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Apple Chicken Quesadilla

Apple Chicken Quesadilla

I was charged with providing lunch for several kids (ages 4, 6, 7, and 9) a few days ago and prepared for them one of my favorite quickie lunches - chicken and apple quesadillas. The kids gobbled them up, and one of them, Teddy, exclaimed loudly after the first one, "Elise, you HAVE to put these on your website!" The others nodded in agreement, while busily chomping away. So for all you quesadilla-loving kids out there, here you go.

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Apple Chicken Quesadilla Recipe

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 Flour tortillas (approximately 8-inches wide)
  • 1 cup cooked, shredded or chopped, chicken meat
  • 1/4 lb cheddar or Monterey jack cheese, sliced or grated
  • 1 apple, sliced
  • 1/4 cup salsa

Method

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1 Heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Place one tortilla in the skillet. Flip it a couple of times with a spatula, then let it sit in the pan heating up until air pockets form and parts of the tortilla begin to puff up. Flip it again.

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2 Place cheese slices on half of the tortilla, at least 1/2-inch from the edge of the tortilla. Add chicken pieces on top of the cheese. Fold the tortilla over like an omelette, and press down on the folded tortilla with the spatula. Lower the heat to medium. At this point, if you have enough room in your skillet, you can add a second tortilla to the pan to begin to heat it up.

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3 When the cheese inside the quesadilla has melted, remove the quesadilla to a cutting board. Open it wide and layer on apple slices and salsa. Fold the tortilla back again, and cut it into 3 triangles, as if you were cutting a pie. (You don't have to cut the quesadilla into triangles, it just makes it easier for kids to eat.)

4 Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Yield: Makes 12 quesadilla triangles.

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49 Comments

Wow! I've made quesadillas with dozens of different fillings, but never with apple. I'll try it out on some grownups -- I'm sure it will be as big a hit with them as with your kids!

Posted by: lydia on October 13, 2006 4:56 AM

Love the kiddo shots! They must ADORE you! My godson is way grown-up: age 20 and wants to be the next Jamie Oliver.

Posted by: Alanna on October 13, 2006 5:38 AM

Wow, how lucky for me that I just happen to have all of these ingredients in my kitchen! I think this will be lunch today. Thanks for all the great recipies, I love having new ideas and simple, clear techniques about how to prepare food... let's face it, you're the expert, not me! Great job, can't wait to taste these!

Posted by: Laura on October 13, 2006 8:38 AM

Ja, can say that the recipe is quite mouth-watering. Quesadillas rock :) But of course, many folks here say the "Quesa-dill-uh." I do live in the land of Napoleon Dyamite, after all.

Posted by: vanessa on October 13, 2006 9:50 AM

This is a great idea. And Piper is just the sweetest thing! I want to take this opportunity to say I love your blog. I recently made your dad's fish stew and absolutely loved it. Thanks again.

Posted by: Anne on October 13, 2006 10:41 AM

Quesadillas with apples that sounds delicious, my son loves quesadillas I have to try this one.

Posted by: krista on October 13, 2006 10:41 AM

I love the apple + cheddar + chicken combo. I'm off to the store to get brown rice tortillas!

[How cute is Piper?] ;-)

Posted by: Karina on October 13, 2006 11:09 AM

It does sound like you're having a great time! The kids are lucky to have you cooking for them. What a great kid-friendly recipe. I'm sending it right now to my sister who has 8 kids! (Two have left home, but she still has her hands full.)

Posted by: Kalyn on October 14, 2006 5:45 AM

Love the idea of adding apples. Thanks!

Posted by: farmgirl on October 14, 2006 12:21 PM

Gosh, we love quesadillas. It's so cute to hear my 2 year old say that word, too! It's my favorite way to "sneak" ingredients into my kids bellies without them picking them out of recipes- for some reason they don't open up the quesadilla and investigate!

I have one improvement to the quesadilla that I learned on America's Test Kitchen. We brush each side with a little canola oil and sprinkle kosher salt on it. Then do the pan thing. It tastes like a tortilla chip! Yum!

Thanks for expanding my horizon with the apple inside.

Posted by: Christina on October 14, 2006 3:20 PM

I tried this recipe for lunch earlier this week and loved it. I conviced my husband to try it today, and he thought they were great, too!

Thanks for the easy recipe!

Posted by: Robin on October 15, 2006 10:46 AM

Just made these a few minutes ago. They were delicious! My husband refused to eat it with the apples in it, and had them on the side instead. But I personally thought they were great! The perfect amount of cruncy.

Posted by: rhiannon on October 15, 2006 11:21 AM

How funny...after making the grilled cheese with pear and bacon, I instantly started thinking of adding fruit to the ubiquitous (around our house) quesadilla. I'm happy to know that it works, and I can't wait to try it. Maybe this is one way I can continue to use up the apples we picked last weekend!!

