed us for a week. Tonight, I’ll be making two of these and hoping there are easy leftovers tomorrow so Sunday can feel a bit more restful.
Make it Your Own
This easy quesadilla pie is a recipe that comes together quickly and can be tweaked based on your families preference. Classic cheddar cheese can be used here but tonight I think I’ll opt for pepper jack cheese though something similar like a monterey jack cheese work well here too.
The addition of green chiles is always a good idea in my mind for most any mexican recipes when chicken is involved so adding a can of those is great. Seasoning can be added like ground cumin and chili powder as I did here. I love the addition of fresh cilantro but since I don’t have that today I’ll likely be adding in a drained can of black beans.
I cooked a lot of chicken thighs yesterday knowing I’d be making this today, however if you’d like to have rotisserie chicken and use that as your protein, you’ll want one shredded rotisserie chicken per 9-inch pie plate.
This recipe is perfect for a busy weeknight or lazy weekend when we’re catching up from the week! It’s one of the best simple recipes to have in your back pocket when you need to bring someone a meal, and something that’s far easier to serve a crowd than tossing individual quesadilla’s.
Recipe tips
Simply mix all your chicken, cilantro if using, one cup of the cheese, and seasoning and layer atop the tortilla’s you’ve positioned in the bottom of the pie plate. Spraying the bottom of the plate with some avocado oil and then the tortillas on top will help everything stick together, but not to your actual pie plate!
If you want to add in things like red or green onions, black beans, or green chiles do that with the chicken mixture before you add the egg mixture on top.
I like to use a deep dish pie plate, so if you have one use that! If not put a cookie sheet under your pie plate so things don’t melt over onto the bottom of your oven!
Cooking Time
I position this is the middle of the oven rack and find it always comes together really quickly. Keep an eye on it as it’s a hot oven and only cooks in 20 minutes! The top should be golden and melty but if you find it’s browning too quickly you could add some aluminum foil on top.
A Real Winner
This cheesy quesadilla pie is a real winner and hit for the whole family. It’s so much easier than making a regular quesadilla for everyone! Serve it up with some sour cream, lime, and tortilla chips and some pico de gallo and you’ve got s simple and filling dinner.
I hope you not only enjoy this one, but I hope you love it. Do you think it can go viral again so many years later? Let’s see!
Easy and Cheesy Chicken Quesadilla Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 10-inch burrito tortilla or you can overlap smaller tortillas
- 3 cups shredded chicken thighs
- 1/2 cup shredded cilantro optional
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup drained pickled jalapenos- chopped optional
- 2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450
- Spray avocado oil in a deep-dish pie plate, place the tortilla inside then spray it with cooking spray.
- In a bowl toss the chicken, cilantro, seasonings and 1 cup of cheese. Add the filling to the pie plate.
- Whisk together the egg, milk, flour, and baking powder. Pour the filling over the chicken mixture then top with remaining 1 cup of cheese.
- Bake until golden about 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes or so then cut and enjoy!
