Cheesy Avocado Quesadillas
Easy, no-fuss quesadillas that are perfectly crisp and amazingly cheesy. An absolute must for those busy weeknights!
I remember living off of quesadillas back in college. It was nothing fancy. All I really needed was two slices of tortilla and a cheese slice or two. That’s it. And it only cost me $1 or so.
But these quesadillas here. Boy, I can’t help but wonder how much my college experience would have improved with these bad boys here.
The ground beef is crumbled in taco seasoning and sits on a layer of creamy refried beans, not to mention the abundant avocado goodness on top, sandwiched in between two tortillas baked to absolute crisp perfection.
It’s simply quesadilla heaven right here. And something I plan to have every single night this week. After all, I have a lot of lost time to make up for.
Cheesy Avocado Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 tablespoon Old El Paso™ taco seasoning mix
- 1 (4.5-ounce) can Old El Paso™ chopped green chiles, drained
- 8 (8-inch) Old El Paso™ flour tortillas for burritos
- 1 (16-ounce) can Old El Paso™ refried beans, heated
- 2 avocados, peeled, halved, seeded and sliced
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks. Drain excess fat and stir in taco seasoning and green chiles; set aside.
- Top tortilla with refried beans, ground beef mixture, avocado and mozzarella, and then top with another tortilla. Repeat with remaining tortillas to make 4 quesadillas.
- Place quesadillas onto the prepared baking sheet. Place into oven and bake until the cheese has melted, about 8-10 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with cilantro, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Old El Paso. All opinions expressed are my own.
What a great idea! I fixed these today, and they were good! I added Worcester sauce to the meat while browning. I plan to make these again, and I will put 2Tbsp Taco seasoning instead of 1 Tbsp, and/or add Taco Bell sauce to the beef mixture. Tasty and easy recipe- better than drive thru.
I made tonight, Christmas Eve for my small family. OMG! Everybody thought it was sooooo good. I added extra spices and hot sauce. It was the bomb!
These were delicious; simple but different. I added diced red onion, sprayed the pan and top tortilla with Pam which crisped them up nicely, served them with Spanish rice, homemade pico, shredded lettuce and sour cream. It’s a keeper.
Overall a big hit, here are a few learnings. I made the meat just like I would for regular tacos – with the full seasoning packet and water. The flavor came through great. I also chopped half an onion and sautéed first before adding the ground beef and chilies. For the rest of the toppings, the refried beans and avocado have a very similar texture – smooth and creamy – and felt a bit redundant. My kids had also never had cooked/warm avocado and were a bit confused by it. Ha! Recommend choosing one or the other based on taste. Baking in the oven was a great suggestion, seemed much crispier and more restaurant quality that way. I was also able to separate out the gluten free/dairy free items onto another pan for my husband. Used a pizza cutter to cut them into slices. This is a great meal option to use up what you have and not worry about being perfect. Kids loved dipping them in taco sauce and sour cream. Thank you for the inspo!
Very good and easy. My avocado-hating child loved it. Said “Save this recipe, Mom.” : )
This recipe is SO easy and fast. Perfect for weeknights. I’m not a huge avocado fan so I try to dice my avocado into small pieces or slice really thin. My husband absolutely loves this recipe and even my picky 2 year old will eat this. Thanks for yet another great recipe! There hasn’t been a recipe of yours that I’ve tried and haven’t liked!
Made these tonight, so easy and delicious like all of your recipes. Love them all and so easy to follow directions and the ingredients are simple to find. I want to get your Damn Delicious super easy, super fast cookbook BUT can NOT find it anywhere! how come it is not available any longer at any of the book stores? Please help. Thank you
We are trying to get this book stocked ASAP. Thank you so much for your patience! ❤️
These were AMAZING and so easy to make. They are also filling, which is great, I made too much! Thanks for another great recipe!
I have your cookbook and try your recipes all the time! I stumbled across this one when searching for easy meals to make with ground beef and boy, was it not only easy… it was “Damn Delicious!” And that is no joke. The flavors came together beautifully and it took no time at all -it really was the perfect weeknight meal! Thank you so much for constantly supplying us with delicious recipes to keep us, our families and our stomachs happy!
Thank you!
This is gonna be a big hit with my hubby. I’m always looking for some sort of mexican fare and this is beyond good. I only substitute colby/jack cheese since it gives it a more “mexicanny” taste. I’m also lazy and instead of heating up the house on these 100 plus degree days I just pan fry them, using burrito shells and folding them in half after filling them. And for on the go, just wrap them like a burrito, yum. Damn Delicious. What I love about your recipes is that you can tweak them with more favorite ingredients (like the cheese) and it still tastes Damn Delicious.
