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Home » Recipes » Vegan Main Dishes

Easy Vegan Quesadillas

Published: Sep 24, 2022 by Lexi

30 shares
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With black beans, corn, and mushrooms, these easy vegan quesadillas are a cheesy, filling, and delicious dinner. Best of all, they come together in one pan, making them a quick weeknight meal.

Front view of vegan quesadillas garnished with cilantro.
Easy, delicious, and super cheesy.
Jump to:
  • Why We Love This Recipe
  • Ingredients
  • Ingredient Notes
  • Step-by-step Instructions
  • Customization Ideas
  • Expert Tips and FAQs
  • More Easy Vegan Dinners to Try
  • 📖 Recipe

Why We Love This Recipe

  • Filling: Sure, you could just make a plain cheese quesadilla, but albeit incredibly delicious, it probably won't be very filling. Our easy vegan quesadillas have some vegetables as well as some black beans for a heartier option that will actually fill you up!
  • Vegan Tex-Mex: It can be hard to put a vegan spin on Tex-Mex dishes, since a lot of them are packed with meat or cheese. We used black beans in the place of meat in these quesadillas, and they add a fiber-rich meatiness to this dish, which makes these vegan quesadillas just as filling as the real thing.
  • Easy meal: With just around 30 minutes of cook time, and minimal prep, these vegan quesadillas are super easy to whip together. Better yet, you can make them in one pan, saving time washing and drying dishes.

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make these vegan quesadillas:

Overhead view of vegan quesadilla ingredients, including mushrooms and black beans.
You can swap out any of the vegetables with whatever you have in your fridge.

Ingredient Notes

  • Black beans: We used black beans from a can in this recipe, since soaking and cooking black beans from dry takes a lot of time. If you're feeling ambitious, you can try our Vegan Cuban Black Beans in this recipe.
  • Mushrooms: We used button mushrooms, but you can use whatever mushrooms you prefer, including shiitake, maitake, or portobello.
  • Spinach: We used fresh spinach, but we're also fans of frozen. If you're using frozen, use about 1 ¼ cups of spinach instead of 2 cups of fresh, since it will shrink less during cooking.
  • Nondairy cheese: We opted for a nondairy cheddar cheese. We find that brands like Violife and Miyoko's both melt really well. You can also use a nondairy cheddar jack/Mexican-style cheese replacement.
  • Corn: Fresh or frozen corn are both fine, but frozen is definitely a lot less hassle.
  • Choice of oil: Feel free to use either olive or avocado oil.
  • Tortillas: We used 8-inch flour/corn mixture tortillas, but feel free to use flour or corn tortillas. We opted to stack 2 full size tortillas to make our quesadilla, but you can also just fill ½ of one tortilla and fold the tortilla over.

Step-by-step Instructions

(1) Add oil to a large non stick pan over medium heat, then add scallions and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, until softened.

Add mushrooms and lime juice and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Next, stir in spinach, corn, black beans, chili powder, cumin powder, salt, and pepper, and cook for another 5 minutes. 

Cooking aromatics, then mushrooms, then corn and black beans.
The hearty filling comes together in just a few simple steps.

(2) Remove vegetables from the pan and set aside. Add a tortilla to the pan and sprinkle some cheese on top.

Then top with vegetable filling, more cheese, and another tortilla.

Press down gently with a spatula. Cook for 5 minutes, flip, and cook for another 5 minutes. Once the cheese is melty and the tortilla is lightly browned, the quesadilla is ready.

Putting filling between tortillas and cutting into slices.
You can also use a panini press instead of the skillet.

Customization Ideas

  • No oil: If you'd like to make these vegan quesadillas without oil, you can try using a nonstick pan and turning the heat down a touch.
  • Filling options: Lots of different veggies would work in these quesadillas. We used black beans, mushrooms, corn, and spinach, but you could try: zucchini, bell peppers, onions, or whatever you prefer!
  • Don't like cheddar? You could also try a vegan mozzarella or this Easy Vegan Cheese Sauce instead.
  • Fajita style: Make these roasted fajita vegetables for the filling.
  • Vegan meat alternative: If you don't like black beans or would like a meatier vegan quesadilla, try these options:
    • Cauliflower taco "meat"
    • Sofritas tofu (my personal favorite)
    • Store-bought chorizo alternative