Posted by: Ouiser on October 16, 2006 1:40 PM

Just curious.. why wouldn't you put the other toppings (ie. apple and salsa) in the pan while cooking? Why add them later?

Posted by: Todd on October 16, 2006 2:01 PM

My daughter Piper is going to get to test this YUMMY sounding recipe tonight! I think since her name is Piper too, she will love it.

Thanks for the great idea.

Posted by: Sandra on October 16, 2006 2:21 PM

How clever! I never would have thought of salsa and apples as going together.

Posted by: rachel on October 17, 2006 12:09 PM

It was yummy. I'm 17 years old and my little brother is 14 my parents were out and we had nothing to eat and then we saw this recipe of yours and fell in love with it. Thank you so much!

Posted by: Reyna Martinez on October 18, 2006 8:41 AM

Oh my gosh, I gotta stop coming to this blog, I cant keep getting hungry for this stuff. Its not even mealtime! Thanks for the recipe.

Posted by: Joe on October 19, 2006 9:22 AM

I just made this, and it was great! What a nice combination of different flavours. And it didn't take long to make!

Posted by: jeeves on December 13, 2006 3:56 PM

Just made these for lunch, without the chicken, they were superb!

Posted by: anonymous on December 26, 2006 8:50 AM

I stumbled across this recipe yesterday, and went out today and got the ingredients and served it for lunch...absolutely delicious. I did change it a litte, I sautéed the chicken with a few grape tomatoes and added a little salt and chili powder to them before melting in with the cheese.

Posted by: josh on February 21, 2007 11:04 AM

"Mom, I need to make chicken quesadillas for 30 kids in my spanish class for tomorrow" !!!!That was how my son greeted me after school today. Yikes! Thank you so much for the very easy and quick recipe. Also, for the step by step pictures as well! You have just made my afternoon a little easier!! Thank you!

Posted by: Heidi on March 20, 2007 1:08 PM

Hi Elise,

I tried this great recipe, it was delish :) I love your blog!

Posted by: Nidi on March 28, 2007 8:33 AM

This is like the umpteenth recipe I've used from your site. Thanks again for yet another great meal! I first sprinkled salt and pepper on skinless chicken breasts, then cooked it in olive oil and minced garlic. After it was nice and brown, I shredded it before putting it into the quesadillas. I also found that monterey jack melts nicer than other types of cheese. Plus, for the apples - I am allergic to apple skin, so I peeled them ahead of time, sliced them thinly, and kept them soaked in OJ & water so it wouldn't brown. Perfecto!

Posted by: Linda on May 2, 2007 6:43 AM

Me and my Trent Pazsek made these the other night, and YUMMY. We ate the full turnout, and boy were we sick. Not only does it taste great but making it is a great bonding experience.

I give it Two Tummyfulls up!

Posted by: Nathan Palmer on May 3, 2007 12:37 PM

I loved the quesadilla recipe! I like to have a crunch in every meal and the apple was a tasty healthy way to get it! they were easy to make too. Thank you for sharing with us!

Posted by: Donna on September 10, 2007 5:52 PM

This is great! I am just starting to learn how to cook and I have a five year old and a 2 year old and they eat them up!

Posted by: Carrie on July 3, 2008 8:38 AM

WOW. Your chicken apple quesadillas are AMAZING! My mom and I tried them out and we loved them so much that we had to make more!! Thanks you for your great ideas!

Posted by: Amber on July 6, 2008 4:43 PM

I am a vegetarian, so I made these with just some Gala apple and sharp cheddar today.

Delicious.


Posted by: sugar on September 7, 2008 10:35 AM

These are amazing. Seriously the best quesadillas I've ever had.
I used granny smith apples and a store bought salsa, mild. I sauteed some chicken breast seasoned with salt pepper and a tiny bit of cayenne with olive oil and garlic. I followed the method almost exactly but I brushed the tortillas with oil and lightly salted them as someone suggested. I added the apples and salsa while they were in the pan and flipped them just to warm it through. Absolutely delicious! These will be great for get togethers and such. Thanks so much for the recipe! Im going to be trying out some others on your site in the next week or so, they look great! Thanks again!

Posted by: Kasey on January 26, 2009 12:05 PM

I made a variation on these recently, and was surprised to see something similar on your site today.

My version of the quesadillas is with granny smith apples, sharp cheddar cheese, and bacon crumbles, and dipped in a spicy honey-mustard! Yum!

Posted by: cindy on January 27, 2009 12:30 PM

I have a very picky 9 year old, apples are his favorite. This has now become his everday lunch. I used whole wheat tortillas and golden delicious apples.

Posted by: Kristel on April 7, 2009 1:32 PM

At first, I thought apples and quesadilla in the same recipe? But when I read it, I thot again, it sounds awesome. Will be making this SOON!

