I LOVE quesadillas. Crispy on the outside, all warm and melty on the inside… Oh so good. While I don’t think I can top my favorite black bean quesadillas, these mediterranean quesadillas are an excellent alternative when I have Tex-mex burnout. …because when you eat as much chili powder and cumin as I do, burnout does happen.
The trick to making these quesadillas affordable is to choose the filling ingredients based on what is priced good in your local stores. For instance, I really, really wanted those little tangy roasted tomatoes packed in oil, but I couldn’t find them for any less than $5. Instead, I was able to find a large jar of roasted red peppers for just $1.89. You can and should play around with the filling components. Some other ideas include: roasted garlic, garbanzo beans, roasted or sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts, fresh basil, zucchini, or eggplant.
When I buy an ingredient for a recipe, I prefer to use the whole container to prevent odds and ends that get wasted. With this recipe, I’ve used small amounts of very flavorful ingredients that also happen to be pricy (feta, kalamata olives, roasted red peppers). Luckily, these ingredients also stay fresh in the refrigerator for greater lengths of time than most fresh ingredients, giving me more time to use them up. Use the extras for salads, frittatas, or sandwiches.
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
Mediterranean Quesadillas
Servings 10Ingredients
- 10 8 inch flour tortillas ($1.93)
- 1 lb. frozen chopped spinach ($1.49)
- 1 small red onion ($0.77)
- 1/2 12 oz. jar roasted red peppers ($0.85)
- 1/3 9.5 oz. jar kalamata olives ($1.66)
- handful fresh parsley, optional ($0.43)
- 4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled ($1.74)
- 8 oz. shredded mozzarella ($2.50)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
Instructions
- Thaw the frozen spinach and then place in a colander. Press the spinach against the sides of the colander to squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Place the drained spinach in a large bowl.
- Cut the red onion into very thin slices. Cut the roasted red pepper into small strips, roughly chop the kalamata olives, and roughly chop the parsley. Place all four ingredients in the bowl with the spinach.
- To the bowl also add the oregano, crumbled feta, and shredded mozzarella. Stir very well until everything is evenly distributed.
- Divide the filling among all ten tortillas, spooning it into one half and then folding the bare half over top (I used roughly 3/4 cup per tortilla). Heat a non-stick skillet over medium to medium/low heat. Cook the quesadillas on each side until the outside is golden brown and crispy and the cheese inside has melted.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Mediterranean Quesadillas – Step By Step Photos
For this recipe, I prefer the “cut spinach” that comes frozen in a bag rather than the kind that comes in a frozen block. This type of frozen spinach is cut into smaller pieces, is less stringy, and seems to have less moisture to squeeze out. Allow the spinach to thaw completely before you begin.
Place the thawed spinach in a colander and press it against the sides to squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Soggy quesadilla = bad.
Roughly chop the parsley and kalamata olives. Cut the red onion into very thin strips. Slice the roasted red pepper into thin strips as well. You want small pieces so that every bite gets bits of multiple ingredients.
In a large bowl, combine the squeezed spinach, red onion, kalamata olives, roasted red pepper, and parsley. Stir well.
Next, add the crumbled feta, shredded mozzarella, and dried oregano. Stir very, very well to make sure everything is evenly mixed.
Divide the filling among all ten tortillas. Spread the filling over one half of the tortilla and then fold the empty half over top.
I like to fill all ten at once (stacking them as I go to keep them out of the way) so that I can adjust the amount in each if I end up with too much filling at the end or not enough. I started out with a heaping half cup for each but had some left over at the end so I went back and put a little more into each one.
To cook the quesadillas, place them in a warm skillet and cook on each side until the outside is golden brown and crispy and the cheese has melted on the inside. I prefer to use some sort of non-stick skillet but if you don’t have one, just give a regular skillet a quick spritz of non-stick spray.
To cut the quesadillas, use a sharp pizza slicer and cut into thirds.
Oh yum, yum, yom, nom, NOM!
Very good! Only tweak was that I used basil as the parsely in my herb garden recently bit the dust. Additions I’d add in the future to mix it up may be artichokes or diced Gardein chicken strips. Paired this with your Super Fresh Cucumber Salad. Delish! I swear I’m gonna pull a Julia & Julia on all of your recipes I can vegetarian-ize!
Very good, easy and can’t wait to eat the leftovers.
I sauteed my onions, spinach, and peppers in olive oil before mixing/filling. I also added some eggplant in the mix and some fresh tomatoes. The eggplant was sauteed, the tomatoes were not. Also added a squeeze of lemon. Oh MAN they were good!
Oh man, this was great. So filling and delicious. I forgot to get the roasted red peppers and used sundried tomatoes instead and it was awesome- may use more feta and less mozzarella best time because feta cheese is my life.
I usually don’t post but this recipe is outstanding. The whole family loved these. Thanks for sharing.
This is one of my favorite recipes in the whole world!! Thanks so much for sharing!!
this was awesome
I just made these today and they are really good! I used cheese sticks for the mozzarella cheese cuz they were sitting there forever and no one wanted to eat them, I dont like red bell peppers, so I used two tomatoes instead and two crushed red pepper pizza hut packets. BTW Fetta cheese aged 5 years in rubbermade containers is legit.
Love Mediterranean food, so I gave this a try! I cut back the onions and omitted the olives. Very good, except next time I would add a little Monterey Jack or mozzarella to make it a little more gooey :)
Great job, love your blog!!
These sound so good! I’ve been thinking about what to make with spinach (my iron is too low right now to give blood, sadface). I will probably add shredded chicken, ’cause we’re obsessed with meat at my house.
I have been craving good mexican food for weeks… I think my husband is getting sick of all of my attempts to fix my craving though…
That’s alright, I’ll try another recipe :)
Found your blog just now …
I will be making these soon ~ thanks !
These were awesome! Made a good take-to-work lunch as well. I had to reheat in the microwave, so the tortilla was soft, but still tasty.
This looks great. Lunch tomorrow! Thanks for your website and your postings! Great resource for good frugal cooking!
Heather – Yeah, as a matter of fact, I almost added garbanzos to this recipe! :D I would suggest mashing them just slightly so that they don’t cause big lumps in the quesadilla.