Buffalo Chickpea Quesadilla (Vegetarian-Friendly)
Need some Meatless Monday inspiration? This Buffalo Chickpea Quesadilla recipe has you covered, with boldly flavored and beautifully textured smashed buffalo chickpeas and irresistibly gooey melted cheese.
Servings: 2 quesadillas
Calories: 910kcal
Ingredients
- 1 15.5 ounce can of chickpeas
- ½ small yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, finely diced
- 3 tablespoon Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Wing sauce
- 2 large flour tortillas
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Strain and rinse the chickpeas, then add to a food processor. Pulse three to four times until the chickpeas are broken down a bit. Be careful not to overdo it; you want to preserve a bit of texture, not make hummus. You could also smash the chickpeas up a bit with a fork.
- Melt butter (or heat olive oil) in a pan over medium heat. Once melted, add the onion and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for 45 seconds, stirring the whole time.
- Add the smashed chickpeas and 3 tablespoons Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Wing sauce. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally until heated through.
- Remove pan from heat and set aside.
- Toss the shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheeses together to combine them.
- Lay a tortilla on a cutting board and sprinkle half with ½ cup shredded cheese. Top with half of the buffalo chickpea mixture. Finish by sprinkling with another ½ cup shredded cheese.
- Fold the naked half of the tortilla over the top of the side with fillings. Repeat the step above with the second quesadilla.
- Heat a large pan or griddle to medium heat. When warmed up, spritz the surface with cooking spray. Add quesadillas and cook for 5-7 minutes on each side, or until crisp and toasty looking (you may need to cook one at a time, depending on the size of your cooking surface).
- Remove from heat and cut into four slices. Serve with ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing.
Notes
Tip 1. Drain the chickpeas well – Draining off the excess canned liquid prevents the chickpea quesadilla filling from becoming too wet; we do not want to risk making the quesadilla soggy.
Tip 2. Don’t overdo the sauce – Avoid adding more buffalo sauce than the recipe calls for; it can make the filling runny and prevent the quesadilla from crisping properly while cooking
Tip 3. Serve with a great dip – Ranch and blue cheese dressing are the obvious choices, but you might be surprised by an avocado crema.
*Nutrition information is approximate and was calculated using an online nutrition calculator.
Nutrition
Calories: 910kcal | Carbohydrates: 80g | Protein: 48g | Fat: 46g | Saturated Fat: 23g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 116mg | Sodium: 1693mg | Potassium: 796mg | Fiber: 18g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 1179IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 842mg | Iron: 8mg