Spicy Chicken Quesadillas.
I make chicken quesadillas often, and every time Lauren says that we need to put it online; she swears they are better than any restaurant. The tortilla’s are crispy, the chicken is tender, and the flavor is on fire! We love our food hot, but you can alter the level of heat by adding or subtracting the amount of spices and/or sauce.
Level of heat for each pepper.
What’s your limit?
As you already know we love spicy food, and not only is the flavor delicious, but there are other benefits to eating hot food. Chili peppers are enriched in vitamins A and C and help with heart function, help high blood pressure and cholesterol. Capsaicin, the active ingredient in most chili peppers, helps reduce the accumulation of cholesterol in the body by increasing its breakdown rate. While further studies are needed, another possible benefit of eating chili’s is that they may help stop the growth of prostate cancer cells. Some spicy foods contain anti-oxidants that have anti-cancer effects. Spicy food is also said to help with weight loss. Some say that spicier foods fill you up faster and you eat smaller portions. Other articles say that spicy food speeds up metabolism, but what they all say is that in one way or another eating spicy food can aid in weight loss. So eat up, the hotter the better!
Put filling on one side of the tortilla
I used to make chicken quesadillas by using two tortillas with chicken, cheese and any other fillings in the middle. Recently, I changed my method; I use one tortilla and then fold over one side, and I like this way better.
No butter was used on the chicken quesadilla on the left. The quesadilla on the right had 1/2 tbs of butter.
Another thing I used to do when I made quesadillas was I would use a lot of butter or oil to grease the pan before placing the tortilla on. I thought about how unhealthy that much grease was, so I decided to make one without any butter and one with only a 1/2 tbs of butter. Lauren likes her quesadilla on the crispy brown side, so the chicken quesadilla with no butter was perfect her. I really enjoyed the quesadilla that had a little butter used. This is another change I am sticking with when it comes to making quesadillas.
Chicken Quesadillas
Ingredients:
- 1lb chicken breast
- chili powder
- garlic
- cayanne pepper
- ground chipolte
- Franks Red Hot Wing Sauce; or your favorite hot sauce (amount is to your liking)
- large tortilla wraps
- 1/2 tbs butter (if using method #2)
Directions:
- COOKING THE CHICKEN
- Clean and cut chicken breasts in half and then into strips.
- Season chicken with garlic, chili powder, ground chipolte, and cayanne pepper; all to taste.
- Coat well and let rest about 5 minutes to let spices set in.
- Add to a non-stick pan over medium heat.
- Once the chicken is almost cooked through, add your buffalo sauce. Use as much or a little as you want.
- Let cook and once sauce starts reducing, start stirring to coat the chicken.
- Once chicken is completely cooked through and sauce is to your desired consistency, remove from heat.
- MAKING THE QUESADILLA (option 1)
- Take one tortilla and add cheese to half of it, then add chicken on top of the cheese; leave one side of the tortilla empty. If you are adding any other toppings, add them now. Top off with a light sprinkle of cheese.
- Fold your quesadilla in half, and place in a large non-stick frying pan over med heat. I used a wok.
- Cook quesadilla for 2-3 min a side or to your preferred darkness.
- (option 2) Follow same instructions except, melt a 1/2 tbs of butter before placing the quesadilla into the pan.
- Cook for 2-3 min a side, depending on how dark you like your tortillas.
- Enjoy!
Tagged: crispy, quesadillas, simple, Spanish, spicy
