Sheet pan quesadillas with ground beef
Eight crispy, cheesy beef quesadillas bake at once on two sheet pans, so nobody stands at the stove flipping one at a time.
- 35 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $3.26 a serving
- 730 calories
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 lb 85/15 ground beef
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 8 flour tortillas
- 1½ cups Mexican blend cheese
- ½ cup salsa
- ½ cup sour cream (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil, divided
Each serving has about 730 calories, 39 g protein, 50 g carbs and 41 g fat, and costs about $3.26 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No 85/15 ground beef? 90/10 ground beef works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No green bell peppers? Red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers work.
- No flour tortillas? Whole wheat tortillas work.
- No Mexican blend cheese? Shredded cheddar or cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack cheese works.
- No salsa? Pico de gallo works.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 425°F.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Cook the beef, onion and pepper in a large over medium-high 8 minutes, breaking up the beef, until no pink is left. Spoon off the fat.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heatTimer: 8 min
Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Stir in the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and salt for 1 minute.
Medium heat
Brush 2 with half the oil. Lay 4 tortillas on each pan, and cover half of each with cheese, beef and a little more cheese.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Dolly’s tip: Cheese on both sides of the beef is the glue that holds each one together.Fold the empty half over the filling and brush the tops with the rest of the oil.
6 minutes, flip them with a spatula, and bake 4 to 5 minutes more, until and crisp.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 10 min 30 sec
Cut into wedges and serve with salsa and sour cream for dipping.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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One-pan dinners ›High-protein dinners ›What to make with ground beef and bell peppers ›What to make with ground beef and Mexican blend cheese ›