Black Bean Quesadillas

These black bean quesadillas are wonderful for a weeknight meal because they are fast to prepare and kids love them. Loaded with black beans, spinach, corn, tomatoes, cheese, and avocado, they make for an exceptional vegetarian lunch or dinner as well.

What are Quesadillas?

Quesadillas have Mexican origins, although they are incredibly popular throughout North America and frequent many Mexican and non-Mexican restaurants. There are variations to the fillings, with some versions including flour tortillas stuffed with only cheese and others with salsa, guacamole, and onion. Some common meat fillings include chorizo, pork, chicken, or beef whereas vegetables comprise mushrooms, epazote, tomato, chiles, or cilantro.

A common method to cooking quesadillas is to place the tortilla in a hot skillet or on a comal, before topping with the fillings. Then, you fold them in half, before cooking them until golden on both sides. Then, you cut them into wedges and serve them with sour cream or salsa.

How to Make Black Bean Quesadillas

These black bean quesadillas are easy to make because they include very little prep time. In fact, they utilize canned (or previously home cooked) black beans and corn so that you don't have the added step of cooking those before assembling the quesadillas. Besides that, the only prep time will only a few minutes to chop an onion, tomato, and spinach, slice avocados, and mince a clove of garlic.

To begin making these homemade quesadillas, heat a large skillet on the stove with the oil. Your choice of olive oil, avocado oil, or other vegetable oil will work very well.

Next, you cook the onion until softened. You aren't looking for a lot of colour; just softer and sweeter cooked onion. Afterward, you add the garlic and cook it just until it smells fragrant, which should only take about 1 minute. The spinach goes in next, which you cook until wilted. Finally, to finish the filling, add the black beans, corn, and tomatoes, and stir until everything is evenly incorporated.

Cooking the Black Bean Quesadillas

To cook the quesadillas, you begin by heating a large skillet over medium heat. If you are lucky enough to have a comal in your kitchen, which is a flat pan commonly used in Mexican cooking, you can use that. Otherwise, any skillet, such as a cast-iron pan, will work wonderfully well.

Next, add one large flour tortilla to the skillet before topping one side with the cheese, black bean mixture, avocado slices, and more cheese. White or whole wheat flour tortillas work well here.

The next step is to fold the quesadilla in half to sandwich the filling. The cook time will be minimal as you will only need to cook on each side until the tortilla is golden and the cheese melts. For the black bean filling, 3 to 4 tablespoons are the perfect quantity to ensure the tortilla has enough filling without becoming soggy. In total, you will make about 10 quesadillas.

Serving the Black Bean Quesadillas

Once the first quesadilla is done, simply slice it into triangles before serving it with sour cream and salsa. Whether you enjoy a pico de gallo, tomatillo salsa, red blender salsa or storebought salsa, all will be delicious with these quesadillas as long as it is textured and chunky.

What Type of Cheese Should I Use in Quesadillas?

You can use any meltable, shredded cheese in this black bean quesadilla recipe that you enjoy. Monterey jack, cheddar, mozzarella, Colby, gouda or if you can get your hands on authentic Oaxacan cheese - these are all wonderful options if those are what you have on hand.

Just keep in mind that the taste of the quesadillas will vary depending on the cheese you use. If you would like something spicy, even 2 cups shredded pepper jack would be delicious in this quesadilla recipe.

Can I Make These Quesadillas Vegan or Dairy-Free?

With the availability of vegan cheeses, you most certainly can make these quesadillas fully plant-based or free of dairy. Simply choose a shreddable version that melts very well for this recipe as you will need something to help the quesadillas stick together. Daiya shredded vegan cheese melts nicely.

Filling Variations

The black bean filling for these quesadillas is perfect, but if you would like to vary the ingredients a little, here are some options.

• Replace the onion with sliced shallots or red onion.
• Instead of spinach, utilize chopped swiss chard or kale leaves instead. Just keep in mind that these might require a little longer to cook.
• Substitute any other canned bean for the black beans if you don't have black beans on hand.
• If you don't have canned beans available, you can use dry ones that you cooked yourself. A 15 ounce can of beans equals about 1 ½ cups.
• You can easily replace the Roma tomatoes with a large beefsteak tomato or even some cherry or grape tomatoes.
• Add some cilantro leaves or pickled jalapenos to the filling if you would like some different flavours.
• Roast some sweet potato cubes on the stove or in the oven to add to the filling for sweet potato black bean quesadillas.
• Replace the black beans with an equal amount of cooked meat such as ground beef, crumbled chorizo, pulled pork, etc.

Other Mexican Recipes You'll Love:

• Mexican Quinoa Bowl with Avocado Salsa
• Instant Pot Pulled Pork Adobo
• Blender Salsa

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