Hearty Chipotle Black Bean Quesadillas 

These quesadillas feature a savory, smoky, and slightly spicy black bean spread tucked into in a crispy quesadilla shell with onions and peppers. Using a pureed bean spread instead of whole beans makes these stick together perfectly, even with the vegetables.

Flavored with lime and chipotle, these hearty quesadillas are crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside. They're just a little bit tart and spicy, and the onions and peppers add welcome bulk, color, and flavor.

Top these with some avocado tossed in lime juice, salsa, cilantro, or for the brave, some extra chipotle.

While these are lovely served with tortilla soup, they also stand on their own quite well.

Recipe Info

Servings: Makes two quesadilla rounds, enough for four as an appetizer or two for dinner.

Ingredients

Black bean spread

• One 15 oz cans of black beans (about 3 cups)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 - 1 ½ tablespoons canned chipotle in adobo (depending on how spicy you like it)
• ½ tablespoon cumin
• ½ tablespoon lime juice
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt

Quesadillas

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Red onion, halved and sliced
• Yellow or orange bell pepper, cut into strips
• Flour tortillas - 10” (I like to use sandwich wraps)

Avocado topping (optional)

• One avocado
• Lime juice

Instructions

• Combine all the ingredients for the bean spread in a food processor. Blend, adding just enough water to make a paste about the texture of hummus, about 1-2 tablespoons. Set aside.

• Add olive oil, onions, and bell peppers to a large skillet and saute over medium high heat until soft, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and set aside.

• Put a tortilla on a plate and spread liberally with the black bean spread.

• Add ½ tablespoon olive oil to the skillet and heat over medium heat until shimmering. Place the tortilla with the spread in the pan and top with cooked onions and peppers. Dab the top with a few more tablespoons of bean mixture, top with another tortilla, and press down gently so the tortillas sticks.

• When tortilla is browned, about 5 minutes, flip and cook until the other side is browned.

• When flipping tortillas, I’ve found the easiest method is to slide the tortilla from the pan onto a plate, put another plate upside down over that plate, flip, and then slide back into pan. This also gives you the opportunity to add a bit more oil if needed.

• While the final tortilla is cooking, slice an avocado and toss with ½ tablespoon of lime juice and a little salt and pepper.

• Cut into wedges by cutting in half, then cut each half into thirds so you get six total wedges.

• Serve with salsa or diced tomato, cilantro, the avocado topping, and some extra chipotle in adobo for the brave ones that like it super spicy.

Serving

Serve these black bean quesadillas with lots of toppings. These are wonderful with tortilla soup as a meal- use extra flour tortillas to make crispy oven fried tortilla soup topping. You can also just double the recipe to feed four. If you have any leftover bean spread (unlikely), you can serve it later with chips and salsa for a hearty and delicious snack.

Storing

Store in the fridge up to 3 days.

We'd love to hear what you think of this recipe in the comments, please let us know!

What are your favorite kinds of quesadillas? Do you make them at home often? What's your secret to flipping them? Let's dish in the comments!