The BEST Pizza Quesadillas

Pizza Quesadillas (Pizzadillas) are stuffed with mozzarella and pepperoni and dipped in a flavorful homemade pizza sauce for a fun, quick, and easy lunch idea!

As school wraps up for the year, I'm dusting off those lunch (and snacktime) recipes that are simple enough for my kids to make for themselves (or with minimal help)...yet yummy enough to keep their attention. Like tasty Pizza Quesadillas!

In summer, my kiddos revel in a little more lunchtime flexibility and variety than their typical, repetitive school lunches.  They enjoy lunches that are warm, like grilled cheese sandwiches with soup, or perhaps even reheated leftovers from the night before. They enjoy lunches that need to stay chilled (and might not be considered "lunchbox safe" during the school year), like mayo-based chicken salad or egg salad.

But one of my kids' favorite things to eat when they're home for lunch -- AKA, all summer long -- is quesadillas. Not only are they tasty, but they're quick and easy to throw together with lots of different ingredient options.

Since bean and cheese quesadillas can get a little boring, sometimes we like to change things up a bit. One way to do that is by turning their favorite pizza toppings into Pizza Quesadillas...lovingly referred to at our house as Pizzadillas!

Ingredients

This is not rocket science, y'all. This is pepperoni pizza as a quesadilla! So it only requires a few (obvious) ingredients:

• Flour tortillas. White tortillas work great, but I often use whole wheat tortillas (to slightly up the wholesomeness factor) and they're equally delicious.
• Mozzarella cheese. Shredded.
• Pepperoni. You can leave small pepperoni whole or dice it up if you've got large slices of pepperoni. Either way, I prefer uncured pepperoni.
• Pizza sauce. A must for dipping! More info on that below...

Other Flavor Options

My kids like their pizza (and apparently, their Pizza Quesadillas) simple, but you can certainly add your own favorite pizza toppings to jazz things up! A few ideas...

• Mushrooms and black olives.
• Cooked, crumbled Italian sausage.
• Ham and pineapple for a Hawaiian twist.
• Jalapeños and anchovies? Or not...ha. 😉

At any rate, feel free to go crazy!

The Dipping Sauce

Regardless of how you stuff 'em, the thing that puts these Pizza Quesadillas over the top is the flavorful, AMAZING Homemade Pizza Sauce to use as a dipping sauce! (Grab the recipe at that link!)

• It's basically just homemade pizza sauce, infused with lots of herbs and simmered on the stove (to thicken up a bit) while you cook the quesadillas.
• I like to add some crushed red pepper flakes to mine to give it a little heat, as well as a bit of sugar for a hint of sweetness to counter the acidity of the tomato sauce.

The result is a pizza sauce that's good enough to eat with a spoon. And it sure does take a humble, pepperoni + mozzarella pizzadilla to the next level!

How to Make Pizza Quesadillas

(The below photos are intended to be helpful, but please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for FULL DIRECTIONS.)

It's highly complicated, y'all. Are you ready? 😉

So what do you like to eat for lunch when you're home? Any summer vacation favorites? Send some ideas my way...because we're always looking for more creative ideas to join these ever-popular Pizza Quesadillas. 🙂

More Kid-Friendly Recipes

• Homemade One-Pot Macaroni & Cheese
• Turkey Meatloaf Muffins
• Homemade Shake-n-Bake Chicken Nuggets
• Apple Pie Snack Cups
• Crockpot Meatball Subs

The Best Pizza Quesadillas

Ingredients

• 4 (8-inch) white OR whole wheat flour tortillas
• 1 ½ cups (6 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 to 3 ounces pepperoni, diced
• Homemade Pizza Sauce, as a dipping sauce

Instructions

• Prepare the Homemade Pizza Sauce dipping sauce.
• While the dipping sauce is simmering, assemble the quesadillas by laying out two tortillas on a cutting board. Sprinkle EACH tortilla with ¾ cup of shredded mozzarella, 1 tablespoon Parmesan, and 2 ounces of diced pepperoni. Lay the remaining tortillas on top.
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Transfer an assembled quesadilla onto the skillet. Cook for a couple of minutes, occasionally lifting edge of quesadilla to check color of underside, until tortilla begins to turn golden and cheese starts to melt. Carefully flip quesadilla over and cook for another couple of minutes or until cheese is fully melted. Remove hot quesadilla to a plate and repeat with second quesadilla. Alternatively, you may cook both quesadillas at the same time on a flat griddle.
• Slice each quesadilla into 6 wedges and serve immediately with warm dipping sauce.

Video

Notes

• All measurements are approximate. Use as much cheese, etc., as you like!
• The pepperoni I typically buy is very large and I prefer to dice it so that the whole piece doesn't pull out of the quesadilla when taking a bite...but leave it whole if you wish.
• Feel free to add any of your favorite pizza toppings to the quesadilla filling!
• If you find that your quesadilla gets browned before your cheese is completely melted, you can pre-heat it in the microwave first, juuust enough to start melting the cheese. Then brown both sides in the pan as directed and the cheese will finish melting beautifully!

Nutrition

Originally published May 28, 2015, and updated on May 18, 2020, June 6, 2021, and May 4, 2023.

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