Monterrey Chicken Quesadillas

I am so excited about this recipe I am sharing with you today on the blog! It is a recipe that I have adapted from one I found in a cookbook called Scrumptious by Christy Denney of the blog called The Girl Who Ate Everything.
Not only are these quesadillas delicious but they are quick and easy to make as well. Plus they are baked, not fried and make great use of leftover cooked or rotisserie chicken!
Monterrey Chicken Quesadillas

A number of months back I bought some frozen Chicken Quesadillas that ended up being a huge HUGE disappointment to me. They were super expensive for what they were, but I love quesadillas and I was intrigued. The picture on the packaging looked fabulous.
The reality of them did not in any way live up to the hype of the packaging. But then again, these days nothing really does.
What was disappointing about the frozen ones was the fact that there was barely any filling at all in them, perhaps a tablespoon at best, and they were solidly lacking in flavor. I truly felt cheated.

Monterrey Chicken Quesadillas

I can promise you that these baked quesadillas will NOT disappoint. The filling in them is super generous and super delicious! I think these are the tastiest quesadillas I have ever made by far! I declare them to be my favorite ever chicken quesadillas!
The filling is not only generous, but filled with loads of flavor. Shredded rotisserie chicken, crumbled bacon, chopped onion, plenty of cheddar cheese and some spicy sweetness from the use of BBQ sauce.
Then there is the crispness of the flour tortilla shell. Brushing them with butter prior to baking ensures that they turn out crisp and golden brown and deliciously buttery flavored.
Altogether scrumptiously tasty! This recipe has been adapted and downsized to feed only two people.

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE MONTERREY CHICKEN QUESADILLAS
You don't really need a lot of anything or any fancy ingredients to make these. Simple ingredients put together simply but deliciously. Always my promise to you.

1/2 cup shredded cooked chicken (I used two drumsticks from a rotisserie chicken)
1 cup (120g) grated cheddar cheese (I used double cheddar)
3 TBS your favorite BBQ sauce
2 slices crisp cooked streaky bacon, crumbled
1 TBS chopped sweet onion
1 TBS butter, softened
2 (8-inch) flour tortillas (see note)
chopped grape tomatoes and sweet onion to garnish

As I said, these quantities are for half the size of the original recipe. I ended up using two drumsticks from a rotisserie chicken, which I shredded in a bowl with two forks.
I used a pre-rated cheddar mix of cheese by Kraft called Double Cheddar. For something like this it works fine.
My BBQ sauce was Bulls Eye Original BBQ Sauce. Nothing fancy here. Just simple basic sauce.
Monterrey Chicken Quesadillas

I always keep crisp cooked bacon in my freezer for recipes such as these. When I cook bacon, I tend to cook the whole package at once and then freeze what I don't use on the day to be used in recipes like this one.
Doing this is a lot quicker than having to cook bacon from scratch for something like this and a whole lot cheaper than buying ready cooked bacon.
Properly wrapped and in an airtight container cooked bacon will keep very well for about six months in the freezer. If you slice a piece of wax paper in between the slices its also really easy to take out just as many slices as you need at any one given time.
Monterrey Chicken Quesadillas

Another thing that I do, if I don't feel like cooking the whole package of bacon on the day, is I will freeze the bacon uncooked. I simply roll each rasher into a roll and pop them into a zip lock baggie. I actually double bag them these days to help prevent freezer burn.
It is very easy to take out just one or two or however many rashers of bacon you need at any given time when you freeze it this way. It also keeps for quite a while when frozen in this manner, thaws out quickly and is very easy to chop when you need a quantity of chopped bacon for cooking in stews, soups, casseroles, etc. It is so much easier to chop frozen bacon than it is to chop fresh bacon.
Full disclosure here, I did not have any 8-inch tortillas and so I used 6-inch ones, giving me three smaller quesadillas instead of 2 larger ones.

HOW TO MAKE MONTERREY CHICKEN QUESADILLAS
These were so simple to make. Mix. Fill. Fold. Bake and walk away. You have plenty of time to throw together a salad or whatnot while they are baking.

Preheat the oven to 400*F/200*C/gas mark 6. Line a small baking tray with some baking parchment. Set aside.Shred the chicken in a bowl. Add the cheese, chopped onion, crumbled bacon and BBQ sauce.Butter your tortillas on one side and place buttered side down on the baking tray. Divide the chicken filling between the tortillas, placing it on one half of each tortilla. Fold the other half of the tortilla over top to cover.Bake in the preheated oven for 5 to 6 minutes. Carefully flip over and bake for a further 5 to 6 minutes until the tortillas are lightly browned and crisp.Garnish with the chopped onion and tomatoes and serve immediately.

The original recipe had called for chopped spring onions, but I didn't have any of those. I did have some lovely sweet white onion however and so I chopped some of that. Not quite as pretty, admittedly, but every bit as tasty and not quite as harsh as a regular onion.
You could fancy these up even more if you wanted to by adding chopped peppers, black olives, etc. But to be honest these are pretty tasty just as they are!
Monterrey Chicken Quesadillas

Crisp buttery tortillas . . . rich, sweet tangy, gooey cheesy, smoky filling . . . there was not much about these not to fall in love with. In fact they are soooo delicious you might want to double the recipe and make the full lot!
As a simple main course for lunch or dinner, a tossed salad would go wonderfully with these. Or you could cut them into wedges and serve them with a dip as a very tasty appetizer, or treat on a game night. Football season is about to begin in earnest!!
Monterrey Chicken Quesadillas

Some other Tex Mex favorites here in The English Kitchen that you might also enjoy are:

QUICK AND EASY BAKED CHICKEN TACOS - A delicious chicken taco filling is created and then stuffed into hard shell tacos. Shredded chicken, spices, green chilies, honey, sour cream and cheese are stuffed into the shells and baked. When done it is a simple thing to top with your favorite taco toppings and enjoy! These are a perfect mix of textures and flavors!
GRANNY'S BEEF ENCHILADAS - Cubed beef is browned on top of the stove and mixed with a variety of spices, onions, garlic and tomato passata (tomato sauce) and then roasted in a slow oven until the beef is meltingly tender . . . So tender you can tear it apart with a couple of forks. This rich filling is then used to stuff flour tortillas along with some cheese, some of the sauce from the cooked beef being spooned over top, along with more cheese. Quite simply my all time favorite enchiladas! Yield: 2Author: Marie Rayner