Dinner
Black Bean Quesadillas
This is the recipe to learn first. Everything in it keeps for months in a cabinet or a freezer, so you can make it on a night when the fridge is empty. The trick that separates a good quesadilla from a sad one is mashing half the beans, which glues the whole thing together so the filling doesn't fall out the second you bite it.
Cost a serving$1.15
Time15 minutes
Serves4
Protein16g
Chipotle burrito costs about $12.50. This costs $1.15 a serving.
You save about $11.35 every time you make it instead.
What you need
Large skillet, Spatula, Fork
No special tools
No Food processor for mashing beans?A fork works better here. You want texture, not paste. Press the beans against the side of the bowl about 20 times.
No Cheese grater?Buy pre-shredded cheese. It costs a little more per ounce and melts slightly worse, and it saves you owning and washing a grater. Fair trade in a small kitchen.
Ingredients
- 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup frozen corn, straight from the freezer
- 1/2 cup jarred salsa, plus more for dipping
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (Monterey Jack, cheddar, or a Mexican blend)
- 4 large flour tortillas (the 8 inch burrito size)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter
How to make it
- Dump the drained beans into a bowl. Mash about half of them with a fork until they look like lumpy paste. Leave the rest whole. This is the whole trick.
- Stir in the frozen corn, salsa, chili powder, cumin, and salt. The corn thaws on contact and cools the mix down, which is fine.
- Heat a large skillet over medium. Not high. High heat browns the tortilla before the cheese melts, and you end up with a crunchy shell full of cold beans.
- Add about half a teaspoon of oil to the pan and lay in one tortilla. Spread a quarter of the bean mix over half of it, top with a handful of cheese, and fold the empty half over.
- Cook 2 to 3 minutes until the bottom is spotted golden brown. Press down with the spatula once or twice. Flip and cook another 2 minutes. The cheese should be visibly melting at the edges when it is done.
- Slide onto a cutting board or plate and let it sit 1 minute before cutting. Cutting immediately makes the filling run out. Repeat with the rest.
Protein
About 16 grams per quesadilla, split between the beans and the cheese. That is a real meal, not a snack. To push it higher, add a scrambled egg to the filling or swap in a half cup of crumbled plant-based ground.
Ways to add more
- Add 1/2 cup plant-based ground beef (Beyond, Impossible, or store brand), browned first
- Add one scrambled egg per quesadilla
- Add 1/2 cup shredded rotisserie chicken if you eat meat
Keeping it
The bean filling keeps 4 days in the fridge and freezes for 3 months. Cooked quesadillas go soggy in the fridge, so cook them to order. Reheat leftovers in a dry skillet, never the microwave.
Change it up
- Swap black beans for pinto or refried beans straight from the can
- Add a handful of frozen spinach, squeezed dry, for volume and iron
- Use the same filling in a tortilla bowl over rice when you are out of tortillas