This Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla Recipe is an easy, cheesy dinner packed with bold buffalo flavor and tender chicken, ready in minutes. Perfect for busy weeknights or game day, these quesadillas are a great way to use leftover or rotisserie chicken while still delivering big flavor the whole family loves.
Why You’ll Love Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas!
We love all things buffalo and this buffalo chicken quesadilla recipe is super easy for busy weeknights or game day party. You can use leftover chicken to make this main dish recipe even simpler.
The cheese is so ooey and gooey and tastes amazing with the buffalo and ranch flavors.
Our family never gets tired of buffalo chicken recipes. From Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Sliders and Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe to Buffalo Chicken Crescent Ring Recipe, Easy Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Sliders, and Buffalo Chicken Wonton Cups Recipe, we love it ALL!
Recipe Snapshot
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Servings: 4 quesadillas
- Budget-Friendly: Yes – perfect for using leftover or rotisserie chicken
- Skill Level: Beginner
- Cooking Method: Skillet, Griddle, or Oven
- Best For: Quick weeknight dinners, game day, lunch
- Family-Approved: Yes
- Make Ahead: Yes – assemble ahead and cook when ready
- Leftovers: Reheat well in a skillet or air fryer
Ingredients
These buffalo chicken quesadillas use simple pantry and fridge staples you may already have on hand.
- Cooked Shredded Chicken – Tender, protein-packed base for the quesadillas. Use rotisserie chicken, leftover grilled chicken, or canned chicken to save time and money.
- Buffalo Sauce – Adds that bold, tangy heat everyone loves. Use store-brand buffalo wing sauce or mix hot sauce with a little melted butter.
- Ranch Dressing – Cools the heat and adds creamy flavor. Use store-brand ranch or homemade ranch dressing.
- Salt and Black Pepper – Simple seasonings to balance the flavors. Pantry staples you already have on hand.
- Shredded Colby Jack Cheese – Melts beautifully and pairs perfectly with buffalo flavor. Cheddar, Monterey Jack, mozzarella, or a shredded cheese blend.
- Flour Tortillas (Burrito Size) – Holds all the cheesy filling and crisps up nicely. Use medium tortillas, whole wheat, or store-brand wraps.
- Butter (divided) – Helps create a golden, crispy exterior. Use oil or margarine if needed.
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas
These buffalo chicken quesadillas come together quickly on the stovetop with just a few simple steps.
Step 1 – In a large mixing bowl, stir together the shredded chicken, buffalo sauce, ranch dressing, salt and pepper.
Step 2 – Layer each half of the tortilla with ¼ cup cheese, ½ cup of the chicken mixture and another ¼ cup cheese. Fold the tortillas in half.
Step 3 – Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. Melt half of the butter onto the skillet or griddle. Place 2 of the prepared quesadillas onto the skillet or griddle and cook for 1-2 minutes per side until the cheese is fully melted and the quesadillas are golden brown on both sides.
Step 4 – Let cook slightly. Cut each one into approximately 4 pieces each and they are ready to serve with your favorite dipping sauce. Enjoy!
How to Cook the Chicken
My favorite way is to cook chicken breasts in the crockpot. It takes so little work and it’s very easy to shred once the chicken is finished cooking. These options will show you to cook shredded chicken easily for this delicious meal.
Using pre-cooked or shredded chicken keeps these buffalo chicken quesadillas fast, affordable, and perfect for weeknights.
Recipe Tips
- Leftover Rotisserie Chicken – This is the perfect meal to make with leftover chicken and rotisserie chicken.
- Cheese – We used mozzarella cheese but you can use any type of cheese. Monterey jack cheese or pepper jack cheese would great option. You can even mix different types of cheese together.
- Ingredients – When heating the ingredients together, make sure they are mixed together completely.
- Buffalo Sauce – You can make homemade buffalo sauce or use store bought. These quesadilla will have all the flavors of buffalo sauce no matter which one you use.
- Meal Idea – These quesadillas are perfect for lunch or dinner. We make these all the time for a quick meal idea.
- Tortilla – You can use any type of quesadillas. Gluten free, low carb or whole wheat tortillas are always good options.
