Black Bean Quesadillas

These are so easy to make. My kids love quesadillas. My kids will beans in quesadilla form. The black bean filling can be made well ahead of time, and the quesadillas themselves are snap to make.

I used somewhat large flour tortillas, but you could corn tortillas instead. Smaller corn tortillas would significantly lower the calorie count and raise the whole-grain quotient. Corn tortillas would be the healthiest way to go here.

Refried beans don’t necessarily need to be full of oil; refried just means “well-fried,” and you don’t really even need to “fry” the beans at all. Canned “refried beans” are often too salty, and it isn’t very hard to make them for scratch.

I’m not shilling, but FYI, Green Mountain Gringo‘s salsas are the lowest-sodium bottled salsas I’ve been able to find.

Print Recipe

Black Bean Quesadillas

Servings: 4

Calories: 509kcal

Ingredients

Refried Beans

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove (minced)
• 1 can canned black beans (drained and rinsed)
• ½ teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ tablespoon ketchup
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• ½ cup water

Other Quesadilla Ingredients

• 8 medium-sized soft flour tortillas
• 4 ounces reduced-fat cheddar cheese (shredded)
• ½ cup chunky salsa
• 2 green onions (chopped)

Instructions

Make the refried beans:

• Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes, until the onion is soft.
• Add the drained and rinsed black beans, spices, ketchup, lime juice and water to the skillet. Use a potato masher to mash the beans up as they cook. (You might need a little more water to reach the desired consistency.)
• The refried beans can be made ahead-of-time and stored in the fridge for a few days.

Arrange the quesadillas:

• Spread ¼ of the refried beans on 4 of the tortillas.
• Top each of the 4 tortillas with 2 tablespoons of chunky salsa and 1 ounce of cheese (reduced-fat Colby or Jack cheese would also work very well)
• Sprinkle green onions over each of the 4 tortillas.
• Top each of the 4 tortillas with another tortilla to make 4 tortilla sandwiches.
• Heat a clean skillet over medium heat. Spritz the skillet lightly with nonstick spray.
• Cook each quesadilla, one at a time, in the skillet. Flip it over with a large spatula to brown the quesadilla on both sides.
• Cut the quesadilla into 6 wedges. Serve with more salsa, Greek yogurt, or mashed avocado/guacamole. (Avocado + jarred salsa makes a nice, quick guacamole.)