Our air fryer quesadilla recipe is the bomb! WAY better than on the stovetop or microwave, try this crispy cheesy lunch idea with 1 secret ingredient today.
Why bother making an air fryer quesadilla when you can just pop it in the microwave you might ask? OH MY because it’s so much better! The outside gets crispy like from a restaurant and adding salsa to this air fryer recipe takes it over the top. (affiliate links from amazon services llc)
We went on a run making our favorite lunches in our Ninja Foodi last week. Cheese and more cheese of all kinds are top on our list of favorite foods so we went with that and a holder of sorts.
After we made air fryer grilled cheese this was next! We fiddled around with adding different bold flavors inside to give it a kick and found the perfect amount.
If you love air fryer recipes too, here are some resources to start with:
- THIS is my Favorite Air Fryer!
- You can find more Air fryer recipes here, we have Ninja Foodi recipes as well; bookmark them both!
- This is the best air fryer cookbook. Remember to always preheat air fryer for best results.
- Here’s a printable air fryer cook times chart here for your fridge.
- It has temp. and times for making the best frozen foods for air fryer too.
- Then join our Facebook page where you can share and find more ideas you’ll love. We have a Foodi social media group as well.
Ninja Foodi Quesadilla
You can use any brand of machine you have the only difference will be the size of the basket = how large of a tortilla you can use. Small street taco sizes are fun if you have little kids.
You can make a few of them and stack like pancakes for them to enjoy one or two for lunch time. It is really fun if you give them dips to use too. Using little Dixie cups I fill them with salsa, sour cream and guacamole. You’ll be a mom hero too if you go this route.
Large burrito style tortillas are more of a husband size and if your basket is large I would go with these for adults.
- But before you move on, LIKE our easy air fryer recipes page to get new ideas for meals and snack ideas daily!
These are the ingredients we used + some room temperature butter for the outside.
Yes, we air fry everything nowadays! Why? Well because crispy food without being laden with oil is just so amazing. Like deep fried but doesn’t sit in your stomach like a brick.
What cheese is best for quesadillas?
The #1 cheese of choice is said to be Asiago followed by blue (which isn’t my favorite)
- If you haven’t tried Brie it’s pretty amazing
- I usually buy this Mexican blend here but shredded Colby and cheddar cheese is a good duo
- Gruyère is the really ooey gooey stringy type
- Havarti and Manchego are more unusual but yummy
- Monterey Jack
- Mozzarella
- Provolone
I personally like using a combination of a few. If I happen to have Brie, or think about getting some at the store for this it is probably my favorite but a bit pricey.
If you really want to go all out, make homemade tortillas too.
Let’s get started with our directions:
Start off by buttering 1 side of your large tortilla. If you would rather you can use 2 small tortillas instead and butter 1 side of each.
Time needed: 4 minutes.
Air Fryer Quesadilla
- Prepare
Preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees, once done spray a bit of non stick cooking spray inside your basket
Place your buttered on one side tortilla inside the air fryer basket. Put 1/2 facing down and the other open to house the cheese. OR if making a larger one use 2 tortillas, one on top and one on bottom.
Sprinkle in your shredded cheese and add 2 tbsp of salsa if you’d like, I’m telling you this is a GREAT add in! Can add pre cooked meat for chicken quesadillas too
Fold it over like a soft taco (if using 2 small ones put the top tortilla with buttered side facing up on - Cook
Close the lid to your air fryer and set to 4 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Remove cheese quesadillas once they’re as crispy as you’d like and enjoy!
Quesadilla in air fryer
What to put in quesadillas?
A basic version can come together rather quickly and only requires a few ingredients like tortillas and cheese. You CAN add a variety of vegetables too though like:
- diced onions and tomatoes
- thinly sliced bell peppers
- sautéed mushrooms
- add some type of protein such as cooked and diced chicken or steak for a heartier version.
How do you make quesadillas crispy?
Use your air fryer y’all!! I kid you not this is a game changer and I bet you’ll never cook it on a pan again. We sure don’t.
Once you put that shell on top and it comes out all melted ooey gooey on the inside you’ll enjoy the best lunch or dinner ever.
How to reheat quesadillas
THIS is a game changer and WAY better than in the microwave for sure y’all. You can get it crispy again on the outside and melt the inside all at the same time. 400 F for about 3 minutes should do it.
Of course we still love making Instant Pot recipes, and continue creating new ones each week, but this is my new favorite appliance! After you enjoy this, try a few more like:
- Air fryer chicken thighs are healthy with this salty sweet rub
- frozen chicken wings in an air fryer are amazing too
- Salmon in the air fryer comes out amazingly well, especially with this dry rub
Air fryer frozen mozzarella sticks are a fun snack too for the kiddos.
If you have a large family you can make larger batches of food and more than one quesadilla in air fryer using this large machine.
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Check after minute 1 to ensure the top half hasn’t shifted. Sometimes using large tortillas it opens and you need to close again after a minute a push down on melted cheese so it stays the rest of the time.
Air Fryer Quesadilla
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees.
- Butter one side of your large tortilla, or 1 side of each small tortillas.
- Once preheated place 1 tortilla in and hold one end while you fill half of the large tortilla with your shredded cheese and salsa.
- Fold other half over (or put 1 small tortilla on bottom with buttered side down, fill with cheese and place 2nd small tortilla on top with buttered side facing up)
- Close air fryer lid and cook for 4 minutes or until it is as crispy as you'd like on the outside. Check after minute 1 to ensure the top half hasn't shifted, sometimes using large tortillas it opens and you need to close again after a minute a push down on melted cheese so it stays the rest of the time.
- Use a pizza cutter to slice into 3 – 4 pieces and enjoy.
Nancy Ellefson
Monday 22nd of November 2021
Just did this with cheese & tortilla only no more microwave ones for me!
The Typical Mom
Tuesday 23rd of November 2021
SO much better huh?