I’m of the opinion that pretty much everything tastes better in a toasted tortilla. I often take leftover ingredients from my fridge and turn them into a tasty quesadilla. So that’s exactly what I made with the leftover frozen spinach in my freezer. Easy, cheesy, creamy Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas!
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To craft these Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas, I used my Creamy Chicken and Spinach Quesadillas as a template. The filling is a combination of your main ingredient (in this case mushrooms and spinach), cheese, and a little bit of sour cream to make everything extra creamy and delicious. That little bit of sour cream really takes the quesadillas to the next level!
Can I Use Fresh Spinach?
I also tested this recipe using fresh spinach, just to see which would be better. I added the fresh, roughly chopped spinach to the quesadilla filling without sautéing. The quesadillas were good, but they did get a bit watery if they sat in the hot skillet too long or sat on the plate too long before eating.
Another option for fresh spinach would be to sauté the fresh spinach down until almost all of the water is cooked out, but you’d likely need a very large quantity of spinach yield enough to fill the quesadillas once sautéed.
Cheese Options
I kept my spinach and mushroom quesadillas very simple with classic mozzarella cheese, but you could have fun here and add more flavor by swapping out the cheese or adding a second type of cheese. Adding a few crumbles of feta or a couple of tablespoons of grated Parmesan to the mozzarella would add an extra punch of flavor. Mixing in some smoked gouda would also be amazing! If you want things a little more spicy, you could use pepper jack in place of the mozzarella.
Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas
Servings 5 quesadillasIngredients
- 8 oz. mushrooms ($1.69)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt, divided ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked pepper, divided ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper ($0.02)
- 1/2 lb. frozen chopped spinach ($0.84)
- 8 oz. mozzarella*, shredded ($1.85)
- 1/4 cup sour cream ($0.29)
- 5 7-inch flour tortillas ($0.94)
Instructions
- Slice the mushrooms and add them to a skillet with the cooking oil, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, and half of the salt and pepper. Sauté over medium until the mushrooms have release all of their water and it has evaporated out of the skillet. Set the mushrooms aside.
- While the mushrooms are cooking, thaw the frozen spinach then squeeze out as much of the water as possible. You should have about one cup of spinach (loosely packed) once squeezed.
- Add the mushrooms, spinach, shredded mozzarella, sour cream, and another ⅛ tsp each of salt and pepper to a bowl, then stir to combine.
- Add about ½ cup of the cheesy spinach mushroom mixture to each tortilla, spread it out to cover one side of the tortilla, then fold to close.
- Cook the quesadillas in a skillet over medium heat until brown and crispy on the outside and melty on the inside (I do not use butter or oil in the skillet, but can if you want a more fried texture).
- Slice the quesadillas and serve!
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Love spinach and mushrooms together? Try our Spinach Mushroom French Bread Pizzas!
How to Make Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas – Step by Step Photos
Slice 8oz. mushrooms. I used baby bella, but you can use whatever type you like.
Add the mushrooms to a skillet along with 1 Tbsp cooking oil, ¼ tsp garlic powder, ⅛ tsp salt, ⅛ tsp pepper, and ⅛ tsp crushed red pepper. Sauté over medium until the mushrooms have released all of their moisture and it has evaporated out of the skillet. Set the mushrooms aside.
Thaw ½ lb. of frozen chopped spinach. Squeeze as much water out of the spinach as possible. You should have about one loosely packed cup of dried spinach.
Add the spinach, mushrooms, 8 oz. shredded mozzarella, ¼ cup sour cream, and an additional ⅛ tsp salt and pepper to a bowl.
Stir the ingredients together until well combined.
Add about ½ cup of the spinach mushroom mixture to each tortilla, spreading it out over one side, then folding it closed.
Toast the quesadillas in a skillet over medium heat until they are golden brown and crispy on the outsides and melty on the insides. I don’t use any butter or oil in the skillet, but you can if you prefer a more fried texture to the tortilla.
Slice the quesadillas in half and serve!
I’ll admit that I’m not a fan or spinach, but I’m totally into mushrooms. I thought I’d give these a try and I wasn’t disappointed.
I cut the recipe in half and it made 3 quesadilla.
My only suggestion would be to skip the salt in the recipe because one never knows how salty the cheese will be.
The filling can be mixed up ahead of time if you want to make them for breakfast.
fixed for supper tonight, will definitely add it to my favorite recipes. Used fresh spinach as I didnt have frozen and Havarti cheese as that was the only cheese I had.
This was such a hit in our house tonight! I forgot to buy sour cream so I had to sub cottage cheese, which made it less creamy, but it was still SO delicious. Will definitely be making again!
I made the spinach mushroom quesadillas.
Can freeze this mixture without cooking..I am afraid if put tortilla in freezer after cooking they will get soggy when cooked.
I baked these on a sheet pan in the oven and they didn’t get as brown but they were still tasty. I’d make them again.
Another winner! I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious. I will definitely be making this again!
I was wondering about adding some beans to this for additional protein and to make it more filling – would some great northern or cannellini beans work?
Yes, those are both great choices!
WOW! Made these for myself and a friend last night and I swear when she bit into this quesadilla she was in heaven. These are so good. I added some goat cheese, used sharp cheddar instead of mozzarella cheese, and used kale (sauteed with the mushrooms) instead of spinach. Just incredible. Thank you so much to Beth and the whole team for bringing these recipes that spark joy into my life.
YUMMO! Made these for dinner tonight and they were delicious! Added some minced garlic with the mushrooms, and a few shakes of grated parmesan to the mix before blending everything, but otherwise left the recipe alone and they were wonderful. We will definitely have these again. Thank you for sharing this!!
