Carrot
Really Flavorful Braised Chicken Quesadillas
- Serves 4-6
Author Notes
My 7YO son loves chicken quesadillas which I usually make from leftover chicken. He wanted quesadillas one night and we had no leftovers so I started from scratch. I love braised chicken so I decided to braise with some smoky paprika, tomato paste and veggies. The result was very flavorful and delicious. We were happy quesadilla eaters. —mj.landry
What You'll Need
Ingredients
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2
Chicken breasts (bone in, skin on preferable)
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1
Sweet onion, quartered
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2
Carrots, chopped in half
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2
garlic cloves, smashed
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1 teaspoon
Smoky Paprika, add a bit more if you like
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2 tablespoons
Double concentrate tomato paste
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1 cup
white wine
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2 cups
Chicken broth
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4-6
Flour Tortillas
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1-2 tablespoons
butter
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1-2 tablespoons
olive oil
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Toppings of your choice, jalapeño, onions, lettuce, sour cream, and guacamole are all good
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Cheeses of your choice, I used a bit of sharp cheddar
Directions
- So, step one, add some olive oil and butter to a deep oven safe skillet. Heat that up over medium heat until it is pretty hot so your chicken sizzles when it hits the pan.
- Meanwhile, season your chicken breasts generously with salt and pepper and smoky paprika.
- Peel and cut two carrots in half and quarter 1 small sweet onion. Smash 2 cloves of garlic. Add all of this to the skillet.
- Sear chicken on both sides until deep golden brown. Then add about 2 Tbs tomato paste to pan and stir to caramelize still over medium heat.
- When the tomato paste is nice and caramelized and kind of sticking to the bottom of the pan pour in about 1 cup of white wine. I was drinking Chardonnay so that’s what was open so that is what I added. Any wine would be fine.
- Deglaze the pan with this until the wine is very reduced and then add about 2 cups of chicken stock.
- Cover the pan and put into a 350 degree oven and braise the chicken for at least an hour or until you can easily shred it with 2 forks
- . After you shred with 2 forks add the skillet back to your range top and cook over medium heat until the sauce is much reduced and the chicken is very tender and infused with flavor.
- Now you are ready to make your quesadillas. We used large flour tortillas for ours. Take 1 tortilla and spread chicken all around leaving a little space around the sides so the filling doesn’t leak out when you flip. Then add whatever cheese and extras you like. My son likes Jalapeno’s and salsa added to his and cheddar cheese and this is funny I actually had fresh Buffalo Mozzarella so I put a little of that in his. I like pepper jack and onions and weirdly enough lettuce in mine and then I like to dip in sour cream and guacamole. But put whatever you like in there. Just cheese and chicken is delicious.
- Put a little butter into a non stick pan and add quesadilla pressing down on top with your spatula. After about 2 minutes carefully flip tortilla and press down on the other side until all the cheese is melted and the tortilla is golden brown
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