These easy Pesto Quesadillas are filled with white beans and tomato making them a healthy vegetarian dinner recipe that only takes about 15 minutes to make!
I’m all about the quick and easy meals this summer and they’re even better when they only have 5 ingredients! My family loves cheese quesadillas so I decided to make them a little more exciting by doing pesto quesadillas with white beans and tomato. They’re perfect for summer and really easy to make!
These are kind of like caprese quesadillas but I also added in some white beans for extra protein. And, I love beans so I add them in whenever I can 🙂
What You’ll Need To Make These Quesadillas
- Tortillas – You can use whatever size and kind of tortillas you like. I just used a medium sized flour tortilla for mine and it worked great!
- Cheese – I used a shredded mozzarella cheese because I felt like it went well with the pesto and tomato theme going on, but you can use fresh mozzarella, cheddar, pepper jack, Monterey Jack, etc…
- Pesto – I’m not really a fan of store-bought pesto so I made an easy homemade one. Even when I’m not cooking a vegan meal, I still like to use my favorite vegan pesto recipe.
- Tomato – Fresh garden tomatoes would be great in this recipe! However, I didn’t have any so I just used a vine ripe tomato from the grocery store. Cherry tomatoes would be great too!
- White Beans – I’d recommend either using great northern beans or cannelloni beans. You could also use chickpeas or butter beans if you can find the firs two.
How To Make Pesto Quesadillas
Quesadillas are super easy to make! Basically, all you do is heat up a frying pan, layer your ingredients onto a tortilla, fold over and cook until cheese is melted and each side of the tortilla is browned.
Since these pesto quesadillas with white beans and tomato have more ingredients than just cheese, it’s important not to overfill them and put enough cheese in to make sure it melts enough to seal the quesadilla together.
Tops For Making The Best Pesto Quesadillas
- As I said above, don’t overfill your quesadilla. These are quesadillas and not burritos so you still want the cheese to be a star.
- Tomatoes can have lots of juice and make the quesadilla watery, so I like to take out the slimy seed part and pat the tomato slice down with a dishtowel to make sure they don’t add too much liquid. You also want to use thin sliced of tomato.
- I like to cook my quesadillas with a little butter because it adds a nice flavor and gets the tortilla really crispy. You could also use olive oil or a cooking spray, but a cooking spray won’t make the outside quite as crispy.
- You want to cook your quesadilla on low-medium heat. If you start it out with too high of heat, the outside will brown really quickly but the cheese won’t melt.
- Pre-shredded cheese in a bag usually has some type of flour in it to make the cheese not stick together so it doesn’t always melt well. It’s best to buy a block of cheese and shred it yourself if you can.
Enjoy more easy quesadilla recipes here:
Easy Rice and Bean Quesadillas
Pumpkin Quesadillas with Black Beans and Green Chile
Brie Cheese Quesadillas with Strawberry Salsa
See exactly how I made these delicious pesto Quesadillas below:
Pesto Quesadillas with White Beans and Tomato
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
These Pesto Quesadillas are packed with white beans and tomato and only take about 15 minutes to make!
Ingredients
- 4 medium-large tortillas
- Heaping 1/4 cup pesto, homemade or store-bought
- 1 1/3 cup shredded cheese
- 1 1/3 cup white beans
- 2–3 ripe tomatoes
- Salt and black pepper
- Butter or olive oil
Instructions
- Heat a large pan over low-medium heat. Thinly slice the tomatoes and remove as much of the seeds and liquid as you can. Pat tomato sliced dry and set aside.
- Lay a tortilla flat on a cutting board and spread one half with 1 heaping tablespoon pesto and then top with cheese, white beans and tomato. Sprinkle tomato with a little salt and pepper and add a little extra sprinkle of cheese on top if you like.
- Fold tortilla over and place in the pan, I like to place cheese side down. Cook each side until browned and cheese is melted, about 3-4 minutes each side. Let quesadilla cool for a minute or two before slicing and enjoying.
Notes
Above measurements are just a guide for you to go off of. You can most certainly use extra cheese or more or less of the other ingredients. You don’t want to overfill but you also don’t want to under fill if you are using large tortillas than I did.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Dinner, Vegetarian
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Extremely easy to make and very tasty. I see this becoming a regular in our meal rotation. And simple to add additional ingredients if you so like. Even the 3 year old ate this without issue. Win!
That is so nice to hear! Thank you, Anne!
I loved this! The only changes I made were putting the pesto and beans in a food processor (I used chickpeas) and making a sort of paste out of them that I spread on the quesadillas. I also added some pecorino as well as mozzarella. It was delicious and I felt like it was easier to keep everything in the quesadilla together! Plus, it’s easy to store. I will be making this a go-to recipe!
That’s a great idea!!
Petition to rename the recipe the Capresedilla!
haha, I love it!!
Thanks for another fantastic reciepe
I can’t wait to make it tonight for dinner
Yah! I hope you enjoy it!
Just made this for a quick lunch – SO very good! I added red onion and micro greens, but otherwise made no changes. Will definitely use this recipe with different combinations of veggies. I made another for my picky son with just pesto, cheese, and beans. It was a hit! Thank you!
That’s so nice to hear!!