I’ve spotted some mushrooms on sale and I can’t wait to try them with this recipe! I’m not very fond of sour cream, do you think I could use some cream cheese instead?
You’ll definitely need to warm it up a bit in order to mix it together with everything, but other than that I think cream cheese would be really good in this! :)
Thank you, you’re always so helpful! I ended up using the mushrooms for your egg drop soup instead, as it was a chilly, comfort-food kind of day, but I’m definitely trying this one next!
Came back to leave a comment saying how great and easy this was. Made this last night for dinner for me and my notoriously picky grandmother. Not only did she eat it, but she went back for SECONDS!!!! She’s 95 with dementia/alzheimer’s, so she’s fussy. but this went down no problem. I am so making this again. Thank you Budget Bytes!
Delicious!
Had no sour cream so Greek yogurt went into the mix.
Also used mixed cheese blend including pepper jack and combo of oyster & shiitake mushrooms.
Used corn tortillas-one ea top & bottom-only tricky part was flipping w/o losing innards-but it works w/2 spatulas.
Topped w/spicy guac
I bet roasted chopped chilies would be a tasty addition when available (if you like ‘spicy’)
Thanks for the great recipe-definitely a keeper!!
Wondering if cooking the spinach has any effect? I’m assuming I would need to use more spinach, just because it cooks down. I’d go with raw, but my stomach prefers cooked:-)
If you mean cooking the frozen spinach, no, you won’t need to add any more because the frozen spinach is already wilted down about as much as it can go. If you mean cooking fresh spinach, yes, you’ll need to use more. You can see my experience and advice about using fresh spinach in the blog post under the heading, “Can I Use Fresh Spinach?”
Having this right now for lunch and had to write a review – SO GOOD! The only thing I did differently was added a bit more crushed red pepper, but that is personal preference. This will definitely be going in my rotations for lunch while working from home! Thanks for sharing
The only reason why I gave you four stars cuz it’s definite five star thing it’s because fresh spinach should be used. The way that I did it was the same way you did with the mushrooms but then I used to slotted spoon to pull the mushrooms out of the pan. Then I threw fresh spinach in the mushroom juice that came out of the mushrooms, and it saved you from having to drain frozen spinach after you thaw it.
I am vegan so I subbed for vegan cheese and didn’t add the sour cream. I also tried it w both flour and corn tortillas but I think I prefer the crunch of the corn. So delicious! Full of protein ❤️ I love all of your recipes.
Sounds great. I can’t wait to try it.🥰😇
Great, simple recipe idea. Spinach and mushroom go together so well and everything tastes good in a tortilla. Thanks for sharing!
These were pretty good when I made them, but I think I made an error when doing this. I was unsure if the 8 oz of cheese was by weight or by volume, so I used half of a brick of mozzarella since it was a cup of cheese. I didn’t really have enough filling for as many servings here, but I chalk that up to user error. The flavor is all there however, and mixing in parmesan was a good suggestion!
Here’s a tip that can help prevent that confusion in the future. Solid ingredients, like cheese, are always in weight ounces. Liquid ingredients are always in fluid ounces (volume). So for this you’ll want to use an entire 8oz. block of cheese. :) I hope that helps!
Thanks for the tip! It’s something so obvious but not something I’ve stopped to think about before until this recipe. Next time I’ll try it I’ll make sure to add the proper amount; I look forward to it since the flavor was great!
Very tasty! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I’m excited to share this with friends and family. Making this simple but delicious meal will be a staple in my household!!!!!
Delicious dinner. I have leftovers filling. What’s the best way to freeze ?…as a quesadilla or filling only ?
I haven’t tried freezing this quesadilla and I’m not exactly sure how it would turn out because typically sour cream doesn’t freeze well, but for other quesadillas I just fill them, fold them closed, then stack them with some parchment or wax paper between each one so they don’t stick together. Then to cook I just cook it in a skillet straight from the freezer over very low heat so the inside has time to thaw and heat through before the tortilla burns.
I’ll be trying this soon. Thanks for the recipe.
Any tips on an easy and not-too-messy way to defrost frozen spinach?
Unfortunately, I don’t have any tricks for that! 😅 I just put it in a bowl, defrost in the microwave, then squeeze fist-fulls of it until dry.
Another site recommended pouring hot/boiling (if you have a kettle) water over it to flash-thaw frozen spinach.
I love that idea!
This was so so good! I recently became a vegetarian and was looking for some yummy recipes with flavor that weren’t terrible for you, this was really easy for a beginner cook and makes enough for my small family :)
Yum–perfect lunch or light supper. While I prefer flour tortillas for quesadillas, I do sometimes make them with corn tortillas, which I love. Easy to only make one and store the rest of the filling for a repeat sometime during the next day or two. I would personally use it up within 24 hours, mostly because cooked spinach tends to weep–it will keep longer. I added some diced onion when I sauteed the mushrooms. This also makes a terrific enchilada filling!
Benita’s breakfast quesadillas are what used to be called breakfast tacos 40 years ago when friends and I enjoyed them on The Drag in Austin, although they were usually folded over similar fillings as she described and grilled–either corn or flour.
I just read the recipe and it sounds yummy. I would be happy if you added Information on using corn tortillas for folks like me who eat gluten free. Corn tortillas are smaller so this recipe will make more quesadillas so it is a sub one for one. I make what I call quesadillas with salsa, cheese, avocado and anything else I add (beans, sweet potato, chorizo) and fry them as one tortilla at the bottom and one on the top. Not typical but very tasty, and a wonderful breakfast.
I like your idea,
Great way to clean up the fridge.
Thanks
I’m also GF and was wondering how well this would work with corn tortillas. I’m sure you know how much those things want to fall apart. Good idea, thanks for sharing.