Do you ever have that moment of panic when dinner time rolls around and you realize that you have nothing to make?? I had that this weekend, and had to get a little creative. We were supposed to get our Grocery Pickup the next morning (side note- if you aren’t using Walmart Grocery Pickup..you should be! Save $10 with this link!), and it was just a total failure to plan on my part.
I started digging around in my fridge and pantry and found a few things: a half used pack of fresh bacon that needed to be cooked, a pound of frozen beef, a stray white onion, a half used pack of tortillas….it got my wheels turning! Why not try out a new quesadilla recipe? We love quesadillas around here, and they are super easy for the toddler, too! After a little further inventory of my spices, I landed on a bacon cheeseburger flavor!
I have to say, the end result turned out to be something beautiful! It is officially in our intentional meal rotation! With some planning, next time I will have more of the burger toppings on hand for those that want them (mustard, pickles, etc). Read on to get the recipe!
First, you will want to cut up your bacon into small pieces and fry it until it reaches a crispy state!
Add in diced onions and sautée until translucent!
Next, the ground beef! Cook until it is browned through.
My favorite way to toast quesadillas is actually under the broiler, not in a pan! Sure, they are yummy in a pan, but this allows you a perfect restaurant crisp texture and you can achieve it with far less grease (and flipping!).
Simply spray cooking spray (or you can butter) a tortilla and lay that sprayed side down on the pan.
Next, it’s time for your filling ingredients! I actually smeared mayo on these shells prior to adding the beef/bacon mixture, but I forgot to take a picture of that step! Totally optional, but added that burger taste.
Then you lay your top shell on and spray that! The spray allows it to get toasty without being hard.
Place them under the broiler until they reach a toasty brown, and then flip and repeat for the other side!
Last, just cut them into triangles and serve with ketchup! (Or you know…whatever else you like on your burgers!)
Bacon Cheeseburger Quesadillas
Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground beef
- 4-6 slices of thick cut bacon, diced small (I do this pre-cooking)
- 1 small white onion, diced
- 1.5 tsp garlic powder
- Olive oil cooking spray
- Approximately 1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese (you can put as much or as little as you like! I even used a slice of American cheese instead for my 2 year old)
- Mayonnaise (to taste- optional)
- Ketchup (for dipping- optional)
- 8 medium sized flour tortillas
- Pre-heat your cast iron skillet to medium while you cut up your bacon (you can use a regular skillet too…but cast iron adds SO much flavor!)
- Add your bacon and cook until crispy, stirring well. I bought good bacon, so there wasn’t a ton of grease. I didn’t bother draining off what little there was and just let it add to the flavor.
- Add in your diced onion and sautée until translucent.
- Add the garlic powder and stir for a few minutes to bring out the flavor. You could totally use fresh garlic here…but again…this meal was born out of necessity for me!
- Add the ground beef, breaking it up with a spoon, and cook until browned through.
- While your beef mixture is cooking, preheat your broiler and set up your pans.
- Spray one side of 4 of your tortillas and put them on your pan, spray-side down ( you can also butter them if you want that flavor added! I just use cooking spray most of the time).
- Spread with a thin layer of mayo (optional). I may attempt making Big Mac sauce sometime to use here instead!
- When your beef mixture is finished, divide it up between your 4 tortillas. You will likely have some left over. Stick that in the fridge for lunch tomorrow!
- Top with cheese. I went big on the cheese because we love us some cheese!
- Place your top tortillas on and spray those as well. I pressed down on the tortillas before spraying, just to make sure the cheese was smushed in there a bit!
- Place one pan at a time under the broiler and heat until the top starts to brown a little, but not burn. Watch them closely…this happens really fast! Once one side is browned, take the pan out and carefully flip them over. Brown the other side and then remove them from the broiler!
- Let them sit for just a minute, and then slice with a pizza wheel and serve with ketchup!
