Quesadillas (on the griddle)

What makes Quesadillas a crowd favorite is how easy and versatile they can be. The flavor combinations are endless, make them spicy or savory, cook from fresh, or use those leftovers. And now the griddle is here to make them even easier, faster, and tastier.

This summer it will be one year since we started cooking on our outside griddle. It has been a game-changer. We have tested so many flavorful and fun recipes from breakfast to dinner. But let’s answer that BIG question that a lot of you are asking.

Is an outside griddle really worth it?

I have to say without a doubt, YES!

• There is this magic flavor, I’m sure there is some scientific reason, that comes through when using the griddle. The sear you get on burgers to sautéed mushrooms and the flavor of scrambled eggs is griddle magic.
• When making recipes, like the quesadillas, I can make different flavors to please everyone with all that space.
• Have a big cook with a lot of ingredients, no worries. It allows you to get everything done in one spot. Additionally, if some items cook faster you have the space and heat control to keep them ready to serve.

• Put those leftovers to work, like rotisserie chicken and rice. Just warm up that griddle, add your favorite seasonings, and you are making your own chicken fried rice with all that griddle yumminess.
• Finally, the big advantage for us is it keeps the heat and mess outside. Don’t worry about the mess on the griddle it cleans up quickly and easily. Just make sure you have seasoned it properly.

Quesadillas

We lucked out this past week with leftovers from our flank steak. It was so tasty, I had to make some steak quesadillas but I didn’t stop there. Why not quesadilla tacos? I just needed to griddle up the meat from our Street Tacos recipe. Since I was having so much fun planning this dinner I had to do some pizza quesadillas and of course some classic cheese quesadillas.

Jump to:

• Is an outside griddle really worth it?
• Quesadillas
• Cheese Quesadilla
• Quesadilla Tacos
• Steak Quesadilla
• Pizza Quesadillas
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage & Reheat
• FAQ
• Other Fun Recipes
• More Outdoor Cooking Recipes
• Quesadillas (on the griddle)
• Food safety

Cheese Quesadilla

This is a classic. We used Colby Jack cheese for this one but any cheese combination works well here. One tip I have learned over the years is to shred the cheese from a block instead of using pre-shredded cheese.
WHY? It melts better and I can choose the size of the cheese shreds.
The cheese quesadilla can have so many variations. So make it fun! Add a sprinkle of garlic powder on the tortillas or herbs on the cheese. We used ½ cup of the Colby Jack on each 6-inch tortilla if you go bigger use ¾ to a full cup of cheese.

Quesadilla Tacos

This one was a hit. We made fresh taco meat from our Street Tacos. It is so easy and fast. The quesadilla tacos griddle up a bit differently. I place the tortillas on the griddle and add the taco meat to one side. Then add the cheese above it, think of building your taco on its side. Let it grill. After 3 minutes it is time to fold the other half over the fillings and it’s done. We didn’t add any additional toppings because we were dipping them in guacamole.
Now if you want to make it Deluxe add your additional ingredients before you fold. Otherwise, it is just ¼ cup of taco meat; ½ cup of Colby Jack in each.
Note: The quesadilla tacos cook quicker than the others. So transfer them to a serving plate or turn off the burner.

Steak Quesadilla

What a great way to use some leftovers from the weekend cookout. We had flank steak. I simply cut the steak into bite-sized pieces and placed them in a bowl as is. If you want more flavor, give our homemade sweet classic BBQ rub a try. It is what I used in our Smoked Pork Butt recipe.
For the steak quesadillas, we did 6 and 8-inch tortillas. 6-inch had ¼ cup of mozzarella cheese and ¼ cup of steak. The 8-inch had ½ cup of mozzarella cheese and ½ cup of steak.

Pizza Quesadillas

Pizza quesadillas are always a top favorite with our crowd because each can be made to order. You can just make it cheesy with a marinara sauce, add pepperoni slices for a classic, or add different meats for the Meat Lovers pizza.
The classic pepperoni had 2 tablespoons of marinara sauce, ½ cup of mozzarella, and ¼ cup of pepperoni.
The Meat Lovers, my favorite, had 2 tablespoons of marinara sauce, ½ cup of mozzarella, ⅛ cup of pepperoni, 2 tablespoons of taco meat, 2 tablespoons of bacon bits, and 2 tablespoons of steak.

Ingredients

• Flour tortillas (6 and 8-inch)
• Colby Jack cheese shredded
• Mozzarella cheese, shredded
• Steak (flank steak or other)
• Marinara sauce (Preferred pizza sauce)
• Pepperoni
• Bacon bits
• Taco meat

Keep reading to the bottom for the recipe card and quantities.

Instructions

This is a straightforward cook. Prepare your ingredients then pre-heat the griddle for 5 minutes. Now just go out and build your quesadillas to your liking. It’s that simple. Oh and flip after 3 minutes.

Substitutions

We used standard flour tortillas, so if you need to change that up to suit your taste no big deal. You may need to adjust the cooking time for your choice of tortillas. We used steak, pizza fixings, and taco fixings. All of these can be substituted out to your preference, just keep an eye on your griddling as the time may vary.
You can easily substitute the cheeses with smoked gouda, cheddar, or Swiss in the steak quesadilla with mushrooms and onions.

Variations

Your imagination can go wild. Here are a few ideas:

• Spicy – Press a jalapeño and add it over one of the meats for that extra heat. You can add chili pepper flakes or cayenne pepper too. Oh, don’t forget banana peppers or jalapeños slices.
• Deluxe – For the quesadilla tacos add guacamole, sour cream, diced tomatoes, and shredded lettuce. You can add mushrooms & onions to the pizza quesadillas or go Hawaiian with ham and pineapple bites.
• Kid-friendly – Or as I like to call it dessert. Just do a layer of Nutella and some marshmallows.

Equipment

• Griddle or pan/skillet (I used a 36-inch outdoor griddle)
• Griddle Spatulas
• BBQ tongs (Optional)
• Cookie sheets (Great way to bring everything in to serve)
• Large knife (If you want to cut the quesadillas into halves or quarters)

Storage & Reheat

You can store the leftovers using an airtight container, a zip-top bag is ideal, in the fridge for up to 3 – 4 days.

Reheating can be done on the griddle on low heat. The air fryer is another option as well. Set it to 350 degrees F. for about 3 – 4 minutes.

FAQ

Other Fun Recipes

Here are just a few!

More Outdoor Cooking Recipes

These are some of our favorites!

What is your favorite quesadilla?
Let us know below.

Food safety

Good news you may only be warming up leftover meats, the sauce, and cheese. So not much to worry about here. Unless you add something that needs to be cooked first as we did with the taco meat. If you have any concerns, head over to the USDA site for more food safety information. These outdoor griddles have a large surface area and get quite hot. So be careful about splattering oil if you need to coat it before starting.

HAPPY GRIDDLING!!!