Dinner ideas do not come to me very often. I was pretty excited to create these BBQ Chicken & Avocado Quesadillas for my kids the other night.
(photos updated June 2016)
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In fact, when I have to come up with a dinner idea on the spot, I blank completely.
Thank goodness for Pinterest
and good bloggy friends who post yummy dinners.
Plus, dinner is much harder to photograph...
all my natural lighting from my front windows is gone
by the time I have dinner plated up.
Now if you asked me about a dessert recipe...
I could probably rattle off at least 10 decadent options for you.
And I probably have all the ingredients in my pantry to make those dessert right away.
Dessert is so much easier to photograph too.
I'm not sure why my brain doesn't like dinner.
Maybe all the chocolate chips and homemade oatmeal cream pies have warped it totally.
It's a good thing that my kids are very active
because there are some night when the hubby is working long hours,
that we exist on cereal, pancakes, and of course leftovers.
Let's not forget the token chicken nuggets and mac & cheese that happens all the time too.
This easy dinner was based on the leftovers from the other night.
All day I was thinking about the chicken that we had in the fridge.
What could we do with it other than have another salad again???
For some odd reason I thought about the avocado sitting on the counter,
and suddenly all I could think about
was putting it in a grilled cheese sandwich or a quesadilla.
And do you know what? Cheese, chicken, and avocados are delicious together.
These BBQ Chicken & Avocado Quesadillas were so good that I just had to share it with you right away.
There is still chicken left in the fridge and one more ripe avocado...
can you guess what I am making for lunch again today???
(original photo from May 2012)
Recipe
BBQ Chicken & Avocado Quesadillas
Yield:
8 quesadilla wedges
Prep Time:
10 minutes
Cook Time:
5 minutes
Total Time:
15 minutes
Cheese quesadillas filled with barbecue chicken and avocado chunks makes a great easy dinner recipe. This meal always disappears in our house.
Ingredients
- 4 flour tortillas
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup shredded cooked chicken (or 6 ounce can chunk chicken breast)
- ¼ cup barbecue sauce
- 1 ripe avocado, diced
Instructions
- Heat a skillet on medium heat.
- Stir together the chicken and barbecue sauce.
- Place 2 tortilla shells side by side in the bottom of the pan and sprinkle half of each tortilla with cheese. Top with half the chicken mixture and ½ of the avocado chunks. Sprinkle with cheese.
- Fold the tortillas over and cook until the bottom is golden brown. Flip the quesadillas over carefully and heat the opposite side until that side is golden brown and the cheese is melted.
- Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Cut each tortilla in half. Serve immediately. Makes 8 wedges.
Notes
- If you are using canned chicken, drain and break it apart with a fork before using.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 373Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 578mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 5gSugar: 7gProtein: 15g
Nutrition facts are an estimate and are not guaranteed to be accurate. If you need special diet advice, please see a registered dietician.
Aly
I didn't have an avocado, but we had leftover bbq shredded chicken I needed to use before it went bad. These were AMAZING! I was actually shocked how good it was. I had never thought to put bbq chicken in a tortilla before, but I was pleasantly surprised! Thank you! 🙂
Jocelyn
I'm so happy you enjoyed the quesadillas. They are one of our favorites! 😋
Millican Pecan
This sounds like a perfect summer recipe! Barbecue chicken is one of my family's favorites, and sometimes you just need to change it up. And avocado makes everything so much better! I just printed the recipe...can't wait to try it out! Thank you for sharing!
April
Unlike most other comments, I made these last night to try and they wer delicious!! I only had Monterey Jack cheese and sweet honey BBQ sauce, frozen grilled chicken from Tyson, tortillas, and an avocado. It actually all went together perfectly!! Thanks for the recipe! It's a new staple in our house!
Jocelyn
I am so glad to hear you tried the recipe and loved it! It's one of our favorites too!
April
I forgot to include we used ranch as a dipping sauce cause my son wasn't too fond of the avocado. We all ended up loving it with it.
Kathleen M
Totally needed a different easy quick idea for tonight. I am going to grab a rotisserie chicken and make it. We have 4 kids and left over chicken is just a rare thing. Haha
Mandy
Can you use corn tortillas instead?
Mandy
Could you use corn tortillas instead?
Jocelyn Brubaker
You could use them if you like. I prefer flour tortillas in my quesadillas. Feel free to use whichever you like best 🙂
Brittany
I made these for dinner last night and they were SO good. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a quick, delicious dinner or lunch idea.
lamia
Luck on my side or what. I had bbq cgicken left over, rioe avocados sitting in my fruit bowl and i searched quesadillas on pinterest and bang all my ingrediebts showed up. My boys will love this. Thanks. Pinterest is always a saviour.
Christie+-+Food+Done+Light
Yum! Avocados make everything delicious. Love how they will taste in this quesadilla.
Donna
Made these today! YUMMY! Added some caramelized onions. Definitely a keeper! Thx
Michele
All my favorite things together. Can't wait to give this a try.
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie
Love that it's only a few ingredients and looks delicious.
Autumn
I just tried this recipe using canned chicken and it tasted great and was quick! Kids asked me to make it again.
Molly
I made this for lunch yesterday, well half of one as I only had 1 tortilla left, and I was certainly not disappointed (though I am disappointed now that I don't have any more tortillas and would love to have this for lunch again!). Such a great flavor combination, yum!
I struggle with dinner ideas too, usually just circulating through the same "tried and true" recipes. I like to save the experimenting for the fun stuff!
Amie
What exactly is BBQ chicken? The chicken in your picture looks saucy. Like a "pulled chicken" thing.
Or is it a chicken that has been barbecued and shredded?
Jocelyn Brubaker
Yes, it is shredded chicken that has barbecue sauce on it. Sorry for the confusion. I updated the recipe to reflect that.
Carole
Nice use of avocado.
Katie
Um, perfect timing on this post! Last night, I was trying to figure out what I could do with an avocado, and then I remembered this dinner idea!! Better yet, I had leftover roasted chicken from the night before! Now, we were out of bbq sauce, but I threw some stuff together that resembled it, and it was fabulous!