This Air Fryer Quesadilla recipe is going to give you the same copycat flavors the famous Taco Bell versions as the restaurant, but made at home in just 15 minutes. This is a great lunch or dinner to serve up your family or friends. The Homemade Taco Bell sauce brings the ultimate flavor!
Air Fryer quesadillas are one of my favorite air fryer recipes. It is hard to resist the chicken quesadilla on Taco Bell’s menu. The crispy flour tortilla is filled with diced chicken and cheese – of course!.
If you love them too, save some money and make them at home for a fraction of the price, and you will have a few leftover for enjoying later.
🐔 Why This Works
- It’s Taco Bell! 😀
- Crispy tortilla shell
- Quick to cook
- Feeds a crowd
- Great way to use leftover chicken
- You can control how hot or mild your chicken quesadillas are
Make sure to snag your {FREEBIE} Air Fryer Cooking Times Printable, Deep Fryer to Air Fryer Conversion Printable and Oven to Air Fryer Conversion Printable.
Equipment
Air Fryer | We used our Ninja Air Fryer basket for this one. All basket versions work here so pull out your Cosori, Phillips, NuWave, Chefman or Gourmia. Our tray version, Instant Vortex 10 quart 7 in 1 works FANTASTIC for feeding more than a couple people when making these. The tray version cooks a little faster so keep an eye on it.
Liners | We love using liners to keep the cleaning down. The silicone ones clean up in a breeze and I know a lot of friends love to use the pre-cut parchment ones sized perfectly for your fryer as they come in 5″, 6″, 7″, 8″, 9″ and 10″ sizes.
🌮 Ingredients
- Garlic Powder
- Jalapeño + Jalapeño Juice
- Cayenne Pepper
- Mayonnaise
- Paprika
- Salt
- Sugar
- Cumin
- Sliced Cheese
- Cooked Chicken
- Flour Tortilla
- Shredded Cheese
📝 Quesadilla in Air Fryer Instructions
Step One: Mix the sauce for your quesadillas. Mix the mayonnaise, jalapeños, jalapeño juice, and seasonings together in a bowl.
Step Two: Lay a flour tortilla out flat. Place some shredded cheese on half of the tortilla. Add on the sliced cheese as well.
Step Three: Place the chopped chicken on the cheese side, and smear sauce on the other side of the quesadilla.
Step Four: Fold it in half and place it in the air fryer to cook at 370 degrees for three minutes or until golden brown.
Step Five: Flip the quesadilla and finish cooking to crisp up the other side. Giving the tortillas a little spritz of cooking spray or olive oil spray will also make them a little extra crispy.
Step Six: Serve! We love to serve with sour cream, salsa, guacamole, pico or the homemade sauce we have here with a basket of homemade tortilla chips. Don’t forget the side of refried beans and jalapeños to make it a full meal deal.
PRO TIP: Sprinkle with chopped cilantro!
🧀 Leftovers Storage
These are best served warm fresh from the air fryer. If you happen to have extras, allow them to cool a bit and then place them in an airtight container.
They will store for 2-3 days in the refrigerator.
To reheat, place in the air fryer to reheat. That will keep the tortilla nice and crispy. Or opt to heat in the microwave for a quick reheat.
🍽️ Expert Tips
- Use a taco seasoned chicken, leftover rotisserie, or even chicken you pan sear in a skillet. Just make sure to chop the chicken up. We love to use leftover AF Jerk Chicken in these quesadillas.
- Use mild jalapeños if you don’t like a lot of heat. Adjust the cayenne to lessen the spiciness as well.
- Flour tortillas are best! You can use a gluten-free version or even low carb tortillas. Just know that if you change the tortillas, you will adjust the flavor a bit.
- Use a toothpick to secure the quesadilla together if you find the air fryer is lifting it apart.
- Make cheese quesadillas the same way by leaving out the chicken for a quick after school snack.
- Invest in a couple air fryer liners for quick and easy clean up when making foods that make a mess. Parchment paper and foil also work.
Substitutions and Variations
The possibilities are infinite with this recipe!
Use any protein you’d like: sausage, Italian sausage, ham, pepperoni, ground beef, ground bison, steak, turkey, pork, pulled pork, brisket, duck, lamb or even pheasant.
Changing up the cheeses will fundamentally change the meal. The best cheese is any melty cheese like Mozzarella, Colby-Jack, Brie, cheddar cheese, blue cheese, Mexican blend cheese, Oaxaca or queso fresco.
Concoct breakfast quesadillas with eggs, sausage, mushrooms, bacon, peppers, onions and any other breakfast toppings you would like in a flour or corn tortilla.
📌 Recipe FAQs
It is a creamy jalapeño sauce. Mayonnaise and jarred jalapeños are the stars.
Quesadillas can be filled with almost anything. For this recipe, I used chicken, sauce, and two varieties of cheese. Other recipes can use corn, beans, etc.
Consider adding some cilantro-lime rice, Mexican rice, guacamole, or the Air Fryer Taquitos. You will find you can pair these with almost anything. Don’t forget to make your own chips and salsa for a complete Taco Tuesday.
Lack of moisture is what can cause chicken to become rubbery. Just make sure when you cook it, you use oil, seasonings, etc.
Related Mexican Recipes
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with me through social media by following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!
Air Fryer Quesadilla
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 Flour Tortillas
- 1 lb Chicken Breast cooked, sliced, and divided
- 2 ½ cups Cheddar & Monterey Jack Shredded Cheese divided
- 3 slices American Cheese
Special Sauce
- ¼ tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 tsp Jalapeño Juice
- 2 tsp Jalapeños minced
- ⅓ cup Mayonnaise
- ⅛ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- ½ tsp Paprika
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Sugar
- ½ tsp Cumin
Instructions
Special Sauce
- Mix the mayonnaise, jalapeño, jalapeño juice, and spices together in a mixing bowl until sauce is combined.
Prepare the Quesadilla
- Lay open one tortilla on a flat surface. Place half a cheese slice on one half of the tortilla. Cover the same side with ½ cup of shredded cheese.
- Place 5-6 slices of chicken on top of the cheese.
- Spread one tbsp of sauce on opposite side of tortilla.
- Fold it closed and cut it in half.
- Lightly spray the air fryer basket with oil and place the halved quesadillas in the basket. Lightly spray quesadilla with oil and cook on 370 for three mins, flip and cook for two more minutes.
- Repeat steps 2-5 for each tortilla.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi!
Ginny Collins is a passionate foodie and recipe creator of Savor and Savvy and Kitchenlaughter. Indoors she focuses on easy, quick recipes for busy families and kitchen basics. Outdoors, she focuses on backyard grilling and smoking to bring family and friends together. She is a lifelong learner who is always taking cooking classes on her travels overseas and stateside. Her work has been featured on MSN, Parade, Fox News, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and many local news outlets. She lives in Florida where you will find her outside on the water in her kayak, riding her bike on trails, and planning her next overseas adventure.
I can’t believe how similar this was to the real Taco Bell quesadillas!
Had these for dinner tonight 😋 I cut back on the jalapeños, for my picky hubby, but will for sure add more next time. Thanks so much for the recipe!!!
Excellent!
Thank you so much!!!