Steak Quesadilla
These Steak Quesadillas are the perfect weekday lunch or dinner recipe! It only requires marinated steak and a few common ingredients to create a crunchy, juicy flavorful meal that is perfect when you’re looking for a quick and easy lunch or dinner!
Melted cheese and marinated steak sandwiched between crunchy tortillas? That alone is pretty great, but it isn’t what I love most about this recipe. This Steak Quesadilla recipe serves as a great base recipe that you can then customize yourself based on your personal preference or even what leftovers you already have in your refrigerator. You can add vegetables, cheeses or even swap protein choices. You will probably love this recipe even more once you’re finished and realize there is minimal mess to clean up afterward!
What You Will Love About This Recipe
- Quick and Easy. This recipe only requires a few common ingredients, can even utilize leftovers, and is ready in only 35 minutes.
- Customizable. This is a great recipe to customize with a few vegetables of your choice or even substitute the steak for another protein such as shrimp or chicken.
- Healthy. This base recipe is a great blend of lean meat and a sensible portion of carbs, but it is at its best when customizing with a few veggies of your choice to create a healthy, well-rounded meal.
Ingredients for Steak Quesadilla Recipe
These are all the ingredients you will need to make Steak Quesadillas. Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the page to see the exact amounts for each ingredient.
- Flank Steak: Other cuts like skirt, round, or other lean, thin beef cuts could work too but we recommend flank steak
- Cooking oil: Any neutral oil will work. We prefer avocado or olive oil. Avocado oil will be excellent with this recipe.
- Shredded Mexican blend cheese: You can use shredded cheddar, Monterey jack, or any other blend of cheese you’d like. A dash of cojita cheese, in addition to the shredded cheese, would also be super tasty!
- Tortillas: Low-carb, flour, flavored or gluten free tortillas will work. On a gluten free diet, you could use Mission GF tortillas
- Spices: garlic powder, smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt, black pepper
How to Make a Steak Quesadilla
In addition to the ingredients listed above you will need a bowl or ziplock bag, skillet, cutting board, and knife. To make this delicious, crunchy steak quesadilla recipe follow the step-by-step guide below.
Marinate the steak
Combine the steak, 2 tbsp oil, and seasonings in a large bowl or ziplock bag. Toss to coat the steak evenly, then marinate in the fridge for 4-8 hours. Marinating does not just help add flavor, it also helps to tenderize the meat resulting in a tastier dish.
Cook the steak
Heat the remaining oil in a large skillet or grill pan over medium heat. Add the steak and cook for 4-5 minutes per side. The best way to know when your steak is done is to use a meat thermometer. Here’s a simple guide to temperatures and doneness:
- Medium Rare: 135 degrees F or 57 degrees C
- Medium: 145 degrees F or 63 degrees C
- Medium Well: 150 degrees F or 66 degrees C
- Well: 160 degrees F or 71 degrees C
Once you remove the steak from the grill, transfer to a plate and allow it to rest for 10 minutes. This gives the juices a chance to settle, ensuring your meat isn’t dry. Slice the rested steak against the grain into ½ inch pieces and divide into 4 equal portions.
Make the Quesadillas
Heat a clean skillet over medium-low heat, and spray with cooking spray. Place one tortilla in the pan, then sprinkle with ½ cup of cheese. Sprinkle one portion of the steak onto the cheese, then sprinkle another ½ cup of cheese. Top with another tortilla and cook 2-3 minutes on each side of the tortilla, or until the tortilla is golden brown on both sides and the cheese is melted through.
Serve
Continue until all 4 quesadillas are cooked. Then serve with guacamole, salsa, and sour cream! Some great side dishes include:
- Seasoned Black Beans– This healthy, easy black bean recipe includes canned black beans simmered in spices. This recipe is perfect to combine with these Steak Quesadillas.
- Sweet Corn Salsa– This salsa is packed with grilled sweet corn, fresh tomatoes and lime juice. You will love this salsa with chips, tacos and wraps!
