We love Mexican food! Doesn’t matter if it’s beef, pork or chicken, we love it all! I invariably end up with leftover seasoned meat. Sometimes I will use it to make nachos, enchiladas or burritos. Leftovers have a way of backing up so I am always on the hunt for clever recipes that I can use to transform leftovers into new tasty meals.
I came across this recipe idea when I had a boatload of leftover Carne Asada and Pork Carnitas hanging out in the fridge. A huge thank you to Ree Drummond at Foodnetwork.com for the inspiration for this recipe. Although she used chicken I decided the technique was a brilliant idea and I knew using the leftovers I had in the fridge would be the perfect ingredients utilizing her technique.
If you have a crowd to feed this is a great recipe. But, using leftovers to serve guests, I could never do anything like that…could I? Well I did, and I was able to spend time hanging out with my girlfriends enjoying a margarita instead of standing at the stove all evening cooking.
These cheesy, sheet pan quesadillas were a HUGE hit!!! They were all cheesy, melty, hearty and filling with all our favorite Mexican flavors…Olé my friends!
These are so easy to prepare and so delicious to eat! Definitely a win-win! Could someone pass the pitcher of Beer–ga–ritas my way please?
Be sure to serve these quesadillas with a flavorful salsa! Instead of store bought, make your own! Give this recipe for the World’s Best Salsa a try. Not only can you you whip up a batch in just a few minutes, but it tastes a thousand times better than anything you can get out of a jar! Once you start eating it, you won’t be able to stop yourself, you will love it!!! It’s also one one of Natureway’s most popular recipes, and for good reason…trust me…it’s fantabulous!!!
Begin by preheating your oven to 450°F.
Assemble:
Place 2 tablespoons butter onto a cookie sheet. Place cookie sheet in the oven until butter has melted.
Use a basting brush to spread out and evenly coat the cookie sheet with the melted butter.
Lay out 6 tortillas in the buttered cookie sheet, overlapping the tortillas and allowing about ½ of each tortilla to hang over the edges of the cookie sheet. Place a tortilla in the center to completely cover the entire cookie sheet.
Sprinkle ½ the grated cheddar cheese evenly over the tortillas in the pan.
Add an even layer of shredded, seasoned cooked beef and the sliced olives.
Top with an even layer of the remaining cheddar cheese.
Beef, Cheddar & Sliced Black Olives. 
Pork, Mozzarella & Diced Green Chiles.
Fold the overhanging tortillas towards the center of the pan.
Place another tortilla in the center if needed to enclose and cover all the filling ingredients.
Baste the tortillas with melted butter.
Top with another cookie sheet, and press down firmly, smushing the quesadillas together and flattening them.
Bake:
Place (both pans) in the preheated 450° oven.
Bake quesadilla, covered, for 20 minutes. Quesadillas are done when tortillas are crispy golden brown, cheese is melted and fillings are hot.
Serve:
Remove quesadilla from the pan and slide onto a large cutting board.
Use a pizza cutter to cut into generous sized squares and cut each sqare in half on the diagonal.
Top with a dollop of sour cream, fresh Pico de gallo and a side of salsa if you like it spicy..
I made two versions. The first batch was filled with cheddar cheese, carne asada and sliced black olives.
Don’t be stingy with the cheese! The more the better!!!
The second batch was made with mozzarella cheese, pork carnitas, and diced green chilis.
Left-Over Make-Over, Cheesy Sheet Pan Quesadillas
Equipment
- 2 cookie sheets
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter, melted
- 8 large flour tortillas, burrito sized
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup salsa
- ½ cup Pico de gallo
For Beef Quesadillas:
- 1 lb cheddar cheese, grated
- 8 oz seasoned carne asada, chopped
- 2.25 oz sliced black olives, drained
For Pork Quesadillas:
- 1 lb mozarella cheese, grated
- 8 oz seasoned carnitas, shredded
- 4 oz diced green chilis
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
Assemble:
- Place 2 tablespoons butter onto a cookie sheet. Place cookie sheet in the oven until butter has melted.
- Use a basting brush to spread out and evenly coat the cookie sheet with the melted butter.
- Lay out 6 tortillas in the buttered cookie sheet, overlapping the tortillas and allowing about ½ of each tortilla to hang over the edges of the cookie sheet. Place a tortilla in the center to completely cover the entire cookie sheet.
- Sprinkle ½ the grated cheddar cheese evenly over the tortillas in the pan.
- Add an even layer of shredded meat.
- Sprinkle with sliced black olives or diced green chilis.
- Top with an even layer of the remaining cheese.
- Fold the overhanging tortillas towards the center of the pan. Place another tortilla in the center, if needed, to enclose and cover all the filling ingredients.
- Baste the tortillas with melted butter.
- Top with another cookie sheet, and press down firmly, smushing the quesadillas together and flattening them.
Bake:
- Place (both pans) in the preheated 450° oven.
- Bake quesadilla, covered, for 20 minutes. Quesadillas are done when tortillas are crispy golden brown, cheese is melted and fillings are hot.
Serve:
- Remove quesadilla from the pan and slide onto a large cutting board. Use a pizza cutter to cut into generous sized squares and cut each sqare in half on the diagonal.
- Top with a dollop of sour cream, some Pico de gallo and a side of salsa.
Did You Make This?
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