This easy chicken and cheese quesadilla recipe is perfect for busy days. It’s delicious, nutritious, juicy, and you can feed your whole family with a minimal amount of effort and time!

Two wedge slices of chicken and cheese quesadilla on a white plate.

I love delicious recipes that come together quickly. It makes busy days easier and everyone happier!

So I’ve been experimenting with putting a whole chicken in the instant pot to cook and seeing what dishes I can make. If you don’t have an instant pot, a pressure cooker will do the same thing. I love how juicy and tender the meat is!

This chicken and cheese quesadilla was a hit with my family, and I know yours will love it too. It’s especially a kid favorite!

Easy Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla Recipe

Looking for an easy recipe for a delicious chicken and cheese quesadilla? It doesn’t get much easier than this recipe that uses an instant pot!

Woman holding a chicken and cheese quesadilla, showing the chopped chicken and gooey cheese from the side.

Ingredients

Flour tortillas – You’ll need 4 flour tortillas for this recipe. They can be 6-inch or 8-inch; use what you prefer. I love the organic whole wheat flour tortillas from Azure Standard.

Chicken – For this recipe, I put a whole chicken in the instant pot but leftover chicken also works.

Cheese – Use the cheese that your family loves to eat. We buy big 5-pound blocks of calico cheese (cheddar and monterey jack) from Azure Standard. Once I get it home and slice it, it lasts beautifully in the freezer until we’re ready to use it.

Sea salt – Use good quality kosher or sea salt. I like Redmond real salt because it’s unrefined, has delicious flavor, and all Redmond real salt is Kosher.

Black pepper – Use freshly ground black pepper.

Olive oil – Olive oil makes the quesadillas crispy and delicious.

Avocado, Sour Cream, Salsa, Fresh Cilantro – These fixings are optional; use your family’s favorite toppings.

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Tools You May Need

Instant Pot – Use an instant pot or regular pressure cooker if you have one to cook a whole chicken. You can use the light meat and dark meat from the chicken which will add delicious flavor to your quesadillas.

Cutting board

Kitchen knife

Measuring cups and measuring spoons

Large griddle spatula – Having a long, large griddle spatula makes flipping over the quesadillas easier, but use what you have.

Sharp kitchen scissors

A round chicken and cheese quesadilla cut into seven wedge slices on a white plate.

How to Make Easy Chicken and Cheese Quesadillas

Chicken and cheese quesadillas are simple to make on the stove. Just heat up a cast iron skillet, drizzle some olive oil, and place a flour tortilla down. Then add chopped chicken, cover with a layer of cheese, and top with a second tortilla. Cook for 3 minutes on each side until the tortillas are golden brown, and that’s it!

This recipe will serve either 4 people as a main course, or 6 to 8 people as a side dish. These are also great as a snack!

First, season a whole chicken with salt and pepper, both inside and out. Set the chicken in an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Add 2 cups of water, and cook for 1 hour or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Farm Cook Tip: Old hens and roosters are perfect for pressure cookers (and this recipe), since it will make the meat tender and fall off the bones. Save your young hens and roosters for frying and roasting, when quick-cooking and tender meat is what you’re after.

A whole chicken from an Instant Pot, sitting on a wood cutting board next to a plate of whole wheat tortillas and a plate of cheddar and jack cheese.

Let the pressure cooker cool down naturally, then remove the chicken to a cutting board. Also, get out your flour tortillas and cheese. I’m using sliced cheese, but you can also use shredded cheese.

Woman cutting chicken into pieces on a wooden cutting board.

Pick the chicken meat off the bones, and give it a rough chop. How tiny or large you go is up to you. I went with a kind-of small dice here since my primary reason for making these quesadillas was to feed a group of small children.

Taste the chicken to test the seasonings.

Farm Cook Tip: Make sure that you save your chicken bones and the chicken broth to make a healthy and delicious chicken bone broth when you’re done! You can make soup or stew, boil rice in the broth, add broth to sauté vegetables, or even drink it with a sprinkle of sea salt.

