Time for party food that everyone loves! My oldest son challenged me to make Chicken Quesadillas to fit in his Mason Jar for lunch. He suggested that I cut them to the size of the jar. In taking him up on this challenge, I came up with this great little party treat that are perfectly spiced, hold together as a nice little finger food, and freeze well for make-ahead party planning. I also solved the problem of those pesky scraps of tortillas by turning them into delicious (and very addictive) Cinnamon Sugar Chips. Salty/Sweet all in one recipe. Challenge completed. Challenge won.
By stacking your tortillas like this, you can get 50 mini tortilla rounds. The scraps look like moons and stars. No?
We almost ate the Cinnamon Sugar Chips faster than the Quesadillas. Dangerous little things.
Here enters the Mason Jar Meals. I stacked three quesadillas in 8 ounce wide mouth Masons for snacks, and five in half pint jars for lunch sized portions. Also a nice jar of Cinnamon Sugar Chips were a very welcomed treat in their lunches. I stored the jars of Quesadillas in the refrigerator, and the jars of chips on the counter.
Mini Quesadillas
10 (8 inch) flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken
4 ounce cream cheese
1 1/2 cups Mexican blend cheese, like cheddar jack
1 tsp. chipotle powder
1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped fine
3 T. melted butter
Kosher salt for sprinkling
Cinnamon Sugar- (2 T. sugar with 1 tsp. cinnamon)
Stack the tortillas and using a 2.75 inch biscuit cutter, cut five stacks of disks to equal 50 total rounds. Mix the cream cheese, Mexi cheese, chipotle, and peppers until smooth and fold in chicken. Brush 25 disks lightly with melted butter and place butter side down on a large cookie sheet. Top with about 1 1/2 T each of chicken mixture, top with remaining tortilla rounds and brush lightly with butter. Sprinkle tops with a little Kosher salt and bake for 15 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Quesadillas will be golden but still soft. Remove to serving tray and serve with sour cream, salsa, or guacamole. Makes 25 rounds. Now leave that oven on and make your chips!
For Cinnamon Sugar Chips
While your quesadillas are in the oven, break up the remains of the flour tortilla bits and toss with remaining melted butter in a large bowl- you should have about 1.5 tablespoons of butter left. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture and toss until all the tortilla bits are coated. Spread over a parchment lined cookie sheet. Once your quesadillas come out of the oven, pop these in and bake for about 10-11 minutes, flipping in 3 minute increments until the chips are golden, and crispy- watch closely as they like to burn on the edges of the pan. Pour into a bowl and sprinkle with a bit of powdered sugar if you like and serve immediately. About 60 chips.
Freezer Suggestion- You can make the Quesadillas up ahead of time by assembling them minus the butter. Store in and airtight container in the freezer until ready to use. Place tortilla scraps in a ziptop freezer bag, layered between waxed paper and freeze. Remove from freezer when ready to use. Let thaw at room temp for about 30 minutes. Melt 3 T. of butter and brush both sides of the quesadillas with the butter, place on cookie sheet and sprinkle with Kosher salt. Bake as directed above. Follow the above instructions for the chips. There you go! Instant party from your freezer. I can also bake these Quesadillas ahead, place in Mason Jars, and freeze for my kids lunches. Baked chips will not freeze well.
Scroll through all my Mason Jar Meal Ideas.
Robin Sue
16 Comments
I think the little quesadillas would make a delicious finger food or appetizer – great idea
i can see this being very very dangerous in our house!
I love both of these ideas! I'm definitely making those cinnamon chips tonight!
Love it! If anyone can figure out how to get a dish into a mason jar, its you!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Waste not, want not…very inventive, as usual!
Big Dude- Need some of your smoked meats to make it even better!
Heather- disasterous!
Naina- Perfect with one of those expressos you get over there in Rome!
Biz- Yeah it's getting to be quite the challenge over here to see what else mom can get in a jar.
Foodalogue- Joan I do hate waste and just could not bring myself to toss the scraps!
this is like my ideal quick and easy-to-eat meal.
Hi Robin Sue,
Hope all is well with you and yours.
It's been ages since I left a comment, but I have been popping over here now and then to check out your posts.
My first thoughts about the quesadillas were how fantastically delicious they sound, and that they are another creative winner.
Then, in the same breath, like Heather wrote here, I thought of how dangerous it would be for me to have these around the house.
Both recipes sound yummy, but as a fan of cinnamon, I'd probably wolf down the cinnamon quesadillas first, too.
As always, I enjoy all of your entries.
It was additional special treat to see the one for the dogs.
Would enjoy, too, seeing more of your fine artwork on the blog.
Cheers, and Happy Holidays to All,
Coconut
Ha! Don't you love when the kiddos challenge you to something and you come out a winner?
This came in handy when I had guests coming a few days after Christmas. I happened to have some chicken and some salad things left from a party 2 days earlier-decided that Mexican would be a great theme for food-how great it was being able to have the quesadillas all ready at once. Made fajitas and the chips too. Everyone raved about how awesome it all tasted-and my kitchen wasn't a mess when they arrived!
Joyce K.
I’m in love with mason jars and planning a picnic for my boyfriend and I using them bc they make great single serving containers (and I just love them lol) ….but I don’t eat meat, so I was looking for recipes for him and saw and loved your tortillas…..only thing aren’t they hard to get out the jar nearly?
Thanks so much,
-Jay
Hi Jay,
We haven’t had trouble getting tehm out of the jar, a slight tip to the side and they come right out. We pack them in the shallow wide-mouth 8 ounce jars which are easy to reach into and grab your food. I hope you have a great little picnic! I like to wrap my jars in a cloth napkin and tie is shut with a fork attached.
Enjoy!
Robin
What do you think about making these for a meal instead? I was thinking about putting the filling on half of a small flour tortilla, folding it over, and brushing both sides with butter. Is there a reason this wouldn’t work?
It will work fine- great idea!
Hey — I made this last weekend and wanted to mention that I microwaved the cream cheese and regular cheese to get it all to blend. Also, after enjoying that deliciousness all week, I was trying to decide on lunches for this upcoming week, and I used the smallest biscuit cutter I have (I bought a set of 3) to cut out some tortilla rounds and spread out three types of PB tortillas — PB&J, PB&F(luff), PB&N(utella). I then just tossed my mini sandwiches, in sets of three, into the fridge for the week. Thanks for the tortilla round idea. I love it!
Fantastic Idea! I bet the kiddos love them. I’ll have to give it a go with my crew!