Steak quesadillas
Crispy tortillas packed with seasoned steak, peppers and melty Monterey Jack, a quick dinner that also rescues leftover steak.
- 25 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 2
- About $5.45 a serving
- 860 calories
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 25 minutes.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 8 oz sirloin steak
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- ½ yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 4 flour tortillas, 8-inch
- 1½ cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
- ¼ cup salsa (optional)
- ¼ cup sour cream (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Each serving has about 860 calories, 53 g protein, 53 g carbs and 49 g fat, and costs about $5.45 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No sirloin steak? New York strip steak or ribeye steak works.
- No red bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No flour tortillas? Whole wheat tortillas work.
- No salsa? Pico de gallo works.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Cut the steak across the grain into and with the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and salt.
Thinly slice. Thinly slicing means cutting slices about an eighth of an inch thick, roughly two coins stacked. Thin slices cook in seconds and soften fast, which quick dishes need.
How you’ll know: A slice bends a little when you hold it by one edge, and slow, steady cuts beat fast ones.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Dolly’s tip: Leftover steak works too. Slice it thin and add it with the peppers just to warm through.Heat the oil in a large over high until it . Cook the steak 2 minutes, stirring once, until with no red left, and move it to a plate.
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.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
High heatTimer: 2 min
Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
Add the pepper and onion and cook 4 minutes, stirring, until soft and at the edges. Add them to the steak.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 4 min
Wipe out the skillet. Sprinkle a quarter of the cheese over half of each tortilla, top with the steak and peppers, then the rest of the cheese, and fold them over.
Cook 2 quesadillas at a time over medium 2 to 3 minutes a side, pressing with a spatula, until and the cheese .
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.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Dolly’s tip: Medium heat is the key. Too hot and the tortilla burns before the cheese melts.Cut each into wedges and serve with salsa and sour cream.
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.
