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How to Make Easy Vegan Quesadillas

April 23, 2019Updated January 27, 2023 By Nava Atlas Leave a Comment

Easy vegan quesadillas can be the centerpiece of a meal if they’re loaded up, or more lightly filled, they go well with soups and salads. We can think of quesadillas as a Mexican/Southwestern grilled cheese sandwich — in this version, of course, that would mean vegan cheese.

Vegan Quesadillas made on the stovetop

Made with flour tortillas, they’re less bread-y than their grilled cheese sandwich counterparts. And you can slip all manner of veggies into them.

Quesadillas can be cooked on a griddle, if you’re only making one or two. But when you’re feeding a larger family or a small crowd, baking a few at once quickly in a hot oven is more efficient. Here are the basic steps to making easy vegan quesadillas, with many variations. 

Make easy vegan quesadillas, step by step

1. Choose the tortillas you’d like to use. Flour tortillas are most customary for quesadillas; try to choose a whole-grain variety without questionable additives. 8-inch tortillas work well. If you need a gluten-free option, corn tortillas are fine, though they make smaller quesadillas; but then, you can make more if need be.

2. Choose 2 or 3 additional ingredients in addition to cheese for filling quesadillas. Here are some suggestions:

  • Cooked or canned (drained and rinsed) pinto, pink, red, or black beans
  • Lightly cooked fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels
  • Finely diced or thinly sliced tomato
  • Peeled and thinly sliced avocado
  • Sliced black olives
  • Thinly sliced green or red bell peppers
  • Green chiles (use mild or hot canned diced chiles or fresh chile peppers of your choice, seeded and minced)
  • Siced and wilted brown mushrooms
  • Wilted spinach or chard
  • Thinly sliced baked sweet potato
  • Fresh tomato salsa, or your favorite prepared variety (this is optional; you can pass salsa around when serving)
  • Salsa verde (fresh tomatillo salsa)is also delicious with quesadillas

3. If baking in the oven, preheat to 400º F. Arrange four or six 8-inch flour tortillas on two baking sheets. If cooking on a griddle, skip this step, of course.

4. Sprinkle a modest amount of grated cheese over each tortilla — 1/4 to 1/2 cup for the entire quesadilla is about right, depending on the size of the tortillas, so start by using half of that amount for the bottom. Arrange any other ingredients (see suggestions following) over the cheese.

Sprinkle with a little more cheese, and cover with another tortilla. By the way, any flavor of vegan cheese works — cheddar- or mozzarella-style are good; but a spicy variety like pepperjack is even better.

Vegan quesadilla made on the stovetop

5. If using the oven, bake until the tortillas turn golden and crisp on both sides, about 12 to 15 minutes, turning once. If cooking on a griddle on the stovetop, set it over medium-high heat, then cook quesadillas on both sides until crisp and golden. This will take about 5 to 8 minutes per side depending on the heat level of your griddle. If everything is prepped, you can even assemble the quesadilla right on the griddle.

6. To serve, cut each quesadilla into 4 equal wedges. Allow 2 to 4 wedges per serving, depending on what else is being served. Pass around salsa for serving, whether or not you used some inside the quesadilla.

Here are some of my favorite combinations for vegan quesadillas. Assume that you’re also including vegan cheese, and serving with salsa:

  • Avocado and sweet potato
  • Zucchini or summer squash, sweet potato, and corn 
  • Black or pinto beans, corn, and red bell pepper (shown here)
  • Wilted spinach and mushrooms
  • Arugula, tomato, and avocado

Vegan bean and corn quesadillas

Recipe is adapted from Plant Power by Nava Atlas. Photos by Hannah Kaminsky.

If you like these easy quesadillas, you might also enjoy …

Fully Loaded Vegan Nachos

Fully Loaded Vegan Nachos

  • See more tortilla dishes
  • And more vegan Tex-Mex recipes your family will love.

Filed Under: Easy Vegan Recipes, Tortilla Dishes

About Nava Atlas

Nava Atlas is the author of many vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, including 5-Ingredient Vegan, Plant Power, Wild About Greens, Vegan Holiday Kitchen, and many more. A longtime dedicated vegan, find out more about her on this site's About page.

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