Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla with Cream Cheese
Buffalo chicken quesadillas are a category that almost everyone makes with just buffalo sauce and shredded cheese in a tortilla. That version is fine. This version has cream cheese in the filling, and the difference is significant enough that it deserves its own recipe.
The cream cheese does three things. It tempers the heat from the buffalo sauce, which means you can use a full third of a cup of buffalo sauce without the quesadilla becoming difficult to eat. It makes the filling thick and cohesive instead of wet and loose, so the filling stays put when you fold the tortilla and doesn’t soak through. And it creates a cheese pull when you cut the quesadilla that has no business being as dramatic as it is for fifteen minutes of work.
Use rotisserie chicken and you have a fifteen-minute dinner with near-zero active effort. The Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken Breast from this site works equally well — make a batch on Sunday and this becomes an assembly exercise.
The cream cheese rule
It has to be at room temperature. Cold cream cheese does not incorporate smoothly with buffalo sauce — you end up with white lumps in an orange sauce, which works out in the oven but doesn’t pull together well as a filling. Pull it from the fridge twenty minutes before you start, or microwave it for fifteen seconds and stir it smooth.
The ratio here is 4 ounces of cream cheese to a third cup of buffalo sauce for two cups of chicken — enough cream cheese to feel it without the quesadilla tasting like you’re eating buffalo chicken dip folded into a tortilla. There’s a version of this recipe where you go heavier on the cream cheese and lighter on the buffalo and it turns into something closer to a dip quesadilla. Good. Different. This recipe is balanced more toward the buffalo side.
Buffalo sauce, not hot sauce
Frank’s RedHot Original and Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Wing Sauce are different products. The original is straight hot sauce — vinegar, cayenne, no butter. The Buffalo Wing sauce has butter added, which gives it the richer, slightly rounded heat that’s characteristic of actual buffalo wings. Use the Buffalo Wing sauce here. The original is too sharp and one-dimensional in a cooked filling.
The cheese layer strategy
Mozzarella inside and mozzarella on top of the buffalo chicken filling. Mozzarella melts into long, stretchy pulls and has a mild enough flavor that it doesn’t compete with the buffalo sauce. Monterey Jack is the next best option — similar melt, slightly more flavor. Cheddar is too sharp and gets a little greasy at quesadilla temperatures.
The double cheese layer — on the tortilla first, then on top of the filling — is the same principle as the steak quesadilla: the bottom layer adheres and the top layer seals. Don’t skip either.
Heat and dipping
Ranch is the right dip. Blue cheese is traditional with buffalo wings, and it’s excellent here too if that’s your preference — the funky, cooling quality of blue cheese against the heat of the filling is a great combination. Keep extra buffalo sauce on the side for anyone who wants more heat.
Garnish with sliced green onion. It adds color, a mild onion bite, and makes the photo worth taking.
Storage and reheating
These don’t store particularly well assembled — the tortilla softens in the fridge. If you have leftover filling, store it separately and make fresh quesadillas the next day. Two minutes per side in a dry pan over medium heat will re-crisp a cold quesadilla reasonably well if needed.
Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla
Ingredients
Meat & Protein
- 2 cups rotisserie chicken shredded — or use Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken Breast
Produce
- 3 green onion thinly sliced, divided — half in filling, half for garnish
Dairy
- 4 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese or Monterey Jack
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter for toasting tortillas
Pantry & Canned Goods
- 4 flour tortillas large, burrito size
- 0.33 cup buffalo wing sauce Frank’s RedHot Buffalo or Sweet Baby Ray’s Buffalo recommended
- 0.25 cup ranch dressing store-bought, for dipping
Seasonings & Spices
- 0.25 tsp garlic powder
- 0.25 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Make the filling: in a medium bowl, stir together the softened cream cheese, buffalo sauce, garlic powder, and black pepper until smooth. Add the shredded chicken and half the sliced green onions and fold until evenly coated.
- Build the quesadillas: lay a tortilla flat. Spread a quarter of the mozzarella over one half. Spoon half the buffalo chicken mixture over the cheese and spread evenly. Top with another quarter of the mozzarella. Fold the bare half over and press firmly. Repeat with the second tortilla.
- Cook in a skillet over medium heat with a small pat of butter. Cook until deeply golden and crisp, 2 to 3 minutes per side, pressing gently with a spatula. The cream cheese filling needs the full time to heat through — don’t rush with higher heat.
- Rest 1 minute before cutting. Garnish with remaining green onion. Serve with ranch dressing for dipping and extra buffalo sauce on the side.
