Got leftover Crock Pot Birria? Upgrade your leftovers, and learn how to make Birria Quesadillas! For this Beef and cheese quesadilla recipe, just pile on some juicy beef Birria, cheese, red onion, and jalapeños into crisp, buttery flour tortillas and serve them with Birria consome, and you've got a home-run leftovers dinner in a flash!

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If you just made a large batch of delicious and flavorful birria, and aren't sure how to use it all up, you've come to the right place!

So much more flavorful and special than traditional quesadillas, these easy Birria Quesadillas are layered with tasty birria meat, plenty of cheese, diced red onion and jalapeños for a dip-able and delicious way to make the most of your leftover Birria and consome dip (aka birria broth)!

Cooking these quesadillas in melted butter and doing a double layered tortilla makes this hearty recipe super crisp, flavorful, and sturdy enough to stand up to the consome dip!

What is Birria?

Made with juicy slow braised beef, Birria is a rich and meaty dish. It's made with either beef, goat, or lamb. For my recipe, I use a beef chuck roast, and slow cook it with a blend of spices, dried chilies, bay leaves, fire roasted tomatoes and beef stock. The meat is fall-apart tender, and the cooking liquid doubles as a Birria consome to dip your Quesabirria tacos, tacos, or quesadillas into.

I make mine in the crockpot, and blend the consume with my high powered blender or immersion blender. The recipe makes quite a bit. I love turning my Birria into tacos, these quesadillas, and into empanadas!

How to make the perfect Birria quesadilla

To make these quesadillas, you will need:

Some flour tortillas. I like to use a 6", as it's a bit easier to maneuver in the pan, but use any size you want! Just adjust the ratio of filling accordingly.

Leftover Crockpot Birria - well tossed in some Consome. If you have other leftover Birria, such as Chicken Birria, goat birria or lamb birria, those will all work great as well. Beef is rich, and goat and lamb can be a bit gamey, while chicken is on the miler side, so you can adjust your toppings accordingly to let the birria flavor shine through.

Shredded cheese. Sharp cheddar, mozzarella or Oaxaca all work well. You can use Monterey jack, pepper jack, etc as well. Just think maximum meltability.

Some diced red onion. I love the slight sweetness of red onion over white onion for these, but either would be delicious. Be sure to use fine diced or thinly sliced so they don't overpower the quesadillas.

A bit of thinly sliced jalapeños- to your preference. I love a bit of heat, so these are a must for me. Pickled jalapenos are also a great option, and are often a little less spicy than fresh.

Butter, for frying the quesadillas. The milk solids in the butter make for super well browned and crispy tortillas.

Recipe notes

These quesadillas come together really quickly. Just build each one ahead of time, melt a bit of butter, and fry them up until golden brown on both sides. While you prepare the quesadillas, you can warm a bit of consome on the side for dipping. If you'd rather not use butter- a bit of neutral cooking oil will also work to fry these!

You can add butter or oil as needed if you plan to cook a large batch of these. I prefer to fry my quesadillas in a non-stick frying pan, or cast iron skillet.

Common Questions

What kind of tortillas are best?

For making the quesadillas, I like to use a flour tortilla. Corn tortillas are pretty fragile, and don't hold up well. You can use any size you like, I just like to do the 6," as I find them easier to manage. You can also make as many as you like- so the size really doesn't affect the portions.

What kind of cheese should I use?

You can use any shreddable cheese for these quesadillas! I am very partial to a sharp cheddar for these, but Oaxaca cheese, Monterey jack cheese, mozzarella, or even an Italian blend shredded cheese works great for these quesadillas!

What else can I add to the quesadillas?

This Beef and cheese quesadilla recipe calls for Birria, cheese, fresh jalapenos, and red onion. BUT- you can get as creative as you want, which is one of the great things about quesadillas! Here are a few other great additions to these:

Canned diced green chilis. These great little pantry staples add a great flavor and touch of heat to the quesadillas.
Salsa. Any of your favorite salsas would make a great dip or addition!
Sliced avocado or guacamole.
Roasted peppers, such as fire roasted poblano peppers or jalapenos. Roasted bell peppers would also be delicious.
Hot sauce. I am a sucker for Tapatio, but any Mexican style hot sauce goes great with these quesadillas!
Pickled red onions. You can make a quick batch of your own pickled red onions, or use store bought!
Fresh cilantro leaves and onion. I can't get enough cilantro, and it adds a great freshness to the other ingredients, and onions and cilantro is such a classic combo for quesadillas and tacos!

Serving suggestions for the Beef and cheese quesadilla recipe

I like to serve these Birria Quesadillas with a warm bowl of Birria consome. They also go great served with a side of sour cream, hot sauce, and guacamole. Think classic quesadilla dips- they all work here!

Print Recipe

Birria Quesadillas Recipe

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Appetizer, Dinner, lunch

Keyword: beef, birria

Servings: 2

Ingredients

4 flour tortillas (I use 6")
½ cup leftover Crockpot Birria, tossed in cosome , (see below for recipe link)
½ cup shredded sharp cheddar, Oaxaca, or mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoon finely diced red onion
thinly sliced jalapeños, to taste
2 tablespoon butter

Instructions

1. On a sturdy board or platter, assemble bottom portions of quesadillas- add a layer of shredded cheese, followed by some leftover Crockpot Birria, then diced red onion and sliced jalapeños.
2. Melt butter in a medium nonstick frying pan over medium heat.
3. Once butter is melted, place one of the tortillas into the pan, tortilla side down, and cook for 3-4 minutes, until cheese starts to melt and bottom is golden brown.
4. Top with another flour tortilla, and carefully flip over.
5. Cook for 1-2 minutes more, until both sides are golden brown.
6. Remove to a cutting board and continue with second quesadilla,
7. Transfer second quesadilla to cutting board, and slice into triangles (3 slices for a 6” tortilla) and serve immediately with warmed consume, and sour cream, if desired.

Looking for more great Mexican-inspired recipes?

Why not try my Mexican Chorizo Cornbread Casserole, Easy Crockpot Carnitas, Slow Cooker Chicken Pozole Verde, Crockpot Shredded Beef and Smoked Gouda Enchiladas, and of course- Slow Cooker Birria Tacos!

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