Here’s my tip for making quesadillas faster and lower in fat.
Rather than spreading butter (although yummy) on each tortilla, spray it with PAM cooking spray. It takes less than two seconds, as opposed to the 30 that it can take to spread butter, especially if the butter isn’t very soft. And the calorie difference is self-explanatory.
This tip was shared by a friend who learned it from another health-conscious friend. I resisted at first, but in a moment of feeling the need for speed in supper-prep, I gave in, and the taste really isn’t different enough to justify all those extra calories.
And if your husband is like mine and must have meat at every meal, this is a great time to sprinkle some pre-cooked ground beef or leftover fajita chicken that you have in the freezer onto a few of the quesadillas.
If you have an electric griddle that allows you to cook multiple quesadillas at a time, this dinner can truly be ready in minutes.
Off to empty the dishwasher. I’m totally resisting doing it, but I know all too well that if I don’t, I’ll regret it.
If you want to lower the calories on grilled cheese, try melting a little butter in the pan and putting the sandwiches in, rather than putting the butter on the bread itself. It uses a lot less butter, at least for us.
Do you just use ground beef and cheese?
Those look yum!
-Lauren
The kids prefer plain cheese, and for the quickest way to add meat to my husband's, I use the pre-cooked ground beef from the freezer. My favorite is using leftover fajita meat, and for those, I use the carmelized onions from the fajitas in my husband's.
I'm going to try this the next time we make them. Such a simple idea and yet nothing I've ever thought of. I bake mine in the oven on large cookie sheets. 400 degrees for about 10 minutes, flipping them halfway through.
Curious why you spread butter or spray Pam on them. I always cook mine on a cast iron griddle. I lay down the tortilla, put on toppings and top with the other tortilla. No butter or cooking spray needed. The melted cheese holds the two tortillas together.
Same here.
It’s not a sticking issue, it’s a taste issue. I love the flavor butter adds to almost everything, but I honestly think the Pam tastes as good as butter on a quesadilla.
When we were out of bread to make grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup, I used tortillas, sliced with pizza cutter & invented “cheesy triangles.” My kids thought it was special & loved having so many [small] pieces.