Happy to hear you love the site and are making our recipes your own! Thanks, Anne!
Hi Chunguh, my name is Fay. I’m watching my calorie intake to take some weight off and I’m a little confused about the calories on these cheesy avocado quesadilla’s. In the beginning where you’re talking about them, you said a half of one had like 219 calories. But under the nutritional info, it says more like 437 for a half of one. At least that’s the way I took it. Could you please clear this up for me? I’d appreciate that very much and I thank you for your time!
Hi Fay! The recipe yields 4 quesadillas = 8 servings. So 1/2 quesadilla = 437.2 calories. Hope that helps!
Hi! If I’m making this for a football party could I make and keep them warm in a crock pot separated by foil or would they get soggy? Is there any way to keep them warm and accessible to people without ruining the texture?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Tried this tonight. Something different I had not tried. I liked it!
Your recipes are always amazing!! I can’t wait to try this one soon.
These sound so good. I need to get out of my beef hamburger rut. Will be making these soon, I already know my hubby will love theses, anything Mexican and cheese he’s Dow with it,,, thanks !!!
I tried this once before and it was a little too plain for me so I added mild salsa and it gave it more flavour. This time, I added guacamole and mild salsa and honestly so delicious! I recommend to add if you want a little more flavour. Thanks for the recipe !
these were ahhhhmazingly good! Just finished eating these. Followed the recipe to a tee but cut the recipe in half, going to make them again for dinner tommarow. My husband said if reminds him of a Mexican pizza from Taco Bell, but 100x’s better.
(Please forgive me while I become one of those “I absolutely loved this recipe – I only changed all of the ingredients and it was perfect!” people, but….. I did absolutely love this recipe and also changed a few things)
The hubby and I made these for supper as we were looking for a compromise between tacos and grilled sandwiches and landed on quesadillas. A couple minutes on Pinterest later (as per usual) I landed on these heavenly photos. They were delicious! My husband loves anything taco and also love avocados. He said this is his new favorite quesadilla — pretty high praise!
We subbed a can of smashed black beans for the refried beans (in efforts to be a tad healthier), used a whole packet of taco seasoning (because I didn’t read the recipe well enough and I’m addicted to sodium), and put chopped cilantro on top with the avocado (because I failed to read the recipe that said it was just a garnish and I bought a whole bundle of it). After reading the reviews that thought these were bland, I’m glad I added in the extra seasoning and cilantro. We used large tortillas, folded them in half and just grilled them in a frying pan till they were crispy on both sides. Even with cutting them into slices they stayed together nicely and weren’t messy at all.
I thought they were the perfect blend of warm gooey taco and fresh summer ingredients. We didn’t have sour cream or salsa (which would be good as well) and I thought they still tasted great! Thanks so much for the supper idea 🙂
Your changes sound amazing – will definitely have to try your version for next time!
Drained black beans before smashing?
That picture makes me want to me quesadillas right now, try chorizo instead of beef, only chorizo, cheese and avocado and if u like hot u could add hot sauce or a home made salsa. Delicious
It goes good for flour tortilla and corn tortilla
Question – would these reheat well, if frozen with the avocado’s?
This is really best when served immediately.
Although tasty I found it a little dry. Next time I will add some water to the taco mix (I used a sachet
of Old Epaso taco mix). Will also add some salsa to the mince to give it more flavour and moisture. Great recipe though
And my husband enjoyed it as well.
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I loved the addition of refried beans and avocados. I used a fiesta cheese blend and a mexican cheese blend (ran out of the former), but it still worked well in place of mozzarella. This recipe definitely needs some tweaking though – add more taco seasoning or more salt. It was a little bland, but more salt would’ve enhanced the flavor. I did use a low sodium taco seasoning, so that may have contributed to the blandness?? Regardless, taste test and adjust to your liking. Also, instead of baking it in the oven, I’d heat it in a pan to get that nice color on the tortillas.
I liked the idea of these and made for lunch today. My son instantly said they were bland after one bite, and I have to agree. Everyone added salsa annd hot sauce. One tbsp of taco seasoning is not very much. Mozzarella cheese has very little flavor although it melts nicely. I loved the beans and avocado so I will try these again. Next time I will add more taco seasoning to the meat and use a Mexican cheese blend.
These were delicious…thanks for sharing!
Another great recipe!
Loved how easy it is to make, really a carefree recipe.
I left out the beans (bought the wrong ones) and added garlic to the seasoning (cause I love garlic).
Next time I might add some peppers or tomatoes inside or a have a tomato salad wit some sour cream on the side.
