Making a Vegan Chicken Quesadilla that’s better than the one from Taco Bell is easy as it is cheesy! Don’t forget the Creamy Jalapeño Sauce!

I made the Creamy Jalapeño Sauce from Taco Bell a while ago, and I got a request to make a Vegan Chicken Quesadilla to go along with it. Since I love quesadillas and was craving one as per usual, I felt like I might as well oblige that request!

And also as per usual, we can make something that’s way tastier and satisfying than anything from a fast food joint! Not only is this pretty dang easy, but you can make plenty for leftovers and whip up more quesadillas or use them in anything else you might like.

ingredients for Vegan Chicken Quesadillas

The Chicken – For the “chicken” I went ahead and made a variation on my Tofu Grilled Chicken recipe to infuse more Taco Bell flavors.

If you don’t do soy, you can also use 2 (14 oz) cans of young jackfruit too! Or use whatever your favorite vegan chicken might be. You’ll need about 4 cups of it once it’s chopped up.

You can either make a marinade or use a dry rub, or a combo of both. I have a Taco Seasoning recipe that works great.

I personally thought that the best option was to roughly chop up the tofu and then marinade it. That seemed to get the most flavorful out of all the things I tested out. However the dry rubbed Jackfruit was great too!

A note for using a dry rub and no marinade, since tofu and jackfruit are low in fat, I recommend coating them in some oil before applying the dry rub as well.

I also suggest blending the marinade as it will help it not get too clumpy.

Creamy Jalapeño Sauce

The Creamy Jalapeño Sauce is so good I have a separate recipe for it! I honestly love having a squeeze bottle of this in the fridge at all times. It’s great on just about anything!

Making the sauce is as easy as blending all the ingredients up!

Tortillas & Cheese

Taco Bell uses 10″ tortillas for their quesadillas. I like using the burrito sized tortillas by Guerrero for store bought. Obviously make some from scratch if you wanna!

For the cheese, use your favorite shredded vegan cheese. I used Follow Your Heart Cheddar and Mozzarella for these and it worked out most excellent!

how to make a Vegan Chicken Quesadilla

Simply chop up your tofu, I like to do a rough chop so there’s a variation in sizes so it feels a bit more random and organic.

After that we’ll just whip up a quick marinade!

Toss the chopped tofu in the marinade and let it hang out in the fridge for 30 minutes to overnight.

Then grill it up until it’s browned to your liking (I did mine for about 8 – 10 minutes over medium heat).

Jackfruit option

If you’re using jackfruit, just drain and wash 2 cans of it. Then pat them dry. Toss them in a liberal amount of Taco Seasoning. Then grill them until browned and chop them up.

Next add some oil to a pan or griddle and coat the tortilla in it by rubbing it around. Load it up with vegan cheese, the tofu or jackfruit chicken and creamy jalapeño sauce.

Grill over medium low / medium heat. Watch the tortillas and check them to make sure they aren’t burning. Flip the quesadillas as often as you like. Eventually they should get nice and browned and the cheese should be fully melted.

Also, I encourage you to let some of the cheese sneak out and melt on the griddle for some crispy edges, my favorite part!

Remove from the heat and let them cool for about 5 minutes before digging in. The cheese will be molten like fresh pizza so don’t burn your tongue!

Tips for vegan chicken quesadillas

Use enough oil so the tortilla will get browned and crispy and flaky.
Watch the heat so you don’t burn the quesadilla.
Let some of the cheese sneak out so it cooks on the griddle and gives you some nice crispy edges.
Upgrade with any other fixings you desire!
Let it cool for 5 minutes before eating so you don’t burn your tongue!

storage

This recipe makes enough for about 8 quesadillas. Since it’s just me and my wife I love having a bunch of leftovers to quickly whip up a quesadilla in less than 10 minutes whenever I get a craving!

The leftover tofu and creamy jalapeño sauce should last you about 4 – 6 days.

other Taco Bell recipes you’ll dig!

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Vegan Chicken Quesadilla

Thee Burger Dude

A Copycat of the iconic Taco Bell Quesadillas, but Vegan and Better!

5 from 4 votes

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Ingredients

4 cups chopped tofu ideally super firm*
8 10″ flour tortillas
4 cups shredded vegan cheese
Creamy Jalapeño Sauce to taste**

Marinade

2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp chili powder***
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika or chipotle
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp oregano
1 Tbsp hot sauce
2 Tbsp neutral oil or vegan mayo
1 Tbsp water
1 tsp lime juice

Instructions

Tofu "Chicken"

Roughly chop up 1 (16 oz.) block of super firm tofu. You should get about 4 cups.
Make the marinade by combining all the ingredients in a bowl. Then toss the tofu in the marinade until it's all fully coated. Transfer to a marinade bag or tupperware.
Let the tofu marinade for 30 minutes to overnight in the fridge.
Add a Tbsp or so of oil to a large skillet or griddle and heat over medium. Add the tofu and grill until well browned and cooked through, tossing every few minutes, for about 8 – 10 minutes. If it browns before that, pull it from the heat.

Quesadillas

Heat up about 1 Tbsp of oil in a skillet or griddle over medium heat. Add a tortilla on top of the oil and rotate it around to smear the oil evenly. Then load up one half of the tortilla with about 1/2 cup of vegan cheese, 1/2 cup of the tofu chicken, and then about 2 – 4 Tbsp of the Creamy Jalapeño Sauce.
Feel free to add more cheese, tofu or sauce, or anything else you might like (pickled jalapeõs, tomatoes, vegan sour cream etc). Fold over the other half of the tortilla. Lightly press down with a spatula or press for a few seconds (this will help with the browning).
Grill the tortilla over medium heat and keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't burn. If it seems to be browning faster than the cheese is melting, lower the heat. Flip the quesadilla as many times as you like. You can also apply more oil if it feels like it's not getting nice and browned. But once it's browned and the cheese is melted, pull from the heat.
Let it rest 5 minutes so you don't burn your tongue. Cut into quarters and dig in!

Notes

*I suggest using Super Firm Tofu, if you can't find it, just press your tofu for at least 30 minutes. You can also use 2 (14 oz.) cans of jackfruit instead of tofu, or any vegan chicken you like! For Jackfruit instructions, check the blog post.

**I have a recipe post devoted to the Creamy Jalapeño Sauce!

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!