Easy Ground Turkey Quesadilla

Quesadillas stuffed with seasoned ground turkey, salsa and cheese plus your favorite toppings. Dinner in 30 minutes!

Easy Ground Turkey Quesadilla

Easy Ground Turkey Quesadilla is one of those 30 minute recipes that’s more about inspiration than something exotic. But it’s a satisfying meal, or substantial appetizer that’s sure to please. Here are a few additional reasons why you’ll want to add this one to your line-up.

• No pan browning individual quesadillas required! Instead, the seasoned ground turkey and shredded cheese is layered between two flour tortillas and baked for just 15 minutes.
• Toppings are strewn on the top like a salad, providing a colorful presentation and a nice touch of freshness.
• It’s easy to keep things mild or amp things up by selecting your favorite salsa.

Lots of Flexibility

My Flavor Boosters — I added a few generous dashes of cayenne to my turkey mixture for a little more heat. That’s because I was using some mild salsa I had on hand, a gift from our dear friends Donna and Bill. Very tasty salsa, and even better with a little kick of cayenne.

I also tossed my avocado slices with fresh lime juice to keep them from browning and added another squeeze on the assembled quesadilla. If you’re a fellow citrus lover like me, I recommend tossing your lettuce, tomato and onion mixture with some lime juice and then piling it on your quesadilla. Very yummy.

Not being a big raw onion fan (except for a sliver on my hamburger), I topped my quesadilla with fresh snipped chives instead.

Because I had them on hand, my quesadillas were made with 8 inch tortillas vs the recommended 10 inch size. That made the meat/cheese mixture thicker (with a little meat left over), which totally worked for me.

Fun Variations – this Family Circle recipe suggests trying the following ideas (also included in the notes section of the recipe.)

• Make it Italian with mozzarella, cooked sausage and marinara. Top with spinach, roasted red peppers and grated Parmesan.-
• Keep it vegetarian: Use black beans or veggie crumbles instead of turkey.
• Go spicy with pepper Jack, shredded chicken and hot sauce. Top with lettuce, pickled onion and diced pickled jalapeno.
  

Eatability Factor

Personally, I like the way this quesadilla is constructed and cut into 4 servings. It does however, result in a quesadilla that’s best eaten with a knife and fork.

You could try layering the meat and cheese on one side of the tortillas and fold them in half (like an omelet.) After they’re baked and cut in half, you would have a fold on one side making them less messy to pick up. I didn’t give this a try, but it seems completely feasible if you want a handheld version.

Easy Ground Turkey Quesadilla

Baked quesadilla stuffed with seasoned ground turkey, salsa and cheese then topped with lettuce, tomato and avocado. An easy meal that's ready in 30 minutes!

3.63 from 8 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: 30 minute meal, Avocado, cheese, Easy Meal, ground turkey, salsa

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Author: Adapted from Family Circle Ground Turkey Quesadilla

Ingredients

• 2 burrito-size (10-inch flour tortillas)
• 8 ounce bag shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• cayenne, to taste, if desired
• 1 cup salsa
• Shredded leaf lettuce
• 1 large plum tomato, sliced
• 1 avocado, sliced
• red onion, thinly sliced or fresh snipped chives
• 1/2 lime, if desired

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place 1 tortilla on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle tortilla with half the Mexican cheese blend.
• Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over med-high. Add turkey, cumin and garlic salt (and a few dashes of cayenne, if desired.) Cook, stirring to break up turkey, until cooked through, 5 to 6 min. Stir in salsa and cook until warm, 30 sec. Spoon turkey mixture over cheese on tortilla, and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
• Top with a second tortilla. Bake until cheese is melted and tortilla is warm, 15 min. Toss lettuce, tomato, avocado and onion (add a squeeze of lime juice if desired.) Top quesadilla with lettuce mixture.

Notes

– Make it Italian with mozzarella, cooked sausage and marinara. Top with spinach, roasted red peppers and grated Parmesan.

– Keep it vegetarian: Use black beans or veggie crumbles instead of turkey.

– Go spicy with pepper Jack, shredded chicken and hot sauce. Top with lettuce, pickled onion and diced pickled jalapeno.