I’ve been so busy lately. So, when I finally got a day off, I wanted something quick, delicious, and satisfying. I had not been meeting my quesadilla quota lately, but I was kinda craving pizza… so I decided to have both! These easy pizzadillas are a fast and easy cross between my two favorite foods: pizza and quesadillas!
Make it a Pizzadilla Party
Pizzadillas would be a really fun snack for a kids party. Put the ingredients, or “toppings”, out and let the kids build their own pizzadillas. Then just crisp them up in the skillet, slice them, and let the kids dip the wedges in the sauce! I have to admit… I feel kind of giddy like a kid when I’m eating them too :P
Mix Up the “Toppings”
I chose “supreme” like toppings but you could do anything. Make it vegetarian, greek, pepperoni-lovers, cheap, expensive, whatever. Keep the toppings prepped and in resealable containers in the fridge and then just build the pizzadillas fresh each time. They only take about 5-7 minutes in the skillet!
Also, the “toppings” make excellent toppings for salads, so if they’re already prepped in your fridge.
Pizzadillas
Servings 6Ingredients
- 6 10-inch flour tortillas ($1.34)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella ($1.75)
- 30 pepperoni slices ($1.38)
- 1 bell pepper ($0.99)
- 1/2 red onion ($0.42)
- 2.25oz can sliced black olives ($1.29)
- 1 can mushrooms ($0.85)
- 1/2 batch Thick & Rich Pizza Sauce ($1.20)
Instructions
- Prep the ingredients by thinly slicing the vegetables and draining the olives and mushrooms.
- For each pizzadilla: Measure 1/3 cup of shredded cheese. Sprinkle half of the cheese over one half of the tortilla, add toppings and then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Fold the empty side of the tortilla over the toppings.
- Place the pizzadilla in a prewarmed skillet (medium heat) and cook until brown and crispy on the bottom. Carefully flip the pizzadilla over and cook until brown and crispy on the second side. Once both sides are crisp and the cheese is melted inside, slice into thirds with a pizza cutter. Dip in the pizza sauce prior to eating.
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Nutrition
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Love fun variations on pizza? Try my Pizza Melts, Pizza Roll Ups, and Homemade French Bread Pizza.
How to Make Pizzadillas – Step By Step Photos
These are the toppings I chose for my pizzadillas. I used about 1/3 of the pack of pepperoni (or 4-5 each) and the rest can be frozen. Even though the cans of olives and mushrooms are small, there is enough for 6 pizzadillas. Remember, the more toppings you have, the less you’ll need of each one.
Prep all of the ingredients by slicing the fresh vegetables very thin and draining the canned olives and mushrooms. If the vegetables are cut too thick, it will be hard for the pizzadilla to stay together.
The cheese is the glue that holds the toppings in the pizzadilla, so you’ll want half on bottom and half on top. You’ll only need about 1/3 cup for each pizzadilla.
Place the toppings on the cheese.
And sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
Fold the empty side of the tortilla over the toppings and place in a pre-warmed skillet. If you’re using a non-stick skillet, you don’t need any non-stick spray but you can use it if you want an extra crispy exterior. Brown on each side.
Slice the pizzadilla into three wedges with a pizza cutter.
Dip that wedge of pizza goodness into some thick & rich pizza sauce!
Oh, yeah! Comfort food to the max!
Side Note:
The price of cheese is kind of out of control right now so I sprung for a big 2 lb. bag of shredded mozz. The regular 8 oz. (2 cup) bags were almost $3 a pop but this bag was $6.99 and is equal to four of the smaller.
I split the bag into four smaller zip lock bags, 2 cups each. I used one portion for the pizzadillas and the other three will be frozen. YES! You can freeze cheese! :D
We do something similar at our bar. The toppings are sautéed in a fry pan on the side, veggies first with a touch of olive oil, then pepperoni and sausage to bring the oils out. It just makes it easier cooking them in an 8″ fry pan rather than on the grill, although doing it all on the griddle is fine too. Then squirt a little Whirl liquid butter on the grill and take a 12″ flour tortilla and swirl it around so the underside is coated. Then add the mozz to both sides, and the other toppings from the fry pan on half. When the cheese is melted, it’s usually browned enough. We fold it over, take it off the grill, and dust with grated Parmesan. We then cut it, and place the pieces (dusted side down) in a basket, and dust the top. There is something amazing about the texture and flavor of adding the butter substitute and the Parmesan. It’s just not the same without it. And yes, we use a nice marinara dipping sauce (Pro tip: We use Dei Fratellli Italian Sauce. Great if you can find it.) and brings it all together. Many of our customers call it a pizza”dill”a. It always cracks me up. It’s been a strong seller for 12 years now.
