The Best Air Fryer Quesadillas (from leftovers)

Air fryer quesadillas are a quick and delicious way to use up leftovers and it makes the perfect quick meal when short on time. Add leftover cheese, chicken, or your favorite quesadilla fillings, and be ready to have the crispiest quesadillas in just 10 minutes.

These air fryer quesadillas are perfectly crisp on the outside and the inside is nice and bubbling hot. In other words, the best quesadillas.

Cooking quesadillas in the air fryer really helps crisp up the tortillas. This crisp outside is not from oil since this is an oil-free recipe. It's just crisp and delicious from the air fryer.

The convection heat in the air fryer just does a really nice job of evenly heating and cooking the tortillas. If you have not tried quesadillas this way, you need to immediately 🙂

Ingredients needed

• Flour tortillas. You can also use corn tortillas but I prefer flour when making quesadillas since it is more traditional.
• Grated cheese. I use a grated cheddar but store-bought shredded Mexican cheese works great too.
• Your favorite leftover add-ins. I happened to have leftover chicken and peppers from my fajitas from leftovers (ironic that it made another day's leftovers) so that is what I used. You can use refried beans, pinto beans, Easy Spanish rice, or whatever you prefer. You can also just make cheese!

Quesadillas are very versatile. You can basically mix any set of ingredients and cheeses together and cook them in the tortilla.

I love chicken and cheese! These quesadillas are so good in the air fryer.

Get creative and use up those leftovers! When thinking about the cheese, just try to make sure the cheese you use melts well and you will be all set.

How to make air fryer quesadillas

Place the tortillas in the air fryer tray or basket (depending on the type of air fryer you have). Now begin to add the cheese and any other ingredients you are using on top of the tortilla.

Once you are done adding the filling, add a second tortilla over the top and press down lightly to make contact with the tortilla and filling.

Place the quesadillas in the air fryer for 10 minutes at 350 degrees, flipping halfway through.

Tips for success when making air fryer quesadillas

Making these quesadillas is very easy to do in the air fryer but there are some things that will make it easier for you. Unlike other air fryer recipes like my air fryer hot dogs which are heavy, the tortillas are light and will blow around.

When making these quesadillas, you may want to add a stainless steel trivet or utensil over the top of the quesadillas until the cheese begins to melt and holds the top of the tortilla down.

Air fryers have convection heating which creates wind in the air fryer. This can cause the top tortilla to blow off before it is finished cooking.

Adding something that is oven-safe to the top to weigh it down will help with that. Just make sure to use oven mitts to remove the item as it will be very hot.

What to serve with these crispy quesadillas

• Avocado Dip
• Roasted Tomato and Tomatillo Salsa
• Easy Spanish Rice
• Texas Borracho Beans
• Cilantro Lime Dressing
• Poblano Sauce
• Homemade Pico de Gallo

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