Chicken Quesadilla Ring

This Chicken Quesadilla Ring takes the normal quesadilla to the next level. A ring made of flour tortillas is filled with pulled rotisserie chicken, sweet onions, salsa, and more to a place that no normal quesadilla has gone before.

Talk about a great new twist on an old favorite, who doesn’t love quesadilla’s, no matter how they’re served?  Whether you’re serving this at a Tex-Mex themed party, or on a buffet table, this makes a stunning presentation, and is sure to be a hit. This is really easy to make, and even better to eat! 

Quesadillas are a great snack or meal. Served up for afternoon eats or as part of a Taco Tuesday spread, quesadillas are always a welcome treat.

We love making quesadillas. They’ve been a part of our Taco Tuesdays, weekend movie nights, and random weekday snacks when we get the urge for years. It’s an easy enough thing to sandwich cheese and other tasty fillings between two tortillas and cook them up.

As much as we love quesadillas, if you make anything enough times, it starts to get stale. We were invited to a Taco Tuesday bash at a friend’s house, and we were going to bring quesadillas, but we didn’t want to bring plain old flat ones. It was a party, after all. That’s when we decided to try a chicken quesadilla ring.

Chicken Quesadilla Ring

This chicken quesadilla ring is perfect for dinners or as an appetizer, but it absolutely shines for Taco Tuesdays and parties. Individually rolled up tortillas are stuffed with pulled rotisserie chicken, onions, salsa, shredded cheese, minced garlic, and taco seasoning to create a flavor blast in each rolled up tortilla.

Then, the tortillas are arranged in a circle and baked to create an appetizer that’s perfect for individual servings. Everyone can just take one and dip it into the salsa, taco sauce, or another dip that sits in a bowl in the center of the ring. It’s delicious, easy, and everyone loves it.

Ingredients

This chicken quesadilla ring only takes a few ingredients to make. If you make tacos or any kind of Mexican food regularly, you probably have most, if not all, of the ingredients in your kitchen already. If you don’t, it’s super easy to find all of them at your local grocery store. Here’s what you’ll need.

• Six inch flour tortillas
• Pulled rotisserie chicken – pulled
• Sweet onion – finely chopped
• Shredded Mexican cheese
• Salsa
• Butter – melted
• Minced garlic
• Taco Seasoning

That’s all there is to it! These are all kitchen staples if you make any kind of Mexican food, and if not, you’ll find them all in two or three sections of the grocery store. Easy peasy.

Making the Chicken Quesadilla Ring

Making this chicken quesadilla ring is just as easy as getting the ingredients for it. It only takes a few minutes to put together and bout a half hour of baking, and you’re good to go! It’s super simple.

• Line a baking sheet or cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Pull the rotisserie chicken and cut into small pieces.
• Finely chop the onion and mix it with the pulled chicken.
• Lay the tortiallas out flate and fill the center of each one with the chicken filling, and sprinkle with shredded cheese.
• Place a large ramekin or small ceramic bowl in the center of the baking sheet.
• Roll the tortillas into cones and place the pointed end slightly under the ramekin or bowl.
• Continue in this manner until you have a ring of quesadillas around the bowl.
• Add a second layer of quesailla cones over the first, laying them where the cones of the bottom ring meet.
• Combine the melted butter, minced garlic, and taco seasoning and brush over the tortillas.
• Sprinkle with cheese and remove the bowl.
• Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.
• Remove from the oven and carefully transfer the ring onto a wire rack to cool by sliding the parchment paper from the baking sheet to the wire rack.

See? It’s not a hard recipe. When you really get down to it, the entire thing is simply doing a little ingredient mixing and wrapping tortillas. Nothing to it!

Tips

This is an incredibly easy recipe to make. You’d be hard-pressed to really screw it up unless you actively tried to. That being said, I have a few tips to make the process easier and ensure that you make the best chicken quesadilla ring you possibly can.

