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Weeknight-style Crispy Chicken Tinga Quesadillas. Chicken seasoned up with smoky chipotle chiles and enchilada sauce, then mixed with cheese, stuffed into tortillas with rice, and oven-baked. Each baked quesadilla is crunchy on the outside and spicy and cheesy inside. Serve with a creamy, salty, garlic honey-lime crema sauce, and a mix of your favorite toppings. These come together easily and are so delicious. The perfect crispy, no-fuss quesadilla that everyone loves!
When it comes to Mexican-style food, we love it to be spicy, cheesy, and usually saucy, plus crispy. But it does depend on what the recipe is. When it comes to a really good quesadilla, it’s all of the above.
Since Cinco de Mayo is this Friday, I think this could be a fun, easy, and delicious recipe to share. We love Mexican night in our family!
A few important things to note. Instead of just cooking the chicken in a skillet with spices, I decided to sear the chicken and simmer it with enchilada sauce and chipotle peppers. I wanted an extra saucy chicken with some spice. Kind of like I make my crockpot tinga tacos and my 30-minute tinga tacos.
With almost every quesadilla I make you’ll notice two things, there’s always rice and plenty of cheese! Oh, and typically peppers too. These have all three.
And then, these are baked, not pan-fried. Quesadillas can be a little tedious to make for the whole family. Standing at the stove and flipping isn’t the most fun. So I usually bake my quesadillas instead of pan-frying them, just like I do with my tacos. Only, I use flour tortillas for my quesadillas. They always turn out so delish!
Details
Cook the chicken in a skillet with an onion. Then add the peppers, the enchilada sauce, chipotle chiles, and seasonings. Cook until the sauce coats the chicken.
Now the rest is just assembly. I take flour tortillas and layer them with cheese, chicken, peppers, rice, cilantro, and then more cheese. The key is to rub the outside of the tortillas with olive oil. This will crisp them up in the oven until they are golden and crunchy on top.
While they’re baking, I make a simple lime garlic sauce with yogurt, mayo, lime zest, and a drizzle of honey.
Then, I love a fresh mango salsa to balance the spices out.
Once they’re baked up, just serve as desired with sauce, avocado, and mango salsa. I always do lots of fresh cilantro on top as well!!
Looking for more simple Mexican recipes? Here are a few favorites:
Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken Tortilla Soup with Salty Lime Chips
Cauliflower Al Pastor Quesadillas with Lime Smashed Avocado
Mushroom Al Pastor Tacos with Garlic Lime Special Sauce
Healthier Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme
Crispy Chipotle Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Lime Ranch
Lastly, if you make these Crispy Chicken Tinga Quesadillas, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Crispy Chicken Tinga Quesadillas
Servings: 4
Calories Per Serving: 683 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cubed
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 poblano pepper, sliced
- 3/4 cup red enchilada sauce
- 2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4-6 flour tortillas, warmed
- 2 1/2 cups shredded Mexican cheese
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 1 cup fresh chopped cilantro
- 1 mango, diced
Garlic Lime Sauce
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 3 tablespoons mayo
- 2 teaspoons lime zest, plus 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 clove garlic, grated
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425° F.2. In a large skillet, add the olive oil, chicken, and onion. Set over medium-high heat. Cook 5-8 minutes, until the chicken is seared. Add the poblano pepper, enchilada sauce, chipotle chiles, oregano, cumin, and salt. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.3. To assemble, layer the cheese, chicken, and rice on one half of a tortilla. Then sprinkle over more cheese and cilantro. Fold the tortilla over to cover everything. Arrange on a baking sheet. Rub each quesadilla with olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes, until crispy and the cheese is melted. 4. Meanwhile, make the garlic lime sauce. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Season with salt. 5. Toss the mango with lime zest. Serve the quesadillas topped with garlic sauce, mango, avocado, and cilantro.
Excellent!!! My family enjoyed them, I’m taking them to my friends house. Can I use corn tortillas for gluten friend?? Also make ahead until they go in the oven?? I have Three of your cookbooks!!!Thank you for the new twist on flavor! I love cooking and baking obsessed!!!
Thank you Tracy! xT
I am making this tonight for the third time in about five weeks. My wife and daughter love this, so it will be on a pretty regular rotation.
I leave out the cumin (bad episode while we were in Morocco when my daughter was younger), and I don’t feel that the taste is lacking at all. I have also left out the poblano peppers for no reason other than I forgot to buy them at the store, and I think that the flavor is all there without them.
One thing that I have done twice now is to make this a day before we want it for dinner. I store the chicken and the rice in the same container, which allows all of the flavors to come together and for the rice to absorb all of those flavors. It is fantastic this way.
Great recipe that I will continue to use for years to come. I rate this as three thumbs up.
Hey Joe,
So glad to hear your family has been enjoying this recipe! Thanks for sharing your notes and making it so often:) xx