love this recipe For an easy way to cook them try using a flat sandwich press. While the press is heating make your pizzadillas and when press is hot place on base and close lid and it cooks both sides at the same time. (saves time and easy clean up) For an extra hit of cheesy flavour try putting a little grated parm cheese on base just before you place your pizzadillas in and also a little on top of it as well before you close the lid you will know when it is done when you lift the lid slightly and the parm cheese is melted and set to the tortilla and released from the lid Yummm this works well with toasted wraps also. If you have a big enough sandwich press you can put the whole tortilla on with filling and top with another. Cut into 6 like a pizza
Sorry I forgot to give it a rating thanks again
Hi This is the first time I have commented on any site so here goes: I love all your recipes they are very easy to make and the step by step is very helpful. I don’t know if anyone has done it before but when I make quesadillas instead of using a pan to cook them in I use a sandwich press ( cooks both sides at once and you dont have to turn them over) much easer I also sometimes sprinkle a little grated parmesan on bottom plate before putting tortillas on heated base and a little on top before closing’ This gives it extra flavour Yummm
Super excited to try this delicious Pizzadillas , this one seems amazing , gonna try this next weekend . Thank you for sharing.
Love this delicious Pizzadillas, never tried this before . Will definitely gonna try this unique one . Thanks for sharing this recipe with us .
These Pizzadillas seems delicious , love these. Thanks for sharing this ingredients ad instructions with us , will definiely gonna try this one .
Love this “PIZZADILLAS” recipe, this one seems so delicious and amazing , will love to try this and my family members gonna love this one .
Unique and amazing one “PIZZADILLAS”, this one seems like “stuffed prantha” (Indian recipe), will love to try this one. Thanks for sharing this.
Love this “PIZZADILLAS”, it looks so delicious and kind of unique stuff will try for sure
Love this “PIZZADILLAS”, it looks so delicious and kind of unique stuff, thanks for sharing this one with us.
What if I wanted to add sausage to these? Do you think cooked, well drained sausage would be a problem? On another note, I ran across an article in The Washington Post the other day that said a splash of high proof vodka will prevent cheese from molding, but not add any alcohol to the cheese.
Yes, I think cooked and drained sausage will do well in these. :)
Have toddlers doing don’t trutthem with dipping sauce can I add to ingredients before toasting
Today I took cheddar and mozzarella cheese, sliced onions, chopped garlic, and salsa on one side, folded over and grilled it. I call it Mextalian. Then I googled pizzadilla and found several recipes after the fact! You can’t go wrong!
I’ve made these a few times now, and they’re always a hit! They feel fun and festive, but they’re so easy to make, and totally customizable! This is *amazing* for me, since my household has a lot of very specific dietary requirements, some of which are incompatible with each other. This way, everybody gets something they can (and want to!) eat, without me having to make a bunch of substitutions or omissions.
I especially love cutting these into little pizza slice-like wedges – genius! It makes dipping them so easy, and somehow makes eating them more fun.
This will be a great way to use up leftover tortillas after I run out of salsa!
I don’t know why I waited so long to make these. They are delicious and I love how I can make them healthier than pizza but still taste every bit as good.
Have you ever frozen and reheated these?
I haven’t with this one because I just eat them too fast, but there isn’t anything in them that wouldn’t freeze well, so my vote is “freezer friendly”! :)
These were delicious. And now they are dangerous because so easy to make. Thanks for the recipe!
So, I made these Friday night and they were a HIT! We had planned on going out for pizza ($30 a pop with our 5), and I somehow stumbled upon this blog and THIS recipe. I had everything on hand, it was simple to make, everyone loved them (create your own), and they saved me $30 we didn’t really have anyway! Why did I never think of this!? THANK YOU so much for making your recipes readily available! By the way, I’ve already filled up the rest of this month’s dinner calendar with your recipes. I’m SO pleased I’ve found your blog!
My boyfriend and I made these the other day and they were great and simple. I’ve always been a fan of quesadillas but I was getting tired of the usual cheese and beans, so these were great. We used shredded mozzarella and turkey pepperoni and I also put bell pepper and green onions on mine. We both dipped them in a jar of pizza sauce. Both my boyfriend and I thought they tasted like mozzarella sticks, probably because of the crunchiness of the quesadilla and the excess of cheese that we used, but that was fine by us! Thanks again for another delicious recipe.
Hey Beth!
Thanks for the great inspiration about pizzadillas! I have been making them since last year after seeing your brilliant idea. I even ventured out to make my own recipe. You can literally put anything in these babies! I love your site & have been following it for some time noe, keep up the great blogging, sista!
-Katy
http://lavidazukas.blogspot.com.es/2014/03/pizza-quesadillas.html
My philosophy is that everything is better in quesadilla form! :D
Thank you so much for this great recipe! (found via Pinterest) I reviewed it on my blog today :-) It was a huge hit at our house!
Thank you Beth for such a brilliant recipe! I tried it tonight and was very impressed! I shared your link on my blog to all my visitors. =) http://www.priscillaliang.com/2012/10/pizzadillas/
When thawing frozen cheese,let it come back to room temperature,and the texture will smooth.