Hot Chicken Pulls Better

Hot chicken pulls better when it’s hot. When the chicken is hot, it disconnects from the bone easily and often in one large piece, making it fast and easy to get the meat of the bone and then chop it. If possible, pull your chicken while it’s nice and hot.

How to Pull Hot Chicken

While it’s easy to pull hot chicken, it’s also easy to burn yourself. You can wait until the chicken is cooled enough to handle with bare hands, or you can use hot mitts to pull the chicken. There was a time when hot mitts were actually mitts, but these days, you can find them in glove form, allowing you to pull the chicken with all the dexterity of bare hands and none of the burned skin. You can also use 2 large forks if you don’t have mitts.

Don’t Overfill the Tortillas

It’s important not to overfill your tortillas when making your chicken quesadilla ring. If you add too much, you won’t be able to form the cone shape which is what allows you to make the ring. In addition, if you overfill your tortillas, they won’t stay rolled up.

Don’t Overcook the Chicken Quesadilla Ring

It’s important not to overcook your chicken quesadilla ring. You want to cook it until the tortillas are golden brown and the cheese is browned and bubbly. However, some people don’t know quite what golden brown is.

When we talk about golden brown, we talk about the time when whatever you’re cooking begins to get a golden color. It’s like a dark golden color. Some people mistake golden brown for a brown color that is slightly yellow. If your food is that browned, you have passed the golden brown stage and moved into overcooked territory.

Variations

One of the great things about this recipe is how easy it is to play with. You can do so many things to make it your own. Almost every part of this recipe can be tweaked, which makes it perfect for experimentation and keeping things fresh.

Different Meat

In addition to chicken, you can make this quesadilla ring with shredded beef, pulled pork, pulled turkey, and even lamb. Really, any type of meat can be used.

Different Cheese

We find that using packaged shredded Mexican cheese is an excellent addition to this recipe, but you can use any cheese you like. Taco cheese is a great option, as is simple mozzarella or cheddar. Use any cheese that you love the most.

Add Some Heat

This is recipe is intentionally heat-free so that as many people as possible can enjoy it at any party. However, if you’re making this for a crowd that you know loves heat, feel free to kick it up with the addition of sliced jalapeno peppers rolled right up in the quesadilla.

Serving the Chicken Quesadilla Ring

Serving this chicken quesadilla ring is as easy as making it. Simply lay out the ring with a bowl of your chosen dipping sauce or condiment in the center and let everyone take as much as they want.

We love adding this ring to any Taco Tuesday spread or potluck. Everyone can simply grab a quesadilla from the ring and move on to the other available nom noms.

When setting out this chicken quesadilla ring, we like to make sure there are plenty of dipping options for everyone to enjoy. Some of our favorite dipping ideas include:

• Salsa
• Picante sauce
• Taco sauce
• Guacamole
• Refried beans

Storing the Chicken Quesadilla Ring

These chicken quesadillas will keep well in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for about three days. For longer storage, you can freeze them for up to a month. To freeze them, simply place them on a cookie sheet and freeze them so they don’t stick to one another. Then, place them in an air-tight, freezer-safe bag or heavy-duty freezer bags.

To reheat your quesadillas, wrap the frozen quesadilla in a moist paper towel and microwave for 30 to 60 seconds or thaw them out in the refrigerator and then bake at 350 for about five minutes.

Chicken Quesadilla Ring is a Winner

Whether you want something tasty for Taco Tuesday or a fun addition to a potluck or party, this chicken quesadilla ring is always a winner. The great thing about them is that they’ll go fast at a party, but if you make them for a meal at home, you’ll have snacks for a couple of days. Give this chicken quesadilla ring a try. You’ll love it!

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OTHER RECIPES YOU WILL LOVE:

Best Bourbon Chicken 

The Best Shepherd’s Pie

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo Stuffed Shells

Creamy Ham and Potato Soup

 French Onion Chicken