How Do I Cook Chicken Quesadillas Like Mexican Restaurants?

Mexican Quesadilla sliced with vegetables and sauces

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The quesadilla, derived from the Spanish word "queso," meaning cheese, is a traditional Mexican snack often eaten with meals. Often filled with meats, cheese and other ingredients, a folded flour tortilla is toasted to create a turnover, or quesadilla. The melted cheese holds the other ingredients inside the toasted tortilla. Restaurants offer quesadillas as appetizers or a main course. To cook a chicken quesadilla at home just like a Mexican restaurant requires proper marinating of the meat and proper preparation of the peppers and onions.

Combine the orange juice, olive oil, lime juice, brown sugar, minced garlic, oregano, chili powder and salt in a storage bag. Place the six chicken breasts into the bag of marinade. Seal the bag, and place it in the refrigerator overnight.

Blanch two or three poblano peppers by dipping them into boiling water for 10 to 15 seconds, then transferring them to a small bowl of ice water. Peel the skin from the peppers, and slice them into 1/8-inch strips with a sharp knife.

Slice a large white onion into 1/4-inch strips. Heat the butter in a skillet, and toss the onion strips into the skillet. Add the soy sauce, and saute the onions until translucent.

Mix the onion and peppers together, cover, and set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Pour 2 tbsp. olive oil to the hot skillet, and add the marinated chicken. Cook the chicken breasts for about eight minutes, or until you can no longer see any pink in the meat.

Remove the cooked meat from the skillet, and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes. Cut the chicken breasts into 1/4-inch slices.

Heat your griddle to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray the griddle with butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray.

Place a 12-inch flour tortilla onto the griddle. Cover the entire tortilla with 4 oz. shredded jack and cheddar cheese. Place 4 oz. of sliced chicken on one-half of the tortilla.

Cover the meat with about 2 tbsp. of the mixed onions and poblano peppers. Fold the tortilla in half with a spatula. Continue to cook the quesadilla, turning occasionally, until the exterior of the tortilla toasts and the cheese inside melts.

Transfer the quesadilla onto a cutting board, and cut it into three triangular shaped pieces.