Apple Chicken Quesadilla

Kid-friendly Chicken Apple Quesadillas! Toasted flour tortillas with melted cheese, apple slices, chicken, and salsa.

By
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.
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Updated February 16, 2021
Elise Bauer
Apple Chicken Quesadilla
Elise Bauer

I was charged with providing lunch for several kids (ages 4, 6, 7, and 9) a few days ago and prepared for them one of my favorite quickie lunches—chicken and apple quesadillas.

Kids Love Apple Quesadillas

The kids gobbled them up, and one of them, Teddy, exclaimed loudly after the first one, "Elise, you HAVE to put these on your website!" The others nodded in agreement, while busily chomping away.

Quesadillas are typically made with just tortillas and cheese (in Mexico typically one would use corn tortillas, closer to the border flour tortillas are often used).

Apple Chicken Quesadilla
Elise Bauer

I first started adding thin slices of apples to my quesadillas decades ago. Apples and cheese naturally go well together in general, and they are just as good together in a quesadilla.

Add a few strips of cooked chicken and a little salsa, and you have a perfect easy meal!

So for all you quesadilla-loving kids out there, here you go!

For more information on apple varieties, check out our Guide to Apples.

Apple Chicken Quesadilla

Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 5 mins
Total Time 10 mins
Servings 12 triangles

Ingredients

  • 4 Flour tortillas (approximately 8-inches wide)
  • 1 cup cooked, shredded or chopped, chicken meat
  • 1/4 lb cheddar or Monterey jack cheese, sliced or grated
  • 1 apple, sliced
  • 1/4 cup salsa

Method

  1. Heat the tortilla until puffy:

    Heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Place one tortilla in the skillet.

    Flip it a couple of times with a spatula, then let it sit in the pan heating up until air pockets form and parts of the tortilla begin to puff up. Flip it again.

    Elise Bauer
    Elise Bauer
  2. Add cheese and chicken, fold over:

    Place cheese slices on half of the tortilla, at least 1/2-inch from the edge of the tortilla. Add chicken pieces on top of the cheese. Fold the tortilla over like an omelette, and press down on the folded tortilla with the spatula. Lower the heat to medium.

    Elise Bauer
    Elise Bauer

    At this point, if you have enough room in your skillet, you can add a second tortilla to the pan to begin to heat it up.

    Elise Bauer
  3. Add apple slices and salsa, cut into triangles:

    When the cheese inside the quesadilla has melted, remove the quesadilla to a cutting board. Open it wide and layer on apple slices and salsa.

    Elise Bauer
    Elise Bauer

    Fold the tortilla back again, and cut it into 3 triangles, as if you were cutting a pie. (You don't have to cut the quesadilla into triangles, it just makes it easier for kids to eat.)

  4. Repeat with the remaining tortillas
Apple Chicken Quesadilla
Elise Bauer

Piper and her kay-sa-DEE-ya.