Pizza Quesadilla Recipe – Rachel Cooks®

This pizza quesadilla recipe is every busy parents’ dream! A kid-friendly lunch or dinner option filled with melty mozzarella, pizza sauce, and pepperoni, this easy recipe is ready to be devoured in just 10 minutes.

 

Kids love pizza but whipping up pizza dough from scratch isn’t on the agenda most nights. You know what’s a great swap for pizza crust? A tortilla. And that’s how these pizza quesadillas were born.

Basically, they’re a mashup of pizza and another kid-friendly classic, the cheese quesadilla. I came up with this recipe for the picky eater in my house and since I know I’m not the only one fighting this battle every night, this pizza recipe is here to save you, too!

You can fill them with anything you’d top a normal pizza with. I keep it classic for my kids with pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, and pizza sauce but if your kids are the pineapple and olive type, feel free to keep it weird for them. The possibilities are limitless!

Reasons to Love this Pizza Quesadilla Recipe

• Practically effortless. Sauce, cheese, pepperoni; fold and cook. The ease of this recipe also makes it a great lunch for older kids to cook for themselves.
• Picky eater approved (but you’ll love it too). Why should picky eaters get all the fun? You deserve to have a pepperoni pizza quesadilla for dinner now and then, too! This is a fantastic option for those nights when you have to squeeze your family dinner between softball practice and homework time.
• Customizable. If your kids love assembling their own tacos or loading up their air fryer hot dogs, they’ll love putting together their own pizza quesadillas. Make a topping bar with little bowls of cooked sausage, pepperoni, olives, and cheese and let everyone choose their own adventure.

What You’ll Need

• Tortilla: I use a burrito-size flour tortilla to get a fairly large pizza quesadilla, but you can use smaller tortillas and adjust the amount of fillings. Whole grain tortillas are totally fine, too. This recipe is flexible!
• Pizza Sauce: Prepared pizza sauce comes in a jar or can. You can find it on your grocery shelves. This homemade pizza sauce recipe is also great for making and freezing for whenever you need it.
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese: Can’t have pizza without cheese, right? Other types of cheese work fine but this is the classic pizza cheese.
• Sliced Pepperoni: I like to use the thin pepperoni slices for pizza quesadillas.

How to make Pizza Quesadillas

Preheat the pan. Place a large heavy skillet over medium heat. I find that a cast iron pan works especially well if you’re making multiple quesadillas because the pan holds the heat well once it’s warmed up. If you’ve made quesadillas before, you know that a preheated pan is essential, otherwise your quesadilla will take forever to get done.

Assemble the quesadillas. Spread the pizza sauce evenly over half of the tortilla.

Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the sauce, then arrange the pepperoni slices on the cheese.

Fold in half. Fold the tortilla over, pressing down lightly. 

Grease the pan. Spray the heated skillet with olive oil or add approximately 1 teaspoon of olive oil to the pan. 

Fry the quesadilla. Cook the quesadilla for 2 to 3 minutes on one side, or until browned; carefully flip and cook 1 to 2 minutes more, or until golden brown. 

Cool and slice. Remove the pizza quesadilla from the pan, let it cool for 1 to 2 minutes. Cut it into quarters and serve. A pizza cutter works well to cut quesadillas, or a large sharp knife.

FAQs

How To Personalize Your Pizza Quesadilla

• Swap out the sauce: Like pesto on your pizza? Use that! BBQ sauce? That works too! You can also skip putting the sauce on the quesadilla and serve it alongside your pizza quesadilla for dipping.
• Use another meat: Sausage, ham, bacon, chicken, seasoned and cooked ground beef, whatever you like. Your favorite vegetarian meat will work too.
• Add veggies: If you don’t want raw vegetables in your quesadilla, give them a quick sauté to soften them and release moisture.
• Make more than one: Make as many quesadillas as you like, cooking them individually. Once the pan is hot, they cook pretty quickly. 

Make Ahead Ideas

You can assemble a big batch of these pizza quesadillas to freeze. Wrap them individually in plastic wrap, and put them in a large freezer bag. Let them thaw in the fridge or thaw them in the microwave, then cook in a skillet until they’re crispy and the cheese melts.

Storage & Reheating

It’s unlikely that you’ll have extra pizza quesadillas since they are made to order. If you do happen to have leftovers, place them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat the quesadillas in a skillet or in the microwave.