Woman pouring olive oil in a cast iron skillet on the stove.

Heat up a cast iron skillet over medium-low to medium heat on your stove. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to coat the bottom of the skillet.

You want enough to make the tortilla crispy, but not too much that it gets soggy.

Woman spreading pieces of chicken onto a tortilla in a cast iron skillet.

Next, set a flour tortilla in the skillet and spread chopped chicken over the top. If your taste test told you that you needed more salt or pepper, add it here over the top of the chicken.

Slices of yellow and white cheese on top of chicken pieces on a tortilla in a cast iron skillet.

Then add some sliced (or shredded) cheese to cover the chicken, and set another flour tortilla on top.

A golden brown tortilla-topped chicken and cheese quesadilla in a cast iron skillet.

Cook the quesadilla about 3 minutes or until it’s golden brown, and then carefully flip it over with a large griddle spatula. Continue cooking an additional 3 minutes until the cheese is melted and gooey.

When your chicken and cheese quesadilla is done cooking, remove it to a separate plate. Let it cool down while you get a second quesadilla cooking following the same steps.

Woman cutting a chicken and cheese quesadilla into wedge slices with kitchen scissors.

When your cooked quesadilla is cool enough to handle, cut it into wedge slices using sharp kitchen scissors. Scissors work better than a pizza cutter or pizza wheel.

Woman holding two wedge slices of chicken and cheese quesadilla on a white plate.

And that’s it! Your chicken and cheese quesadilla will only take 6 minutes of skillet time, and a couple minutes of cooling down time before you can cut and serve it.

The meat is juicy (thanks to the pressure cooker), the cheese is gooey, and the tortilla is crispy. That’s a recipe for a VERY happy family.

Feel free to add some slices of avocado, or serve your quesadillas with sour cream, salsa, or fresh cilantro leaves.

If you won’t be serving these quesadillas right away, then leave them in the warm skillet, and add a lid or make one with aluminum foil. Then stick them in the oven with the oven light on to keep them warm.

Recipe Card

Simple Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla

This simple chicken and cheese quesadilla recipe is delicious, nutritious, and juicy. It's a family favorite that is great for picky eaters, kids, and adults alike! Eat it for lunch or dinner, or even as a snack.

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 15

Total Time 1 15

Serving Size 6 people

Equipment

Instant Pot (or other pressure cooker)
cutting board
Kitchen knife
measuring cups and spoons
large spatula
Sharp kitchen scissors

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (leftover chicken also works)
2 cups water
4 flour tortillas (both 6-inch and 8-inch tortillas work)
6 slices of your favorite cheese(s)
2 tbsp olive oil
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
avocado slices, sour cream, salsa, and fresh cilantro (optional)

Instructions

Season a whole chicken with salt and pepper on the inside and out. Set it in an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker with 2 cups of water, and cook for 1 hour. After the chicken has been thoroughly cooked, let it cool down naturally in the pressure cooker.
Once the chicken has cooled enough to handle, take it out and put it on a wood cutting board. Pick the meat off the bones and dice it up. (Save the bones and cooking liquid for making chicken bone brother later!) Taste the meat for seasoning.
In a cast iron skillet on top of the stove, add olive oil and heat to medium-low or medium heat. While it's heating, get your flour tortillas and cheese ready.
Once the skillet is hot, place a tortilla in the skillet, spread chicken on top, and add additional salt and pepper, if desired. Then add slices of cheese to cover the chicken, and add a second tortilla on top. Let it cook for about 3 minutes until the tortilla is golden brown. Then flip it over and cook an additional 3 minutes.
When the cheese is melted and the tortillas are golden brown, remove the quesadilla to a plate and start another quesadilla by following the same steps.
Let the quesadillas cool for a couple minutes, and then cut into wedges using sharp kitchen scissors. Serve with sliced avocado, salsa, sour cream, or fresh cilantro, as desired. It serves 4 people as a main course, or 6-8 people as a side dish.