Posted by: Cee Tindall on May 1, 2009 3:02 PM

My husband makes similar quesadillas with grilled pineapple or grilled Granny Smith apple. Grilled Mangoes and Papayas also work. He uses a white cheddar and Ranchero cheese blend (mild white Mexican cheese). Mesquite grilled chicken also adds a nice touch. Any leftover grilled fruit can be chopped up into a fruit salsa. Serve with guacamole. This is my absolute favorite meal right behind Stewed Taters.

Posted by: Tammy Trentham on May 30, 2009 9:52 PM

Just found your site and clicked on a random recipe to see if it was a fit--Wow! Chicken and Apple quesadillas are my new favorite. My kids will love them. I will love them. And I will be back!

Posted by: Daphne on September 29, 2009 7:58 AM

This is also great with cheese and apple sauce. I put both ingredients on the tortilla, heated, then served salsa on the side. Wonderful!

Posted by: Amanda on October 13, 2009 1:26 PM

I made this last night and my very picky 5 year old LOVED this recipe. This is a great site and I look forward to trying out more recipes. Thanks.

Posted by: Kristie on May 11, 2010 10:10 AM

My son is gobbling up his quesadilla as I am writing! Thanks for this kid-friendly recipe and idea. I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch today, too! And I'm not struggling with my 3-year-old to get him to eat...next on the schedule, naptime!

Posted by: Rebecca on May 16, 2010 9:00 PM

I made these the other night and they were really easy to make! I wasn't sold on the fruit/meat combo at first, but they were really quite good, and it's a very fast recipe! I bought my chicken pre-cooked at cold, which made it take a little longer for the cheese to melt - I think next time I would pre-heat the chicken. It was really good, though - another hit, as usual! Thanks so much!

Posted by: Krystle on June 2, 2010 6:12 PM

My boyfriend and I LOVED these! I was initially very skeptical about the idea of fruit + meat, like many others-- my dad likes to put chunks of apple in his tuna, which I really dislike. In the end, however, I was so pleased with the subtle sweet/tart of the granny smith apple I used, and the delicious CRUNCH!

We made extra and ate it cold for lunch the next day, and I was surprised at how good *that* was. I think I might have enjoyed it even better than the first time around. It was like a fresh chicken wrap. So good!

Posted by: Trixie on July 10, 2010 6:28 PM

I was making baked apples for dessert and thought it would be fun to add apples to the main course as well. I already had chicken out so it needed to be a chicken apple recipe. This was perfect!!! The kids loved it!

Posted by: Ashleigh on August 3, 2010 3:49 PM

Tried this for dinner tonight and it was a HIT! Instead of salsa I put in green chilies and it was delicious! Who would of thought apples in a quesadilla would be sooo good!

Posted by: Maureen on September 17, 2010 8:51 PM

Try with caramelized red onion! I did and it is tasty, thanks for the original recipe.

Posted by: Tamara on October 5, 2010 6:37 AM

This was amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!

Posted by: Katie on February 1, 2011 5:55 PM

Incredibly easy to prepare...tried something a little different using curried chicken in naan bread. Went beautifully with homemade chutney and raita

Posted by: Jette Stuart on September 6, 2011 8:59 AM

I made these a few nights ago after having lack of motivation for making dinner. These are so simple, yet so tasty. Thank you much. I really love checking out your recipes. They all come out great every time.

Posted by: Rachael on October 2, 2011 9:34 AM

I'm new to food blogging and stumbled upon this recipe on your blog a few nights ago. Perfect, easy Friday night dinner idea! I modified a bit by using a mango salsa, and sauteeing the chicken in an apple cheddar jack wing sauce. Delish, thanks!

Posted by: Anne on November 22, 2011 12:17 PM

Googled apple tortillas and found your recipe :-) I made this a Weight Watcher-friendly recipe, and it came out to 9 Pts+ for one good size, filling, delicious quesadilla using 2 low-carb, high-fiber whole wheat tortillas (50 cal)and low-fat sharp cheddar cheese. I loaded the bottom tortilla with all ingredients (heated apple slices and cold cooked chicken in pan first), then topped with second tortilla. When cheese melted and heated through, I cut into triangles for ease of eating. Tried sprinkling apples with a small amount of cinnamon & sugar when I don't have salsa - delicious! (This makes one large serving or two smaller ones, depending on your appetite.)

Posted by: JaneG on February 25, 2012 11:56 AM

Delicious!!
Made this for my friends for a little get together and they thought it was much better than the old fashioned hot dogs and hamburgers..haha thanks for the recipe!

Posted by: Catherine on March 24, 2012 2:26 PM

I apologize for the inconvenience, comments are closed. ~Elise

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