Garlic Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Quesadillas
Let’s face it: preparing a delicious dinner every day is a challenge many families face. Even food bloggers. Raise your hand if you’re all about short-cuts in the kitchen!?!
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This week, Land O’Lakes challenged me to share a quick, easy dinner recipe for their new Weeknight Wins Blogger Challenge with Sauté Express® Sauté Starter.
I will be posting about easy Weeknight Wins along with four other food bloggers. You can repin your favorite go-to recipe ideas for each Challenge from our Pinterest Board. Plus, each week there will be a new giveaway for you to win!
Sauté Express® Sauté Starter is a blend of seasoned butter and olive oil that can be used to cook and season meats like chicken, fish, or pork in one easy step.
My challenge this week: create a recipe to highlight this fun new ingredient that can be cooked in 30 minutes or less to “Please Picky Your Eaters.”
I settled on quesadillas. My kids love them and they are fast.
We usually have all of the ingredients on hand for a simple tortilla and cheese quesadilla but I love to make stuff them with all sorts of delicious ingredients, depending on what we have on hand, to round them out into a more nutritious and satisfying meal.
This week we were going with Garlic Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Quesadillas.
Click HERE to save this recipe for Garlic Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Quesadillas to Pinterest!
Chicken tenderloins are my go-to meat on busy days.
Chicken goes with just about anything and the tenderloins are smaller than breasts, so if I haven’t planned ahead I am able to thaw them pretty quickly just before preparing my recipe.
I browned some chicken tenderloins in a pan with Garlic Herb Sauté Express® Sauté Starter.
This gave the chicken a nice flavor without me having to marinade meat ahead of time or take several different bottles of herbs and spices out of the cabinet.
Click HERE to save this recipe for Garlic Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Quesadillas to Pinterest!
I stuffed whole grain tortillas with refried black beans, sliced garlic herb chicken, chopped fresh spinach, purple onion and pepper jack cheese.
My sister has been working like crazy with tax deadlines approaching. Last Saturday she came home from a long day at work and I had this meal ready for her. She said: This hit the spot! I was really craving Mexican.
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Garlic Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Quesadillas
We usually have all of the ingredients on hand for a simple tortilla and cheese quesadilla but I love to make stuff them with all sorts of delicious ingredients, depending on what we have on hand, to round them out into a more nutritious and satisfying meal.
Ingredients
- 2 squares Garlic Herb Sauté Express® Sauté Starter
- 1 pound chicken tenderloins, thawed
- 1 lime, juiced
- 2 ounces chopped fresh baby spinach
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- ¼ of a small purple onion, cut in half and then sliced thin
- 1–14 ounce can refried black beans or homemade black bean spread
- 8 ounces grated Pepper Jack or Monterrey Jack Cheese
- 8 taco sized whole-grain flour tortillas
Instructions
- In a sauté pan, melt the Sauté Express® Sauté Starter over medium heat until it begins to bubble. Add the thawed chicken and cook for 3–5 minutes, or until browned. Turn and cook the other side until browned and the chicken is cooked through. While cooking, brush some of the Sauté Express® Sauté Starter on the side of the chicken facing up.
- Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the chopped spinach, cilantro, and purple onions. Stir until tossed well. Set aside.
- Spread 2 tablespoons of refried black beans on one side of 4 of the tortillas. Set aside.
- After chicken has cooked, slice or shred it into bite-sized pieces. Squeeze the lime over the chicken and stir to coat. Divide the meat between the 4 tortillas and layer it on top of the beans.
- Then, divide the spinach mixture between the 4 tortillas and layer it on top of the chicken. Top with the cheese and then place the remaining tortillas on top of each quesadilla.
To cook the quesadillas:
- In the oven: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Using 1 tablespoon of olive oil, brush each side of the tortillas. Arrange the quesadillas, oiled sides down, on a baking sheet.
- Bake the quesadillas until the tortillas are golden brown and the cheese is melted, turning halfway through, about 8-10 minutes total baking time. Cut into quarters or sixths and serve. Goes great with guacamole and Spanish rice.
- Stovetop: Heat a griddle over medium heat. Grease the griddle with 2 teaspoons olive oil. Cook the quesadillas 2–4 minutes per side, or until the cheese is melted and the tortillas are browned. Cut into quarters or sixths and serve.
- Goes great with guacamole and Spanish rice.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1345Total Fat: 33gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 137mgSodium: 1127mgCarbohydrates: 168gFiber: 54gSugar: 4gProtein: 98g
GoodLifeEats.com offers recipe nutritional information as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although GoodLifeEats.com makes every effort to provide accurate information, these figures are only estimates.
Disclosure: I’ve partnered with Land O’Lakes for an exclusive endorsement of Sauté Express® Sauté Starter. This blog post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes. All opinions are my own.
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Click HERE to save this recipe for Garlic Chicken, Black Bean, and Spinach Quesadillas to Pinterest!
Deborah Jones says
Garlic & Herb or the Lemon Pepper and Steelhead trout. Sauté the trout in the Saute Express for a couple minutes in a skillet turning once. Transfer to an oven safe dish, skin down, and pour remaining drippings over the fish and bake at 425 for 11 minutes, or until fish flakes easily. Serve with rice, salad or as my grandson says, ‘macheese. (Mac and Cheese) The Steelhead trout has a mild, non-fishy flavor that children love. My two year old grandson gobbles this up.
danielle shea says
My picky eaters love my turkey meatloaf. My 2 year old devours it everytime I make it!! I have also used the garlic herb saute express starter for my boneless skinless chicken thighs with baked potatoes and other veggies…..yummy!!!
alicia in lucas says
I made fried chicken tenders using the garlic and herb kind in the pan. It was great.
Oscar Noriega says
Bean and cheese burrito’s
Karen Haynes says
Salad-always salad!
Kim McCallie says
I would use the lemon pepper to make an easy tilapia dish.
Rena says
Mac n cheese is easy for picky eaters! I use whole wheat pasta and reduced fat cheese so it’s not crazy high in calories
Mirien says
My tips for cooking with picky eaters? Make whatever you want, endure the complaining, get them to try some of everything, and repeat–day after day, year after year. My oldest 4 are now great eaters and the youngest two are coming along…
Jen K. says
I think I would saute salmon with the starter…my picky eater devours salmon! Also seems like a little of it would make for a delicious grilled cheese!