Ditch the bun for Cheeseburger Quesadillas! This quick, fun, and crispy spin on cheeseburgers goes from fridge to table in just 30 minutes.
“This was AMAZING! I had low expectations because it seemed so simple…but then I took my first bite dipped in the special sauce… and WOW!”
My oldest child’s favorite food on the planet is burgers. He’d eat them every single night if he could but…everyone’s getting a little sick of burgers!
Cheeseburger Quesadillas though? Can’t get enough. They’re crispy, cheesy, and seriously irresistable – especially when dunked into homemade special sauce. Plus they couldn’t be easier to make. A true 30 minute dinner!
Watch How to Make Them
Easy Cheeseburger Quesadillas
Browned ground beef is mixed with ketchup and mustard then layered in a tortilla with shredded cheddar cheese, your favorite burger toppings (I love diced onion and pickles), topped with MORE cheese, then crisped in a hot skillet.
Want to add bacon? You should. Sauteed mushrooms? Go for it!
That said, I’m not including any ingredient measurements in the recipe card. No need! One component I am including specifics for is the Special Sauce you’ll want to smother each bite in. Cannot have burgers – in any form – without special sauce.
Best of all, we always have the ingredients to make Cheeseburger Quesadillas on hand so I can brown a pound of ground beef then quickly make these for lunch, dinner, or hearty snack.
So good, so easy — let’s do this!
How to Make This Recipe
Step 1: Make the ground beef filling.
Start by adding browned ground beef to a bowl with ketchup and mustard. I like using a 2:1 ratio of ketchup to mustard but it’s totally up to you. You’ll want the mixture to be more on the saucy vs dry side.
You can brown the ground beef in a skillet, or use my method for cooking ground beef like a restaurant.
Step 2: Brown the quesadilla.
Heat a large skillet or electric griddle over medium heat then spray with nonstick spray.
Place a tortilla down (I like Mission gluten free tortillas), then add a thin layer of shredded cheddar cheese, followed by the ground beef mixture.
Next add your favorite burger toppings. I typically go with lots of diced white onion and chopped pickles.
Recipe Tip
Add whatever burger toppings you typically like on your burger such as sauteed mushrooms, chopped bacon, etc.
Lastly, add another thin layer of shredded cheddar cheese and top with another tortilla.
Cook until both sides are crisp then slide the quesadilla onto a cooling rack, let it cool for 5 minutes or so, then transfer to a cutting board and slice into wedges.
I like to mix up the Special Sauce (recipe below) while the quesadillas are cooling, though the sauce can be made up to 5 days ahead of time. It just gets better as it sits in the refrigerator.
I hope you love this mouthwatering twist on classic cheeseburgers as much as we do! Enjoy!
More Easy Ground Beef Recipes
- Cheeseburger Bombs
- Ground Beef Stroganoff
- Homemade Crunchy Taco Hamburger Helper
- American Goulash
- Beef and Veggie Enchilada Skillet
- Oven-Baked Burgers
- Mini BBQ Cheddar Meatlaoves
- Skillet Tater Tot Caserole
- Skillet Shepherd’s Pie
Equipment
Ingredients
- ground beef, browned with salt and pepper then drained
- ketchup
- mustard
- large tortillas, Mission gluten free tortillas recommended
- shredded cheddar cheese
For the Toppings:
- chopped onions, chopped pickles, chopped bacon, etc.
For the Special Sauce:
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tablespoons ketchup
- 2 Tablespoons minced dill pickles
- 1 Tablespoon minced white onion
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
Directions
For the Special Sauce:
- Add ingredients to a bowl then stir to combine. Can be made several days ahead of time.
For the Quesadillas:
- Add cooked ground beef to a mixing bowl then add ketchup and mustard to taste (I usually go with 2 parts ketchup to 1 part mustard.) You'll want the mixture to be on the "saucy" side vs dry.
- Heat a large skillet or electric griddle over medium heat then spray with nonstick spray. Place a tortilla in the bottom of the skillet then sprinkle on a thin layer of cheddar cheese followed by the ground beef mixture. Add your desired toppings then sprinkle on another thin layer of cheese and place a tortilla on top.
- Once the tortilla has browned on the bottom, flip the quesadilla then continue to cook until the second side has browned. Transfer the quesadilla to a cooling rack to cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a cutting board and slice into wedges. Serve with Special Sauce.
Notes
- Estimated nutritional information is for the Special Sauce only.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
We LOVE these! My husband doesn’t like regular quesadillas (he has a very weird thing about melted cheese that’s stringy…) but even he loves these.
I sent this recipe to my hubby this morning and he made it for dinner tonight. Seriously SO Good!! Tastes like In n Out & kiddo approves! A+ in my book. Thanks for sharing!
Oh I’m so glad to hear it!! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating, Leslie!
Tell me about those crispy pickles I see in your pic! What brand are those?
Grillo’s! SO GOOD! https://www.grillospickles.com/
These look delicious. I have some leftover meatballs, think I will chop them up and try this for lunch tomorrow. . .
How do you flip the quesadillas without everything coming out?!
We have a huge spatula that I flip it with! If you don’t have one of those you can add the ingredients to half of a tortilla as shown here: https://iowagirleats.com/breakfast-quesadillas/
I would love to send these to daycare for my son. Do you think they would reheat okay?
i know I’m a little late to the party with this post… The quesadillas look great! But I know my kids will love that simple mansange. Since I am so culinarily-challenged, can you tell me know long to bake the lasagne? Thanks – love your blog!
Hmm, he hasn’t made it in awhile but I think close to an hour. Cover for the first 45 minutes then continue baking until brown and bubbly!
I googled “ground beef, tortillas and cheddar cheese” to find a recipe and I ended up here. (Your’e an old favorite recipe site of mine, too). These were out of this world! Thanks for another great one. I may never make regular cheeseburgers again!
Wow. This was so simple and so good. Thanks for sharing
Thank you so much for the awesome idea! I thought it was a fun way to use some pre-cooked ground beef I had in the freezer, plus I love each person getting what they want for dinner.
I posted about my experience with this recipe on my blog.
http://bloginspiredcooking.blogspot.com/2013/02/customized-for-you-cheeseburger.html
These were a great hit for my families with teenage boys! :) What a great idea to make a burger-style sauce for the ground meat using ketchup/mustard/sauce – such a nice contrast to the more traditional taco flavorings. I used ground turkey and it was delicious!
Thanks for the great recipe! I made it on Saturday evening and we all loved it. I prepped the meat – we did ground turkey – the night before so it came together super fast, and my step daughter (15) said she’d eat it every night, when I said I’d pop it into our meal listing. (Your bruschetta mozzarella burgers are in there, along with several other recipes from IGE!) Thanks!
I am going to make these this week! I am curious about the recipes for Ben’s Mansangna too!!!