Sometimes simple is best. These veggie quesadillas are a flavorful, healthy meal perfect for eating while binge-watching TV after work or for feeding the whole family!

While I love the holiday season, menu planning and cooking can quickly go from fun and exciting to stressful and tiresome. And as delicious as all our special reserved-for-the-holidays recipes are, I’m finding myself craving a simple meal. (And one that doesn’t break the budget!) Enter in these veggie quesadillas.

The first time Bry and I made this recipe was in college over the summer. Before we lived together, Bry and I had a routine of cooking together a few nights a week. Usually I would pick out the recipe, he would buy the ingredients, and then we’d cook it together (I think I made out pretty well on that deal 😉 ). But one night for whatever reason our roles were reversed and Bry was the one picking out the recipe. When he said he picked out a veggies quesadilla recipe I was surprised. Not that it was a quesadilla, but that he had looked up a recipe for one on the internet. I had always thought of quesadillas as being simply tortillas, cheese, beans, and veggies. No seasonings, sauces, or anything else “fancy” except for salsa and occasionally avocado if I felt like splurging on the budget that week.

But let me tell you, Bry was so right in looking up a recipe as it gave me a “secrete” ingredient to make these quesadillas super addicting: pinch of brown sugar. I know it sounds strange, but trust me, the subtle sweetness along with the spice from the salsa and jalapeno works so well! 

So here’s a toast to keeping it simple as the time of year starts to get crazier!

Print Recipe

Veggie Quesadillas

Sometimes simple is best. These veggie quesadillas are a flavorful, healthy meal perfect for eating while binge-watching TV after work or for feeding the whole family!

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time10 mins

Total Time25 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Keyword: Beans, Easy healthy dinner, Quesadilla

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 2 tsp canola oil
• 1 jalapeno diced (seeds removed for less heat)
• 1 zucchini diced
• 1 red bell pepper diced
• 1 15.5- ounce can black beans drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1.5 tsp brown sugar
• ¼ cup salsa
• 2 cups Monterey jack shredded cheese divided
• 4 large whole wheat tortillas or 8 small
• Cooking spray
• Toppings of choice: salsa sour cream/Greek yogurt, avocado, hot sauce

Instructions

• Heat oil a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in jalapeno, zucchini, and pepper. Cook 4-5 minutes, or until softened. Add beans, cumin, brown sugar, and salsa. Mix well and cook until heated through, about 10 minutes.
• Once vegetable filling is ready, remove skillet from heat and pour filling into large bowl. Return skillet to stove over medium heat (you could also use a clean skillet if you want, but I like not having two pans to wash).
• Spray skillet then place one tortilla down on hot pan sprinkle with ¼ of the cheese. Spoon ¼ of filling over half of the tortilla and allow to cook until bottom of tortilla is slightly brown and cheese is melted. Fold tortilla in half (I recommend folding over the side that doesn’t have the filling on it) and press down using a spatula to get the two sides to stick together. Cook another minute then carefully move quesadilla to a plate. Repeat with remaining 3 tortillas.
• Cut cooked quesadillas into thirds or fourths and serve with toppings of choice. Enjoy!