Steak Quesadillas

This Steak Quesadilla recipe with two types of cheese and perfectly seasoned vegetables is so amazing! Use leftover steak or make some just for this.

I love making quesadillas for lunch when I have leftover steak in the fridge. If you have no leftovers or want to cook steak specifically for this quesadilla recipe, I have suggestions for that too. With tasty steak, melty cheese, and some fajita style veggies, this steak quesadillas recipe is about to become your new favorite!

Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.

What Type of Skillet Do I Use For Quesadillas?

Just like with my Homemade Shrimp Quesadillas, I use a nonstick or a cast iron skillet so that nothing really sticks to the pan. I also use a bit of oil, but this is more to brown and crisp the tortilla than it is to stop it from sticking.

Usually when I make quesadillas, I use olive oil cooking spray misted onto one side of the tortilla before adding it, oiled-side-down, to the heated pan skillet. This way, I don’t need to use much and the oil that I do use has great contact with the tortilla to nicely brown it.

But, if I want it to get really brown and crunchy on the outside, like in the pictures, then I heat a teaspoon of olive oil in the skillet, swirl it around, add the tortilla, then move it around a bit to get it nice and coated in the oil.

Type of Steak

I like to use slices of leftover cooked steak for these quesadillas. I typically don’t have leftovers from individually-portioned steaks like filet mignon, strip, chuck eye, etc. But if you do, you can totally use that. 

I do often have steak leftovers when I cook a larger beef steak that is meant to be sliced and served to multiple people, like the skirt steak, tri-tip, or flank steak. So that is what I’d usually use here.

If you’re starting from scratch and not with leftovers, then you get to choose the beef. The easiest is to use already sliced raw beef, like beef strips, sometimes called stir-fry strips or fajita beef. Then you just season them and toss them into a hot skillet with some oil and cook until they’re your desired doneness. I don’t find these to be the most tender though.

My preference if starting from scratch and making 1-4 quesadillas would be to get a single steak, either a rib eye or a New York strip, depending on the size that I need, or a chuck eye, which is typically cheaper than the other two. Then I cook the steak to the desired doneness, let it rest fully, and then cut thin strips to use in the quesadillas.

Type of Cheese

The ideal here is to have nice stringy melted cheese. The best types for this in quesadillas are Oaxaca, Chihuahua, Monterey jack, mozzarella, and Cheddar cheese. 

If you want it to melt nice and smooth, it is best to not get the pre-shredded cheese. There’s a coating on that cheese that makes it stay separate. So shredding the cheese yourself is going to be best. Having said that, I often have a bag of pre-shredded cheese of some kind in my fridge and it often does end up in quick quesadillas.

I will say that THE BEST way to get nice and smooth melted cheese that does a beautiful cheese pull of gooeyness, use some shredded cheese and some thinly sliced. When you use shredded cheese, all the shreds don’t melt together into one mass, so they can be pulled apart more easily. Sliced cheese is already held together because it is one solid thing, and so when it melts it has more integrity and stays together, until you cut through it or bite into it.

For this reason, I typically will use two types of cheese, chosen from the types of cheese mentioned above, and one will be shredded and one will be in thin slices. Because the slices take longer to melt than the shreds, I put them directly onto the bottom tortilla. They will then have the most heat for the longest time.

Other Fillings In A Steak Quesadilla

I love fajita vegetables in my quesadillas. That’s sauteed bell pepper and onions with some fajita seasoning.

For the seasoning, you can use a packet of fajita or taco seasoning, make a batch of homemade fajita seasoning or taco seasoning. Or, the easiest is to just use some cumin and chili powder, which is what I have done in the recipe below.

Serving Quesadillas

Steak quesadillas are amazing served by themselves or with some sour cream, pico de gallo, and/or salsa. Try out my black bean and corn salsa and our homemade pico de gallo recipes.

You could even try my creamy horseradish sauce, actually. It’s not Tex-Mex but it would be so good because it’s delicious with steak.

Can You Make Steak Quesadillas In The Air Fryer?

Yes, you can! I have some tips and tricks for doing this in this Air Fryer Quesadillas recipe.

Basically, because of the fan in the air fryer, I find it easiest to fold a tortilla in half for each quesadilla instead of using two whole tortillas. I also think it’s helpful to put something on top of them to weigh the tortilla down so they don’t get blown around, a light pan lid works. 

Cook your air fryer quesadillas at 400°F for about 5 minutes, then flip and cook an additional 3-4 minutes until the tortilla is nice and browned.

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