- Shred Cheese – We recommend shredding cheese yourself. There is no adding ingredients and we feel like it melts better than the pre-shredded cheese.
- Extra Crispy – For extra crispy quesadillas, let the skillet fully preheat before adding the tortillas.
Substitutions and Variations Ideas
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese – Feel free to make these delicious quesadillas with different types of cheeses.
- Tortilla – We usually make these quesadillas with large flour tortillas, but you can make it with any size.
- Serving – Serve the quesadillas with your favorite salsa, fresh cilantro or guacamole.
- Spice Level – Feel free to add more wing sauce or add in cayenne pepper to add more kick to the flavor.
- Low Carb – Use low-carb or keto tortillas to reduce carbs.
- Air Fryer – These can also be cooked in the air fryer at 375°F for 4–5 minutes per side.
What is Good to Serve with Quesadillas
- Rice – This is yummy served with Spanish Rice. Did you know you can also freeze rice? You can also make white rice or brown rice.
- Cheese Dip – My kids love when I make The Best Mexican White Cheese Dip Recipe. They like to eat this with some tortilla chips or pour some of the cheese dip on the quesadillas. You may even like this Cowboy Caviar Dip.
- Sour Cream – We made to serve these with a drizzle of sour cream or to dip the quesadillas in.
- Dips – We like to serve ranch and blue cheese dressing for dipping the quesadillas. We also like to cut up fresh veggies like carrots and celery for a delicious side dish.
How to Bake a Quesadilla
These Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas can be baked or cooked in the skillet. Baking is a great hands-off option when cooking for a crowd.
- Prepare the quesadilla as directed on the recipe card.
- Place the prepared quesadillas on a baking sheet.
- Place in the oven that has been preheated to 400 degrees
- Cook for about 6-7 minutes. Then flip and then cook 6-7 minutes on the other side.
- Once the quesadillas are cooked to golden brown and have melted cheese, cut and serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
We like to use a little bit of oil when making these quesadillas. These quesadillas will be a little crispier if you use oil. We have also had great results with non stick spay.
If you have leftovers, place in an airtight container and place in the refrigerator. The leftovers will last about 3 days. Reheat leftovers in the microwave on the skillet.
When placing the oil or butter down in the pan, make sure to not place to much in the pan. This could cause the quesadilla to be soggy and not have a crispy texture.
When making quesadillas we usually use flour tortillas as they tend to be more flexible. But you can also use corn tortillas. There are many tortillas at the grocery store that will fit into any diet restrictions.
Yes! You can assemble the quesadillas ahead, store them in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, and cook just before serving for best texture.
Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked chicken shredded
- ½ cup buffalo sauce
- 2 Tablespoons ranch dressing
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups colby jack cheese (shredded)
- 4 large Flour Tortillas (burrito size)
- 2 Tablespoons Butter (divided)
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Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together 3 cups of shredded chicken, ½ cup of buffalo sauce, 2 tablespoon of ranch dressing, ½ teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper.
- Layer each half of the tortillas with ¼ cup cheese, ½ cup of the chicken mixture and another ¼ cup cheese. Fold the tortillas in half.
- Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium high heat. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter onto the skillet or griddle.
- Place 2 of the prepared quesadillas onto the skillet or griddle and cook for 1-2 minutes per side until the cheese is fully melted and the quesadillas are golden brown on both sides.
- Continue this process with a 2nd quesadilla.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter on the skillet or griddle and continue to cook the remaining 2 quesadillas.
- Let cook slightly. Cut each one into approximately 4 pieces each and they are ready to serve with your favorite dipping sauce. Enjoy!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Facts
More Easy Quesadilla Recipes
We love hearing from you. If you make this Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla Recipe, leave a comment or a star review.
We’ve made this several times and love it!
Delicious
If you don’t like things real spicy should you cut back on the buffalo sauce?
Very good. Cooked this for a finicky teenager. She liked it but will probably only eat one. But who cares I will eat it for lunch with low carb tortillas and celery sticks. Perfect for keto.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you!
A recipe definitely out of our comfort zone, but I’m so glad we decided to try these! My husband and I both enjoyed them!
Delicious!
Cooked half and put the other half up for a quick meal one day.
Thank you – I’m so glad you enjoyed it.