Expert Tips and FAQs

  • Toppings: Here are a few of our favorite pairings to serve with these easy vegan quesadillas:
    • Avocado or guacamole
    • Homemade vegan sour cream
    • Store-bought or homemade salsa (or easy tomato relish)
    • Avocado cilantro crema
    • Homemade vegan queso dip
    • Quick pickled red onions or cabbage
    • Pickled jalapeños
    • Vegan cheese sauce
    • Taco sauce
    • And of course, don't forget to serve these with a margarita – try our spicy mango margs or if you're not drinking, this margarita mocktail!
  • Panini press: Instead of using a skillet on the stovetop, try a panini press. For easier clean up, place a sheet of parchment paper below and above the quesadilla. A panini press is a super easy way to make a vegan quesadilla, especially if you'd like it really compressed and cheesy!
  • Vegan cheese not melting? Some vegan cheeses are easier to melt than others (see our brand recommendations in the "ingredients" section). If you're having trouble, try adding 1-2 tablespoon of water to the pan and then quickly cover it with a lid. The moisture may help the cheese melt, and it will evaporate quickly so it doesn't make the quesadilla soggy.
  • Make ahead: You can easily make the filling up to several days ahead of time for even quicker prep.
  • Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
  • Reheating: My favorite way to reheat is to start with 30-45 seconds in the microwave to make sure the inside is reheated. Then, I transfer to a warmed nonstick skillet and cook for a few minutes on each side to make sure the exterior is nice and crispy!
Overhead view of vegan quesadilla sliced into pieces.
The perfect comforting weeknight vegan dinner.

More Easy Vegan Dinners to Try

  • overhead view of vegan tortilla soup in black bowls topped with avocado, tortilla strips and lime.
    Vegan Tortilla Soup
  • Overhead view of nachos on a tray.
    Vegan Nachos
  • overhead view of bowl of vegan white bean chili topped with avocado and corn chips.
    Vegan White Bean Chili
  • overhead view of vegan cheesy cauliflower bake with black beans and rice in large skillet.
    Cheesy Cauliflower Bake

Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with us through social media by following us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or by subscribing to our newsletter.

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Front view of vegan quesadilla garnished with cilantro.

Easy Vegan Quesadillas


  • Author: Lexi
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 4 quesadillas 1x
  • Diet: Vegan
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Description

With black beans, corn, and mushrooms, these easy vegan quesadillas are a cheesy, filling, and delicious dinner. Best of all, they come together in one pan, making them a quick weeknight meal.


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 tablespoons avocado or olive oil
  • ⅓ cup finely chopped scallions
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 8 ounces mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups spinach, roughly chopped
  • ¾ cup corn, fresh or frozen
  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 ½ teaspoons lime juice
  • 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
  • ¾ teaspoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 bag vegan cheddar cheese
  • 8 8-inch flour or corn tortillas

Instructions

  1. Add oil to a large non stick pan over medium heat, then add scallions and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, until softened.

  2. Add mushrooms and lime juice and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Next, stir in spinach, corn, black beans, chili powder, cumin powder, salt, and pepper, and cook for another 5 minutes. 
  3. Remove vegetables from the pan and set aside. Add a tortilla to the pan and sprinkle some cheese on top.
  4. Then top with vegetable filling, more cheese, and another tortilla.

  5. Press down gently with a spatula. Cook for 5 minutes, flip, and cook for another 5 minutes. Once the cheese is melty and the tortilla is lightly browned, the quesadilla is ready.

Notes

Make ahead: You can easily make the filling up to several days ahead of time for even quicker prep. 

Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. 

Reheating: My favorite way to reheat is to start with 30-45 seconds in the microwave to make sure the inside is reheated. Then, I transfer to a warmed nonstick skillet and cook for a few minutes on each side to make sure the exterior is nice and crispy! 

Panini press: Instead of using a skillet on the stovetop, try a panini press. For easier clean up, place a sheet of parchment paper below and above the quesadilla. A panini press is a super easy way to make a quesadilla, especially if you'd like it really compressed and cheesy!

Vegan cheese not melting? Some vegan cheeses are easier to melt than others (see our brand recommendations in the "ingredients" section). If you're having trouble, try adding 1-2 tablespoon of water to the pan and then quickly cover it with a lid while it finishes cooking.

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 Minutes
  • Category: Vegan Main Dishes
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Tex-Mex

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Quesadilla
  • Calories: 546
  • Sugar: 3.5 g
  • Sodium: 1085.1 mg
  • Fat: 27.1 g
  • Carbohydrates: 77.7 g
  • Fiber: 9.7 g
  • Protein: 7.3 g

Keywords: Easy Vegan Quesadillas

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Hi, we're Lexi and Beth, a mother-daughter team from Michigan. The recipes you'll find here are a reflection of how we bring our family together around the dinner table despite various dietary differences.

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