French Onion Cheese and Chicken Quesadilla
The idea of French onion soup always sounds appealing to me. Combining basic, inexpensive ingredients with a bit of slow cooking to create a soul comforting, decadent dish. The soup, a rich broth filled with sweet caramelized onions, baked cheese and large crusty croutons, is full of rich flavors. However…that all sounds good and great unless you are the single person in the world who has issues with stringy cheese. Sorry cheese lovers, but stringy cheese is not a texture I like in my food. So I’ve found a solution. Take my own advice and put the ingredients into a tortilla shell.
I present to you, the French onion soup inspired quesadilla. Even you stringy cheese lovers will love this. Allow sliced onions to slowly caramelize over low heat until they become a rich, golden color. Low and slow heat will make them sweet and full of flavor. Combine the onions with rich portabella mushrooms and balsamic marinaded chicken. I use creamy Havarti cheese that melts into a cheese sauce. Layer everything between two tortilla shells and cook over low heat until all of the flavors come together.
You’ll need some patience to allow the onions to caramelize and the meat to marinade. The great thing is this can happen without much babysitting so you can keep one eye on the food and the other eye on something else. Make your time worthwhile and double the recipe so you have leftovers for lunch the next day.
French Onion Cheese and Chicken Quesadilla Recipe
Makes 1 large quesadilla. Double for 2.
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1 Tbsp water
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/8 tsp dried thyme
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/8 tsp kosher salt
Quesadilla
- 1 sweet yellow onion, sliced
- 4-5 baby portabella mushrooms, chopped
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced (3 if large; 4 if small)
- 2 ounces Havarti cheese (about 1/3 – 1/2 cup shredded)
- 3 chicken tenders (or 1 small chicken breast)
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 medium-size tortilla shells
- Balsamic glaze/reduction*
Directions
Prepare the Ingredients
- Peel and slice 1 yellow onion.
- Wash and chop 4-5 baby portabella mushrooms.
- Peel and mince 3-4 cloves of garlic.
- Finely chop or shred 2 ounces of Havarti cheese (if not pre-shredded).
Prepare the Marinade
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1 Tbsp water, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1/8 tsp dried thyme, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1/8 tsp kosher salt and half of the minced garlic cloves.
- Add the marinade to a plastic bag or small container. Add the chicken and let it marinade in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Make the Quesadilla
- In a small skillet, heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and let the onions cook, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. The onions should turn golden.
- Remove the onions from the skillet and increase the heat back to medium.
- Add another drizzle of olive oil to the skillet and add the garlic, mushrooms and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 4 minutes until the mushrooms soften. Set the mushrooms aside.
- Keep the skillet over medium heat and add the chicken. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until fully cooked. Remove the chicken from the heat and chop into bite size pieces.
- Set the same skillet, if large enough, or a second, larger skillet over medium-low heat. Spray the pan with cooking spray and lay 1 tortilla shell flat in the pan. Layer the shell with half of the cheese, the onions, mushrooms, chicken and the rest of the cheese. Add the second tortilla shell on top.
- Cook the quesadilla until the bottom shell softens and turns lightly brown (peak underneath to make sure it does not burn). Flip the quesadilla to heat the second side until the cheese is melted.
- Serve with a drizzle of balsamic glaze/reduction.
Havarti cheese is a soft cheese them melts into the quesadilla like a cheese sauce. Substitute your favorite cheese such as Gruyere, Monterey Jack, goat or cheddar. If you prefer skip the chicken and substitute with black beans.
Be careful when you flip the tortilla shells so the insides do not fall out. I place my hand flat on top of the shell to help with the flip. You may also want to make one shell at a time and fold it in half so it’s not as large.
*The grocery store sells balsamic reduction, but if you can’t find it you can make your own by bringing 1 cup balsamic vinegar to a boil over medium heat. Then reduce to a low heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. It will reduce by about half and become a thick syrup. Don’t cook it too long or it will become like paste. Save the leftover reduction in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks to drizzle on salads or crusty bread.
Use the Extra Ingredients
If you have extra onion, mushrooms and chicken, toss with cooked pasta and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Top with the extra cheese.
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