Mexican Pizza Quesadilla
Is it a Pizza or a Quesadilla? It’s a Mexican Pizza Quesadilla!
Can something be both a pizza and a quesadilla at the same time? It is, of course, a deep philosophical question, one for the ages. And yes, I have decided – because I am wise – a pizza can be a quesadilla. Just like this incredibly easy Mexican pizza quesadilla.
Memories of Fast Food Past
We don’t eat fast food in our house. That’s not to say that we never did. When I was a kid, McDonald’s was the furthest place I was allowed to walk alone. It became both food and an adventure. Fast food was also a treat when my kids were young, mostly because we were pretty poor. These days, though, it just isn’t something we think of doing. So Mexican pizza? Like that Taco Bell thing? How did that happen?
Forget about the “bringing back.” We have your quesadilla right here.
I recently read an article that Taco Bell is bringing back its super popular Mexican pizza because someone circulated a petition. There was a photo of the Mexican pizza in the article and I figured I would try to figure out how it’s done.
The Mexican Pizza Quesadilla is born!
After reading more about it, I settled on ground beef cooked with taco seasonings as the base. I then mixed together refried beans and red enchilada sauce and spread it on a tortilla. The Mexican pizza is stacked up double-decker style, and while I considered that, I was short on time and couldn’t figure out how to get everything to melt together. And thus was born the Mexican pizza quesadilla.
Deliciousness in a Tortilla
As I’ve mentioned before, I love eating things in tortillas. I had flour tortillas available, so I spread my bean/enchilada sauce mix on one half, topped it with the taco seasoned beef, and added a big handful of Taco shredded cheese. While I generally heat my tortillas in butter (extra crispiness!) I found the idea of melted butter and ground beef sort of disgusting. I decided on some olive oil and when it was very hot, I slipped in the quesadilla, cooking and flipping until the tortilla was golden and the cheese melted. It was AMAZING.
Mexican Pizza Quesadilla at – almost – drive thru pace
I can’t begin to tell you how incredibly easy this all was. In just a few minutes, I had a slightly spicy, crispy quesadilla dripping with melted cheddar and taco seasonings. I highly recommend skipping the drive thru and frying these up yourself. In 30 minutes tops, you can have your own quesadilla that’s a pizza!
Mexican Pizza Quesadilla
Ingredients
- 4 medium flour tortillas
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 pkg taco seasoning + 2/3 cup of water
- 16 oz can of refried beans
- 10 oz can of red enchilada sauce
- 8 oz package of cheese (cheddar or cheddar jack or taco cheese)
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- sour cream optional
- pico de gallo optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix together the refried beans and the red enchilada sauce. I used about 2/3 of the beans. You can add more if you want a thicker consistency. Set aside.
- Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium high heat. Pour off the liquid fat.
- Add the taco seasoning following the directions on the package. Mine said to add 2/3 cups of water and let it simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- If you don't have a second skillet, remove the ground beef to a heatproof bowl so you can fry the quesadilla.
- Lay out the four tortillas.
- Spread one half of the tortilla with the bean/enchilada sauce mixture, avoiding the edges. You can spread the amount you would like.
- Put the cooked and seasoned ground beef on top of the bean/enchilada sauce. I used a slotted spoon to be sure I wasn't adding too much extra liquid.
- Sprinkle a thick layer of cheese over the meat. I used shredded taco cheese because it had additional taco seasoning. I used the entire package, adding it in even amounts to each tortilla.
- Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in the frying pan at medium high heat.
- Fold the empty half of the tortilla over the filled one.
- Carefully drop the tortilla into the frying pan. Be careful of the splatter.
- Cook until golden on one side, 3-4 minutes, and then turn it over to cook the other side and to allow the cheese to melt.
- Repeat with the other tortillas, adding a bit of olive oil as necessary.
- Top with sour cream and pico de gallo if desired.
