Chicken Quesadillas

Chicken quesadillas. This post has been compensated by Inmar Intelligence and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MyMazolaMarinade

Chicken quesadillas are perfect for making on the grill. Cook them all summer long and enjoy them for your backyard barbecues. Today we’re making a marinade for the chicken using Mazola® Corn Oil and taco spices. A clinical study showed Mazola Corn Oil reduces cholesterol 2x more than extra virgin olive oil. To learn more about this claim, visit Mazola.com.

When we think of summer barbecuing we often think of hamburgers, hot dogs, steak, and chicken. But what do we do with these meats to take them up a notch?

Sure, we can just toss some rubs and BBQ sauce on and call it a day, but why not go the extra step and create something doubly-delicious?

Chicken quesadillas are really easy to make and will take your barbecue chicken to a whole new level!

Try making these with smoked chicken wings, too!

These BBQ quesadillas are a perfect, fresh, and light meal for those hot summer days of backyard fun.

An easy to whip up lunch or dinner that the whole family will love.

Chicken Marinade

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Making a chicken marinade is real easy to do.

Adding spices like cumin, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and paprika to corn oil and marinating the chicken beforehand will produce layers of flavor you’re looking for.

Cover and place the marinating chicken in the refrigerator for 2 hours, up to overnight, for awesome flavor absorption.

Ingredients

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This marinade will work for 1 large or 2 small chicken breast, butterflied – cut down the center and opened up. We’re pounding out the chicken with a meat mallet to 1/4 inch to reduce the thickness for our quesadillas.

• 1/2 Cup Mazola Corn Oil
• 1 Tbsp cumin
• 1/2 Tbsp Paprika
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder

Alternatively, you can use the corn oil and mix it with a pre-made taco seasoning.

Mazola Corn Oil is a heart-healthy* cooking oil and creates marinades that make great-tasting food because it has a neutral taste that lets the natural flavor of your food stand out.

Directions

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• Place all ingredients into a bowl or zipper bag and mix
• Add chicken, flip and coat well
• Marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for two hours, up to overnight

Making your own marinade is really simple and worth the effort.

Now let’s get onto making the best chicken quesadillas!

Chicken Quesadillas Recipe

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Now that we have our chicken marinated, let’s get cooking on the grill and assemble our chicken quesadillas.

You might also like:

• Grilling Drumsticks
• Grilled Chicken Recipes

Ingredients

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• Marinated chicken
• Flour tortillas
• Mazola Corn Oil
• Mexican cheese
• Pico de Gallo (or fresh salsa, tomatoes and peppers, or whatever you have on hand)
• BBQ sauce
• Sour cream

See ingredient amounts below along with the printable recipe. Because Mazola Corn Oil has a high smoke point of 450 degrees F., it’s ideal for grilling and stir-frying at high temperatures.

I urge you to make this recipe your own by using whatever you might have on hand. Swap out the fresh pico for your own fresh ingredients like tomatoes and peppers, or you can even make your own no-yeast tortillas!

The possibilities are endless. Add your favorite ingredients!

Directions

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Fire up your grill to med-high heat for gas, and set up for indirect cooking over charcoal.

Grill The Chicken

Cook the chicken. The internal temperature of the chicken should be 165 degrees F. Because we butterflied and pounded the chicken down thinner, this should only take a few minutes on each side.

Once the chicken is cooked, if cooking on gas, reduce the heat to low at this time.

Quesadilla Filling

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Next, remove the chicken from the grill and cut it into 1/2 inch pieces.

Mix the chicken, sour cream, BBQ sauce, and Pico together in a bowl to make your quesadilla filling.

Grill Tortillas

Brush one side of your tortillas with Mazola Corn Oil. Place the tortillas on the grill grates oiled side down over low or indirect heat.

This is where I love breaking out my grill mat. Using a grill mat prevents things like cheese and filling ingredients from dropping down into the grill, and gives a more even char over the bottom of the tortillas.

Top all tortillas with cheese.

Top two tortillas with the quesadilla filling.

As the cheese begins to melt, start checking the bottom for beautiful grill marks or charring.

Once you see browning or grill marks and the cheese is melted, place the cheese-only tortillas on top of the filling topped tortillas, sandwiching the filling between.

Remove the quesadillas from the grill.

Cut Quesadillas Into Wedges

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Move the quesadillas to a cutting board and cool for two minutes before cutting into wedges.

Because we want you to make this your own, serve with whatever dipping sauce you love. From BBQ sauce to salsa, or even ranch dressing!

We had these chicken quesadillas for dinner last night. This morning my wife and I were on the back porch getting some fresh air, and she said she couldn’t believe how good these were (and that’s saying something)! We’re definitely going to work these into our summer cookout schedule.

Go ahead, give them a try and get more inspiration from our wonderful sponsors at Mazola here.

You might also like:

• Garlic Pasta with Popcorn Shrimp
• Layered Crunchy Shrimp Tostadas
• Grilled Turkey Burgers with Tomato Buns
• Cedar Plank Shrimp Over Alfredo Zoodles

*see Mazola.com for more information on the relationship between corn oil and heart health.