- Copycat Taco Bell Creamy Jalapeno Sauce– This easy recipe makes a Taco Bell Creamy Jalapeno Sauce copycat you’ll want to put on everything! This would be great to use as a dip with your Steak Quesadillas!
Storage and Reheating Instructions
After allowing to cool to room temperature, this steak can be stored in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days after cooking. Leftover tortillas do not store well. The steak can also be transferred to a freezer-safe container, frozen, and enjoyed within 3-6 months for the best texture.
For fresh, delicious leftovers, reserve some of the marinade (BEFORE the raw meat goes in it) or make a double batch to store in the fridge. Pour the marinade you reserved over the leftover steak. Then warm it covered in the oven (350 degrees F) until it reaches about 120-125 degrees F. If under a time crunch, you can also microwave in 20-second increments at 50% power until warmed to your desired level. Use the recipe instructions to prepare fresh tortillas to serve with the leftovers!
Tips and Tricks for the Best Steak Quesadillas
- Customize. This recipe has endless options to customize based on your preferences. Add some vegetables like bell pepper, mushrooms, onions, or broccoli. In addition to the shredded cheese we recommended, some cojita cheese would also be amazing. You can even substitute shrimp or chicken if you don’t have steak or are craving a different protein!
- Cut Steak Against the Grain. By cutting the steak against the grain, you will create the best texture for eating. The meat is less chewy and more tender. Once you have identified the direction of the muscle fibers, you will cut your slices of steak perpendicular to the direction of the fibers.
- Properly Marinate the Steak. Marinating your steak, is the easiest and most common shortcut to take when preparing recipes that require marination. It is understandable that some people take this shortcut when under a time crunch. You may still come out with a decent steak flavor, but we aren’t looking for just “decent” are we? For the BEST steak quesadillas, we highly encourage you marinate them for at least 4 hours and ideally closer to 8 hours.
Steak Quesadilla Recipe FAQ
This recipe can easily be made gluten free by using gluten free tortillas. We recommend the Mission Gluten Free tortillas.
Yes, just ensure you use low carb tortillas such as the Mission Carb Balance Tortillas.
After allowing to cool to room temperature, any leftover steak can be transferred to a freezer-safe container and enjoyed within 3-6 months for the best texture.
Make sure the skillet is hot when you add the tortilla. Cooking the steak to medium well versus rare will result in less liquid and will help reduce soggyness.
Get the Recipe: Steak Quesadilla
Ingredients
Quesadilla Ingredients
- 4 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
- 8 tortillas, regular, gluten free, low carb or flavored
- Cooking spray or butter
Marinade
- 1 lb flank steak
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp EACH garlic powder, smoked paprika, chili powder
- ½ tsp EACH cumin, and salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Combine the steak, 2 tbsp oil, and seasonings in a large bowl or ziplock bag. Toss to coat the steak evenly, then marinate in the fridge for 4-8 hours.
- Heat the remaining 2 tbsp oil in a large skillet or grill pan over medium heat. Add the steak, and cook for 4-5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
- Slice the rested steak against the grain into ½ inch pieces and divide into 4 equal portions.
- Heat a clean skillet over medium-low heat, and spray with cooking spray or butter. Place one tortilla in the pan, then sprinkle with ½ cup of cheese. Sprinkle one portion of the steak onto the cheese, then sprinkle another ½ cup of cheese. Top with another tortilla and cook 2-3 minutes on each side of the tortilla, or until the tortilla is golden brown on both sides and the cheese is melted through.
- Continue until all 4 quesadillas are cooked. Then serve with guacamole, salsa, and/or sour cream!
Notes
- This recipe can serve 4 large tortillas or 8 half quesadillas.
- The total time does not reflect the marinade time. Although it’s not essential to marinade the beef, it does yield more flavor!
- You can use shredded cheddar, Monterey jack, or any other blend of cheese you’d like!
- Leftover quesadillas don’t keep that well in the fridge, but the steak does for up to 3 days!
- This recipe makes 8 servings (each serving is 1/2 of a quesadilla). When made with a Carb Balance tortilla, each serving has 5.4 net carbs.
