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This steak quesadilla features tender, juicy skirt steak, flavorful veggies, and tons of melty cheese. All sandwiched within a golden, crispy tortilla.
Crispy, golden tortillas. Tender juicy skirt steak. Flavorful fajita veggies. And beautiful melty cheese.
These steak quesadillas are a happy mash up of steak fajitas, meets classic cheese quesadilla. A fun, and insanely flavorful dinner idea that will have everyone craving more. While it might seem like there’s a lot of steps, these really do come together fairly easily on the stovetop.
If you have leftover steak, all the better! But we’re including instructions on making the steak in the recipe below.
Ingredients Needed for a Steak Quesadilla
Homemade Fajita Seasoning
- Fajita Seasoning: this homemade fajita seasoning blend is the perfect blend of chiles, and spices. It’s used to season the steak and the fajita veggies for the quesadilla.
Steak Quesadilla Filling Ingredients
- Steak: while this steak quesadilla can be made with any leftover steak you may have (possibly some leftover carne asada?), let’s walk through how to make this completely from scratch. Skirt steak, or flank steak make great options since our quesadilla has a fajita theme.
- Bell Peppers & Onion: you can use any color of bell pepper you choose. Chop up the bell peppers, this makes it easier to bite into the quesadilla. Thinly slice the yellow onion.
- Flour Tortillas: use either homemade flour tortillas or store-bought. Another option would be to use the store-bought tortillas that you cook yourself, which would need to be cooked before assembling the quesadillas.
- Cheese: Queso Quesadilla is a great melting, mild flavored, Mexican cheese that as its name implies makes great quesadillas. Another option would be to use Oaxaca, which is another Mexican cheese. If you are unable to find those, Monterey Jack is a great substitute.
How to Make a Steak Quesadilla
- Prepare the skirt steak by evenly seasoning both sides of the meat. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and cook the steak for 3-5 minutes per side until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 130 degrees F.
- Remove the steak from the skillet after cooking and allow to rest on the cutting board for 10 minutes before cutting. Then slice and chop the meat for using in the quesadilla.
- After the meat has cooked, add the onion and peppers to the same skillet, sprinkle them with the remaining fajita seasoning and sauté them until they are softened, approximately 5-7 minutes.
- Make the quesadillas by heating a flour tortilla on a comal or skillet, then adding cheese, steak and fajita veggies on one side. After the tortilla has warmed and is nice and pliable, fold the tortilla over and gently press down. Continue cooking flipping so that both sides get toasted and golden.
Serving Ideas
- Dipping Sauces: dip your fajita steak quesadilla into your sauce of choice, salsa, guacamole, mexican crema, avocado crema, cilantro lime sauce, chipotle crema, or our tangy quesadilla sauce.
- Side Dishes: vegetables and fruits are a great side dish when serving these quesadillas as a main dish. Some options to try include our Mexican Salad, Fruit Salad, Elotes, and Roasted Mexican Vegetables.
- Drinks: cold and refreshing Agua Fresca, classic horchata or a strawberry horchata, a classic lime margarita or the Texas margarita will all pair nicely.
- Dessert: finish out the meal with some fresas con crema, dulce de leche ice cream, or fried ice cream.
Storage Information
- Storage: store leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
- Freezing: store cooked quesadillas in a large freezer bag, separated by sheets of parchment paper to help prevent them from sticking. Store for up to 2 months. Remove from the freezer and thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
- Make Ahead Instructions: prep ahead of time by making your quesadillas and storing in the refrigerator. Reheat in a skillet over medium on the stovetop until cheese is melted and tortillas are crisp.
- Reheating: reheat cold quesadillas by placing on a warm skillet and cooking until cheese is melted and the tortilla has crisped back up.
More Tex Mex Recipes
Steak Quesadilla
This steak quesadilla features tender, juicy skirt steak, flavorful veggies, and tons of melty cheese. All sandwiched within a golden, crispy tortilla.
Ingredients
Fajita Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon mexican oregano
Steak Fajitas
- 1½ pound skirt steak or flank steak
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 2 bell peppers color of choice, chopped, seeds and membranes removed
- ½ yellow onion thinly sliced
Steak Quesadillas
- 8 8 inch flour tortillas
- 1½ cup quesadilla cheese or Monterey Jack, shredded
Optional Toppings for Serving
- sour cream
- guacamole
- salsa
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine the spices for the fajita seasoning.
- Pat the steak dry on both sides.
- Evenly sprinkle the fajita seasoning on both sides of the steak (there will be some seasoning left for the onions and peppers). Let this sit for 15-20 minutes while prepping the rest of the recipe.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with one tablespoon of avocado oil.
- Add the steak in the skillet and cook on each side for approximately 3-5 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 130 degrees F.
- Remove the steak and place on a cutting board, loosely cover with foil or parchment paper and let rest.
- While the steak rests, cook the bell peppers and onions in the same skillet. Drizzle the skillet with the avocado oil, add the peppers and onions, and sprinkle with the remaining seasoning.
- Stir to coat the peppers and onions in the seasoning. Cook for 5-7 minutes until softened.
- Slice the steak thinly against the grain and then give a rough chop to make bite size pieces.
- Prepare the quesadillas by placing a flour tortilla on a clean comal or skillet heated over medium heat. Sprinkle half of the tortilla with the shredded cheese, then add a layer of chopped steak, top with the peppers and onions, then sprinkle with additional cheese.
- Fold the tortilla over and cook for 2-3 minutes until toasted, and golden.
- Flip and continue cooking the other side an additional 2-3 minutes until cheese is completely melted and both sides of the tortilla are toasted and golden.
- Continue cooking in batches until all tortillas are cooked.
- Serve quesadillas with any additional toppings or sauces as desired.
Notes
Storage: store leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
Freezing: store cooked quesadillas in a large freezer bag, separated by sheets of parchment paper to help prevent them from sticking. Store for up to 2 months. Remove from the freezer and thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Make Ahead Instructions: prep ahead of time by making your quesadillas and storing in the refrigerator. Reheat in a skillet over medium on the stovetop until cheese is melted and tortillas are crisp.
Reheating: reheat cold quesadillas by placing on a warm skillet and cooking until cheese is melted and the tortilla has crisped back up.
Nutrition
Calories: 789kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 65g | Fat: 44g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 202mg | Sodium: 1592mg | Potassium: 761mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 2278IU | Vitamin C: 77mg | Calcium: 749mg | Iron: 6mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Photography by the talented ModernFarmhouseEats
