Chicken Quesadillas are one of our favorite easy meals.  I decided to give them a different spin by swapping out the Mexican flavors for Italian instead.  Since it’s March Madness time, I’m even more motivated to keep the food simple and fun.

We spent part of last weekend watching UK win the SEC tournament.  And tomorrow, the NCAA tournament starts.  We’re hoping to see UK go far in this one!

These are very fast to make.  In fact, if it weren’t for whipping up the easy, homemade Alfredo sauce, these would be a 15 minute recipe.  Even with the sauce, they are really fast to fix.

Here’s what you’ll need:

You can’t see the chicken in the back of this photo, but there is a bag of cooked chicken there.  I really like to keep rotisserie chicken in the freezer for quick recipes like this.  You can use leftover chicken instead though.  I also think this would be good with Italian sausage instead of chicken.

I used Red Gold diced tomatoes.  They are Non GMO and have a Non-BPA liner in the can.  I was fortunate to visit the Red Gold facilities last September during the tomato harvest.  From the family who owns Red Gold to the people who work there to the process they use for canning the tomatoes – everything was so impressive.  You can see my post about the quality of Red Gold tomatoes here.

Back to the quesadillas.  This recipe is easy to tweak and make it your own.  I used chicken, pesto, Red Gold tomatoes and mozzarella cheese to stuff the tortillas.  Feel free to alter the amounts of these to your own taste.

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Tomato, Pesto Chicken Quesadillas with Alfredo Dipping Sauce

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

For the Alfredo Dipping Sauce

• 2 Tbs. butter
• 1 Tbs. flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

For the Quesadillas

• 2-3 cups cooked chopped chicken
• 1 can Red Gold diced tomatoes drained
• 3-4 Tbs. pesto sauce
• 1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 6-8 flour tortillas
• cooking spray or oil

Instructions

For the Alfredo Dipping Sauce

• Melt butter in skillet over medium heat.
• Whisk in flour and cook 1 minute.
• Whisk in milk till smooth.
• Stir in Parmesan and melt over medium heat, stirring often. Be careful not to let sauce boil.
• Season with salt and pepper.

For Quesadillas

• In a large bowl, combine chicken, tomatoes, pesto and mozzarella.
• Spread chicken mixture on half of tortilla and place in a skillet or griddle that has been oiled or sprayed with cooking spray.
• Fold tortilla over the filling. Cook over medium heat till brown.
• Flip tortilla to brown the other side.
• Remove from skillet and cut in wedges.
• Serve with Alfredo sauce.

You’re going to want to give these Tomato, Pesto Chicken Quesadillas a try no matter which team you’re cheering for during March Madness.  Or even if basketball isn’t your thing, find a time to give these a try.

Disclosure: This recipe was created for Red Gold.  I have been compensated for my time, however all opinions are my own.