Thank you!
Made these today with homemade pico de gallo and sour cream,Delicious! Thanks.
I made your recipe this weekend twice because my boyfriend and I love them so much!! Had enough of the food to make 2 more quesadillas another day. I added chopped jalapenos to the beef and instead of taco seasoning I love Hidden Valley Fiesta Ranch Dip Mix. If you have never tried, you MUST!!!! I also added sauteed onions seasoned with garlic salt and garlic powder and instead of refried beans I made them with refired black beans. Did not garnish with cilantro because I forgot to buy it but garnished with sour cream and Sriracha. Supposed to make lunch for work tomorrow and I’m going to prep everything tonight and put together and grill them tomorrow at work. Thank you for your wonderful recipe!!! Shred it with my foodie mom and foodie friend and they are excited to try it. Can’t wait to try your other recipes!!!
I just happen to have a pound of ground turkey breast I need to use & these look PERFECT & delicious! Thanks for a fabulous recipe!
These were AMAZING, thank you! Will make again and again.
These are exactly what I needed for dinner tonight! Thanks for another amazing recipe!
oh these were so good!
I HAVE MADE SO MANY OF YOUR CHICKEN RECIPES THAT I WAS STARTING TO GROW FEATHERS! SO I DECIDED TO TRY THIS AND GLAD I DID! WILL MAKE AGAIN AND AGAIN!
LOL
AGAIN EASY INGRIEDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS AND HARDLY ANY TIME AT ALL FROM COOK TIME TO THE PLATE GREAT FOR A LAZY NIGHT!
THE ONLY THING I USED THAT WAS DIFFERENT WAS CHEESE I USED SHREDDED COLBY AND MONTEREY JACK BECAUSE THATS WHAT I HAD IN THE FRIDGE.
Making these tonight
I just discovered how quick and easy and totally wonderful these are for dinner.
I love this combo. I could turn green from all the avocados I eat.
O.K. Now I have to eat this for lunch. And I had some perfectly good leftovers I was going to eat, too. Now they’ll have to be leftover for another day. I won’t be sad.
Gloriously messy and delicious! Soooo flavorful. Was a bit skeptical of the mozzarella (no cheddar?) but it was just right. I couldn’t find the chopped green chiles, so I improvised and used canned green Mexican salsa. YUM — will make this often.
This is a great Friday night recipe! I made it last night for Dh and myself and we loved it. Quick, simple, tasty – you can’t beat that. Thanks – Aimster
Wow! I cannot wait to try these myself! I love avocado but have a hard time thinking of things to put it into…er…sneak it into with my boyfriend whose not a huge fan. This is a great way to turn him on to them!
This post comes at a perfect time! I have been obsessed with quesadillas lately but have been running out of ideas. This gives me new inspiration!
Made this yesterday…It was great.
Soul sisters! I definitely was a quesadilla chef in college as well. I’d make them for about four or five of my friends on a snowy afternoon. My roommate still raves about them. I love the idea of adding refried beans to the quesadillas. I don’t eat red meat, but I’m sure that chicken or turkey could be subbed in. 🙂
This is on the menu for this week! I am a sucker for anything avocado:). I have tried around a dozen of your recipes, and my family has loved everything!!! I am so glad to have found your site, and your recipes have filled up my “food” Pinterest board.
Another amazing recipe to try! This is in my bookmarks bar reminding me to make em this week!!
What a joy to have found your website. I can’t wait to try your lemon chicken
and the quesadillas! And I was going to start a diet this month………ha.
I am making these today! I read the recipe to my husband and he’s all in! It sounds so good to have on a relaxing Sunday afternoon! Thanks for the wonderful idea.
I can’t tell you how happy I am to have found your site! I have made several (about 9 or 10) of your recipes so far and everyone is “Damn Delicious” not joking! I love the fact you use easy, simple ingredients that are easy to find and include such beautiful photos and instructions. Enjoying your breakfast taquitos right now (with champagne of course…it’s Sunday). Second time I’ve made them and my husband and I are amazed how flavorful they are! I look forward to your emails each day and today’s did not disappoint. Can’t wait to try these quesadillas. Thank you for making my meal planning so much easier and my meals so much tastier. I hope you are still doing this for years to come!
I love quesadillas too….but I often don’t go beyond just cheese! Time for me to add more!
Yum! It’s like a burrito quesadilla! Thanks for the idea! Looks great!
I need me some tortillas! Have been wondering what to use the cheese in the fridge for, this looks more than legit! 😀 x
I love quesadillas and your stunning photos make me hungry. My favorite ones are made with duck confit but your recipe looks delicious.