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Close up front shot of Taco Bell Chicken Quesadilla with homemade Quesadilla sauce.

Taco Bell Chicken Quesadilla (with Taco Bell Quesadilla Sauce)

5 from 3 votes
Taco Bell Chicken Quesadilla (with Taco Bell Quesadilla Sauce) is extra cheesy, flavorful, and slightly spicy using simple ingredients you probably already have on hand.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Mexican
Calories: 466
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup plain non-fat Greek Yogurt
  • 1 ½ tablespoon pickled jalapenos minced
  • 1 ½ tablespoon pickled jalapeno juice/brine
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes more for seasoning chicken
  • ½ teaspoon salt more for seasoning chicken
  • ½ teaspoon pepper more for seasoning chicken
  • 1 lb chicken (breast or thighs)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 flour tortillas taco sized
  • ½ cup cheddar cheese shredded
  • ½ cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded

Method
 

  1. In a small bowl mix together first ten ingredients to make Taco Bell Quesadilla Sauce.
  2. Season chicken with a little salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
  3. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute chicken until cooked through.
  4. Mix chicken with ½ - ⅔ Taco Bell Quesadilla sauce. Reserve rest of sauce for dipping.
  5. In a large skillet, spray with nonstick, and add bottom tortilla.
  6. Top tortilla with ¼ of the shredded cheese.
  7. Add ½ of the chicken.
  8. Add another ¼ of shredded cheese.
  9. Top with second tortilla.
  10. Cook about two minutes per side or until cheese is melted and tortilla is desired crispiness.
  11. Repeat with second quesadilla.
  12. Slice into wedges and serve with sauce.

Notes

Chicken

You can prepare the chicken for this recipe however you like. I typically season mine with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes then sauté in a skillet on the stovetop. Using shredded chicken prepared in an Instant Pot or crock-pot/slow cooker works great too. Grilled chicken is another option. In the summer months we often grill chicken to use throughout the week for a variety of different recipes, this being one! Chicken breast or chicken thighs both work.

Tortillas

I recommend using flour tortillas over corn tortillas for this Taco Bell Chicken Quesadilla. You have a few options on size though. You can use a large burrito sized tortilla, adding ingredients to one side then folding the other side over top. Or you can use two regular taco sized tortillas (as pictured here), one for the top, one for the bottom. If you want mini quesadillas for serving kids or as bite sized party food, try street taco size.

Cheese

I cannot stress enough how much better shredding your own fresh cheese is as opposed to the bag kind. If pre-shredded cheese is what you have on hand or prefer to use, then that’s fine. Use a three-cheese Mexican variety. However, I highly HIGHLY recommend getting a couple blocks and shredding yourself. The taste is so much better, and the cheese melts more efficiently. Since melty cheese is one of the requirements for Taco Bell Chicken Quesadillas, and since the cheese makes up a large part of the flavor, this is the way to go. I typically use Sharp Cheddar, Pepperjack, and/or Monterey cheese for these quesadillas.

Taco Bell Quesadilla Sauce (aka Creamy Jalapeno Sauce)

The star of the show is truly the Taco Bell Quesadilla Sauce. To make this quick sauce you’ll need plain non-fat Greek yogurt, pickled jalapenos, pickled jalapeno juice/brine, chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, salt, and red pepper flakes.
In case you don’t already have some, pickled jalapenos are found in a jar typically where you’ll find pickles at your local grocery store. The jalapeno juice required for this quesadilla sauce is just the juice (brine) in the jar. No need to buy two separate things!

Variations and Substitutions

Protein

While this Taco Bell Chicken Quesadilla recipe obviously calls for chicken, the best part about making this recipe at home is customization! Use steak, barbacoa, carnitas or ground beef instead if you want. I have great recipes for barbacoa and carnitas already on C&C! You can also omit the protein for a vegetarian cheese quesadilla.

Greek Yogurt vs Mayo in Taco Bell Quesadilla Sauce

Taco Bell’s Quesadilla Sauce recipe includes mayo, as do most other recipes I’ve seen. I’ve made it with mayo and with Greek Yogurt and you honestly can’t tell the difference. So, I use Greek Yogurt as it makes this quesadilla sauce, and the chicken quesadilla itself a lot more healthy/low calorie. But you can use either!

Other ingredients

The OG Taco Bell Chicken Quesadilla is pretty simple, which is one of the things I like most about it. But if you’d like to jazz it up a bit, the options are limitless! Try adding fajita vegetables like peppers and onions, toss on some chopped tomatoes, or add black beans. Yum.