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This Black Bean Quesadilla recipe is a super easy dinner to make and the perfect one-pan meal, ready in under 20 minutes!
Recipe Difficulty – Very Easy
Table of Contents
Why this recipe works
These healthy Black bean quesadillas are made with simple ingredients and are the perfect lunch or dinner on a busy night, they’re one of my go-to recipes.
The golden brown crispy tortilla exterior paired with a lightly spiced black bean filling dipped into your favorite salsa will make this one of the best quesadilla recipes you will have tried!
Ingredients to make Black Bean Quesadillas
- Olive Oil- I use olive oil to keep the onions, garlic, mushrooms and the spices from sticking to the pan. But cooking spray is another good option.
- Red onion – Adds so much flavor! But green onions is a good option.
- Garlic – The base to all good mexican food.
- Mushrooms – Any variation of mushrooms can be used but I use chestnut.
- Bell peppers – I used a red bell pepper but orange bell peppers or green pepper works perfectly too!
- Dry spices- I like to use a nice aromatic blend of paprika, coriander, dried oregano, ground cumin, and chili flakes to give the dish a unique flavour.
- Canned black beans – I use a can of black beans to add protein and their faster than using dry black beans.
- Canned sweetcorn – slightly easier to use than fresh corn but adds extra colour and bite to these vegetarian quesadillas.
- Lime Juice- I like to use lime juice to bring out the underlying flavours of many different dishes.
- Corn Tortillas- which are often naturally gluten-free (check the label) but any kind of wrap will do.
- Grated cheese- I prefer to use vegan cheese, but cheddar cheese would work perfectly too.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions
- Black beans: You can try to substitute the black beans with pinto beans, lentils or even crumbled tofu.
- Tortillas: I like to make corn quesadillas to keep it gluten free but you could use flour tortillas or whole wheat tortillas if you prefer. I do also have a gluten-free tortilla recipe for you to try!
- Spices: To make these even easier you could use ready made taco seasoning.
Variations
- Spicy – for an extra spicy kick add extra chili powder or red pepper flakes while cooking.
- Deluxe – add homemade guacamole, refried beans, crispy onions or gherkins, top with fresh cilantro and dip into Sour Cream.
- Kid friendly – add crushed potato chips.
Instructions to make Black Bean Quesadillas
Step 1: Firstly, dice the red onion, garlic and slice the mushrooms and bell pepper.
Step 2: Heat a large skillet over a medium heat with olive oil, adding in the onion, garlic, mushrooms, pepper, spices, pinch of salt and fry for 5 minutes until they soften.
Step 3: Next add in the drained black beans, sweetcorn, tomato puree, lime juice, stir and fry for a further 5 minutes.
Step 4: Place tortilla into the skillet, spoon in some of the black bean mixture onto one half of the tortilla and cover the other side with lots of cheese.
Step 5: Fold the cheese side onto the black bean side and fry again for a minute before removing from the pan and slicing to serve.
Leftovers
The leftover black bean mixture can be stored in the fridge for a couple days or even freeze it for another day. When frozen this can be kept for at least 3 months, then you just need to reheat the mix and heat the tortillas.
Recipe FAQs
No, this is a very mild dish but you can add more chili powder
or chili flakes while cooking to kick up the heat.
I like to use a nice aromatic blend of paprika, coriander, dried oregano, ground cumin, and red pepper flakes to give the dish a unique flavour. But taco seasoning is a great cheat.
It’s delicious served with a refreshing courgette salad, coleslaw or dipping into my Garlic Hummus.
More black bean recipes
- Three Bean Salad
- Mexican Soup
- Sweet Potato & Black Bean Stew
- Vegan Meatballs
- Pasta Bake
- Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole
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Equipment
- 1 large skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ red onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, diced
- 2 medium mushrooms , (I use chestnut)
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 400g can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 240g can sweetcorn, drained
- 4 tbsp tomato puree
- ½ juice lime
- 4 corn tortillas, (I used gluten-free)
- 150 g grated cheese, (I used vegan)
Instructions
- Firstly, dice the red onion, garlic and slice the mushrooms and bell pepper.
- Heat a large skillet over a medium heat with olive oil, adding in the onion, garlic, mushrooms, pepper, spices, pinch of salt and fry for 5 minutes until they soften.
- Next add in the drained black beans, sweetcorn, tomato puree, lime juice, stir and fry for a further 5 minutes.
- Place tortilla into the skillet, spoon in some of the black bean mixture onto one half of the tortilla and cover the other side with lots of cheese.
- Fold the cheese side onto the black bean side and fry again for a minute before removing from the pan and slicing to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi James – I must try this…I really love this sort of beany, cheesy mix. You seem to have left the pepper off the ingredients list, btw – just one, is it?
Do you use smoked or plain paprika, please?
Thanks for all the recipes 🙂
Thank you for noticing 🙂 added now!
Omg it was absolutely amazing!we added guacamole with ours. Highly recommend. Thank you James!
How many calories for each one? Absolutely delicious and so easy to make
I have just worked it out to 452 calories adding a medium red pepper which was missing from James ingredients but mentioned in the instructions
Delicious! Thank you, James!
Yay! Glad you enjoyed Cynthia 🙂