Crispy Quesadillas With Guacamole Recipe

Next to nachos, quesadillas are the most perilous food to be found on a Mexican restaurant menu. Overstuffed with cheese and teeming with greasy toppings, quesadillas are all but guaranteed to pack quadruple-digit calories. Our quesadilla recipe reverses the cheese-to-filling ratio, going long on the nutrient-dense vegetables and using just enough chorizo and cheese to make it feel like an indulgence. You'll love to whip one of these up the next time you have a Taco Bell craving.

Nutrition: 310 calories, 16 g fat (5 g saturated), 730 mg sodium

Serves 4

You'll Need

1⁄2 Tbsp canola oil
4 oz chorizo, casing removed
1 small red onion, sliced
4 oz white button mushrooms, stems removed, sliced
1 large poblano pepper, seeded, sliced into thin strips
Salt and black pepper to taste
11⁄2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 medium whole-wheat tortillas
Guacamole

How to Make It

1. Heat a large skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add the oil and chorizo; cook until browned, using a wooden spoon to break up the meat into smaller pieces. Remove from the pan and drain all but a thin film of the fat.
3. Return to the heat and add the onion, mushrooms, and pepper; sauté, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are brown—5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Divide the cheese between 2 tortillas and top each with half of the vegetable mixture. Top with the remaining tortillas.
5. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray and cook each quesadilla individually, until the tortillas are brown and crispy and the cheese is fully melted.
6. Cut into 4 or 6 wedges and serve with the guacamole.

Eat This Tip

Individually toasting the quesadillas in a cast-iron skillet yields the crispest, tastiest results imaginable, but if you're making a round for the whole family and want to save some serious meal prep time, try the broiler or even the grill (which adds delicious smoky notes to the quesadilla as well). Simply preheat either, assemble all of your quesadillas, and cook 6" under the broiler or directly on the grill grates for 3 to 4 minutes on one side. Carefully flip, then continue cooking for another 3 to 4 minutes, until toasted on the outside and melted in the middle.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

This recipe (and hundreds more!) came from one of our Cook This, Not That! books. For more easy cooking ideas, you can also buy the book!