Air fryer Quesadillas

Making quesadillas using an air fryer is super easy and convenient! You get to enjoy perfectly crisp, golden tortillas with gorgeously gooey cheese inside in just minutes. Enjoy them as they are or load the up with your favorite fillings and serve them with salsa, guacamole, and sour cream!

Course Main Dish

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 7

Servings Quesadillas

Calories 322kcal

Author Christy Gurin

Equipment

1 Air Fryer

Ingredients

2 8” flour tortillas
1 cup grated cheddar cheese divided
Optional – up to 2/3 cup of filling divided*
Optional – cooking spray

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat air fryer to 350° F (175° C).
While air fryer is preheating (or before if yours preheats fast), lay tortilla out flat** and sprinkle ½ cup grated cheese onto one half of it leaving a ½ inch boarder around the edge. Add additional filling if desired, making sure to sprinkle more cheese on top of the toppings to ensure the top portion of the tortilla will stick properly.
Fold the empty half of tortilla over the cheese covered half. If desired you can spray each of the outer sides with cooking spray but they will be plenty crispy without this step.
Gently place prepared quesadilla in air fryer basket or tray. Repeat with other tortilla and ½ cup of cheese, gently laying it down in the air fryer without overlapping with the other tortilla.
Air fry for approximately 5-8 minutes total until crisp and golden, flipping the tortillas over after the first 3 minutes. If using a basket style air fryer, open after first minute of cook time and use a spatula to press the top tortillas down into the melted cheese to keep it in place. Check quesadillas for doneness at 5 minutes in an oven style air fryer and 6 minutes in a basket style air fryer.
Once toasted to your desired level, remove quesadillas from air fryer, cut and serve immediately. I recommend serving with salsa, guacamole and sour cream but you can serve however you prefer.

Notes

*Filling ideas: beans, refried beans, taco chicken (link to my recipe), rotisserie chicken, cooked ground taco beef, sautéed veggies, black olives, etc.
** To make tortilla extra crispy, spray the outside with cooking spray on each side. This step is not necessary but adds that traditional greasy crispiness without a lot of oil.

Air fryer models differ and so does cooking time:
In Ninja Foodie toaster oven style air fryer- quesadillas were perfectly crispy and melted in 4 minutes total at 350° with no flip needed if placed directly on the rack.
In Cosori basket style air fryer: quesadillas took 3 minutes per side and were still crispy enough without flipping but were more evenly crisped if flipped half way through. If using this type of model you do have to open the basket and push down the top tortilla 2 minutes into cook time.

Tips:

If cooking directly on the rack of an oven style air fryer- make sure edges of quesadilla aren’t over heating elements and leave closer to an inch of room around the edge of the tortilla so it doesn’t melt and drip out onto the tray.
Can use a whole wheat or gluten free tortilla if desired.
To make dairy free, use a dairy free cheese that melts well. I tried it with Violife cheddar and it melted fine.

Nutrition