Making a bean and cheese quesadilla in a toaster oven is super easy and they turn out absolutely delicious. Just follow these few simple steps.
This week's "Five Ingredients Or Less!" themed edition Works-For-Me Wednesday, I want to share a staple of our weekly menu plan: this Simple Toaster Oven Quesadillas Recipe.
This filling, simple meal hits four food groups: protein (beans), grain (tortilla), veggies (salsa) and dairy (cheese). Not only are they a complete meal in one handheld quesadilla, they're also super quick to make and super yummy!
While you can make these quesadillas in any toaster oven, we especially love them in our convection toaster oven. It's our favorite appliance in our kitchen!
Spread a tortilla evenly with refried beans.
Next, spread salsa over the beans.
Sprinkle top with cheese.
Fold tortilla in half and set on toaster oven rack.
Use the TOAST setting and toast until lightly browned.
After making a few quesadillas in the toaster oven, you may want to adjust the amounts of beans and salsa to suit your preferences.
Our go-to cheese for quesadillas is a bag of Mexican-Style Shredded cheese. We buy the Target Good & Gather brand which includes a blend of Monterey Jack, Cheddar, Queso Quesadilla and Asadero cheeses.
What's even better, but takes a lot more time for preparation, is to freshly grate cheese. You can go with straight-up cheddar or a blend of cheddar and Monterey Jack. Almost any cheese will work in a quesadilla, but we stay away from American cheese because it's just TOO melty and doesn't give that Mexican flavor.
The traditional toppings for quesadillas are sour cream and salsa and you can't go wrong with those!
A great substitute for sour cream is plain Greek yogurt. It's thicker so it holds up like sour cream and the taste is similar. We use this substitute all the time.
When it comes to salsa there are all kinds of varieties from mild to super hot! If you're looking for a totally different salsa flavor, try our Cranberry Salsa Recipe.
My husband's favorite quesadilla topping is guacamole. You can buy it prepared from the grocery store or make your own. If you want to try something that's a hybrid of salsa and guacamole together, try our Chunky Avocado Salsa recipe.