Okay, so I made this for dinner and oh my, was it delish!! I was close to the recipe above except yellow onions instead of red and I kinda overstuffed it since I had smaller tortillas. My dipping sauce was a mixture of tomato paste/water with hickory smoke BBQ sauce and 1-2 diced chipotle peppers canned in abodo sauce. Of course, a lot sriracha sauce on top of the ‘dillas but I think next time I will just mix the sriracha in with the dipping sauce. I just really wish I had a beer or two to go with dinner…
I feel ridiculous for not even thinking of making them as quesadillas because I usually just use the tortillas as the crust for pizzas then bake them. This way is easier and great for summer so you don’t have to turn on the oven to bake it! Thank you so much!!
Omg. These are so GOOD! I’m a vegetarian so I did Tofurky pepperoni, shredded organic cheddar cheese, shredded carrots, olives and spinach. Dipping the slices in marinara sauce was heavenly. Easy clean up and cheap! So much faster than making home made pizza. Definitely a keeper!!
-Mehgan
I made one of these while waiting for my pasta to cook last night after the gym. In the process I finally worked out how to use gluten free wraps without them cracking – warm them up in the microwave. Only problem is that they cool down really quickly so you have to assemble really quick. I’m usually dairy free but I decided to trial some dairy to have these and it went well. woo
The first one i made I put sauce on it, but that got really messy, so when I tried again I did the slice and dip. YUMMY!
It’s so dangerous knowing how to make these
Thanks so much! we tried these for the first time tonight, and everyone loved them.
My family LOVES these. Such a great idea!
Just made this yummy delicious recipe. It’s so easy to make and a perfect dish for watching the Saints game. Thanks Beth! And geaux Saints!
I eat a lot of pizza, and the ease of making pizzadillas has skyrocketed my usual amount of pizza intake. Yum.
now, why didn’t I think of that? LOVE this!!
I made this the other day and instead I used the flour shells you bloged on how to make and my roommates love pizza and so I made this for them and then I had to make it for them the next three days in a row! They are so yummy and so good! And so easy!
Made these for dinner, I used to make these as wraps using the same process, but this was a nice change up :D
what a great idea! I made them tonight and they were amazing!
I don’t know why I’ve never thought of this before. I just made it and I love it!
Interestingly, I started making something like this several weeks ago. It’s no pizzalicious but it’s delicious regardless:
Tortilla with a thin layer of cream cheese topped with hot pepper jack cheese, hard salami, a couple of sliced of honey ham, and another layer of the cheese (all on just half the tortilla), and slap it on a skillet.
It’s ultra delicious and creamy.
These look DELICIOUS! This is a great recipe filled with ingredients I typically have on hand, can’t wait to try it! I frequently make PB&J quesadillas, the warm and melty peanut butter with sweet jam is to die for.
I did not know you could freeze cheese, and this recipe looks delicious and quick. Thanks!
Saw your post on Dishfolio. Love your site! My husband and I just started doing the Dave Ramsey thing, so I’ve been working to slash my weekly grocery budget. I love finding sites that give tips on how to save money and recipes that freeze well. I am all about keeping the deep freeze stocked!
This is such a cool idea! I love combining two favorites into one delicious recipe. For cheese, I find it’s cheaper to buy the big blocks and then to shred it myself. It’s good to know you can freeze cheese, but it never lasts that long in my fridge anyways.
I just popped a block of cheese in the freezer a couple of days ago – it is so darn expensive so when it’s on sale better, I stock up!
OveLoves
On the question of freezing cheese…this comes directly from Sargento’s website:
Q. Can I freeze cheese?
Yes, our shredded and sliced cheeses and natural cheese snacks can be frozen for up to two months. If you’ve already opened the package, be sure to press out as much air as possible before reclosing the package. Freezing and thawing may change the texture of the cheese, making it more crumbly.
Sargento Ricotta cheese can also be frozen for up to two months, but freezing may affect the texture of the cheese. If you freeze it, we suggest thawing it in the refrigerator. After thawing, you may find some liquid on top of the cheese. Just stir that liquid back into the cheese.
Costco normally has good deals on cheese. I buy and freeze it into more manageable portions. This recipe looks very yummy, I’ll have to try it!
Hi Beth, I am a fan of your post almost more than a year now and I like it very much for all of your posts. I have a question related to this post which is you are telling that “you can freeze cheese” however this is against all of my previous knowledge.So could you please help me to understand how you use freezed cheese? just take out the fridge and wait couple hours? or any other method?
cheers & thanks
Yummy! I remember eating “tortilla pizzas” as a kid, but with a more Mexican flair – a thin layer of salsa as the “sauce” and then black olives and cheddar cheese. Usually I stick them in the toaster oven to crisp up. :) I should try this variation though- mozzarella on tortillas is something I didn’t like back then but I should give it a try now. And that dipping sauce sounds fabulous!
This is brilliant! Now to try every type of pizza as a quesadilla….
My bestie Katie and I just agreed- this is the next thing we’re making!!!
Ooh…now this looks yummy!
We are big big BIG pizza lovers in this house. I will give this a try!
Thanks for sharing!
Yum! I used to make these all the time when I was poor and not eating bread, I called em pizza quesadillas but I guess pizzadilla makes more sense LOL