Quesadilla Panini Recipe

This quesadilla panini recipe is SUPER easy & fast to make. More importantly, kids love hot & cheesy quesadilla paninis. My panini recipe uses only a few simple ingredients such as tortillas, shredded cheese and leftover chicken (or steak). It is perfect when you want to make something quick for a family meal. Quesadilla paninis are better than boring COLD sandwiches and much simpler than making a full-cooked meal.

It is also a simple & effective way to reuse leftover chicken or steak. There will be no complaints about eating leftovers again!

Recipe Sections

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Helpful Tips

My panini sandwich recipes are based on using a two-sided panini press/grill (with top & bottom grilling units) and not a frying pan, etc.

Quesadilla Panini Cut Into 4 Sections

Ingredients

• 1 Tortilla Wrap – 70 grams – The tortilla wraps used in the recipe pictures were roughly 7 to 8 inches in diameter.
• 1/3 Cup – Shredded Mozzarella Cheese – 38 grams – Instead of mozzarella, you can also use cheddar, pepper jack, provolone, American cheese, etc.
• 1/4 Cup – Grilled Chicken – 37 grams – Thinly sliced & diced. You can also use grilled steak, fried bacon, etc.
• 1/3 Cup – Shredded Mozzarella Cheese – 38 grams – This second batch of your favorite shredded cheese is placed on top of the meat. Extra cheesy!!
• Optional – 1 Tablespoon – Unsalted Butter (melted) – 15 grams – The addition of melted butter creates a crispier quesadilla panini. See the instructions below.
• Optional – Pinch of Black Pepper or Red Pepper Flakes

FYI – You can easily double the ingredients above to make 2 paninis. Or quadruple to make 4 paninis, etc.

Servings – 1 Panini

Equipment Needed – Serrated knife, cutting board, pastry brush, oven gloves, heat-resistant spatulas, cooling rack and panini press.

Quesadilla Before Second Batch Of Cheese Was Added (Over The Chicken)

Quesadilla Panini Being Grilled On Panini Press/Grill

Instructions

• Preheat your panini press. Set the temperature to 325 F (or to medium heat if you can not set the temperature on your panini press) and turn on the panini grill.
• Place the tortilla wrap on a plate or cutting board. FYI – Do not place any ingredients on the panini grill until your panini has been fully assembled.
• Optional – Brush the exterior of the tortilla wrap with a thin layer of melted butter. The melted butter helps to make a “crispier” quesadilla. However, skip this step if you want a simpler quesadilla (no butter = less work) or a less crispy quesadilla.
• Sprinkle 1/3 cup of shredded cheese on one half of the quesadilla panini. Do not place any ingredients on the other half of the tortilla (so it can be folded over the half with cheese). See the picture above if you need to see an example.
• Place 1/4 cup of sliced chicken on top of the cheese.
• Sprinkle the second batch of cheese on top of the meat. Therefore, you will have a bottom layer of cheese, a middle layer of meat and a top layer of cheese.
• Optional – For more flavor, you can also sprinkle a pinch of salt & pepper or red hot pepper flakes on the cheese.
• Fold the panini in half. Place the “bare” half of the tortilla wrap over the half with the cheese. This forms a pocket to hold all of the interior ingredients.
• Use two wide non-scratch spatulas to scoop up the panini and transfer the assembled panini to the hot panini press. Wear oven gloves. FYI – I like to use one spatula to scoop under the bottom of the panini with the other spatula placed on top of the panini. This holds the panini together when moving the panini to the press/grill.
• Gently lower the panini press/grill lid on top of the panini.
• Grill the panini for about 2-4 minutes. FYI – You should check every couple of minutes to see if the panini has finished (as panini press temperatures can vary by machine) and to avoid over-grilling & burning the panini.
• Turn off the grill. FYI – Be careful as panini grills can stay hot for a long time.
• Use the two spatulas to remove the finished panini from the panini press. Wear oven gloves.
• Since the panini is very hot, you should place the panini on a wire cooling and let it cool for 1-2 minutes. FYI – A wire cooling rack helps to prevent a soggy bottom (versus allowing the panini to cool on a plate).
• Optional – Slice the quesadilla panini into 4 segments for easier handling by children.
• Serve the panini while it is still warm.

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Helpful Tips

• The tips below are designed to help panini “novices”. Experienced panini makers probably know most of these panini tips already.
• Click on my “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include this recipe’s tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• This recipe is one of Bread Dad’s Easy Panini Recipes (such as caprese paninis and cheese steak paninis).
• Always be careful with panini presses & grills. They get very hot and can stay hot for a long time. Wear oven gloves.

• My quesadilla “leftover” paninis are super easy and fast to make. More importantly, my kids will love hot & cheesy paninis… so there are no more angry shouts from the kids of “Not leftovers again!!!”. They will not even notice the leftovers are in the quesadilla paninis.
• I like to make my quesadilla paninis with leftover meats such as grilled chicken, steak, bacon, etc. Just remember to slice & dice the meat into small bits.
• You can also replace the meat with a thin layer of thinly sliced sauteed vegetables (such as bell peppers or onions). Just remember to pat the sauteed vegetables dry. If the veggies are too wet, it can make a panini soggy.
• Visitors – What meat or veggies do you like to use in your quesadillas? Please add your quesadilla panini tips to the comment section below.
• I find that “leftover” paninis are a way to save some money. No more placing the leftovers in the freezer (never to be found again!) or throwing the leftovers out (because kids refuse to eat the same thing for a second or third time).
• FYI – You can use supermarket tortilla wraps or homemade tortillas to make these quesadilla paninis. I generally have some tortilla wraps stored in my freezer that I thaw out to make my quesadilla paninis (or any other type of wrap sandwich).

• Use your family’s favorite shredded cheese to make these quesadilla paninis. My family likes mozzarella for this type of panini. However, other popular sliced cheeses include cheddar, provolone, American cheese, Monterey jack, pepper jack, gouda, etc.
• Since this recipe is extra cheesy, some of the cheese is likely to “ooze” out of the panini as it is being grilled. Not a problem as it just means that the cheese is melting properly. Tortilla wraps do not hold onto (absorb) melted cheese as well as homemade bread. Thus some cheese is likely to melt out of a tortilla-based panini when being grilled.
• As you probably know, tortillas are a type of unleavened bread (flat & not puffed up by yeast). Therefore, there are much less nooks, crannies and “air pockets” to hold the melted cheese versus sandwich bread (which has been leavened/puffed up by yeast).
• Visitors – What cheese do you like to use in your quesadillas? Please add your cheese & quesadilla panini suggestions and tips to the comment section below.

• The optional melted butter in this recipe helps to create a crispier panini and adds some buttery flavor. However, it can also make the exterior of this tortilla panini a little greasy. You can skip the butter if you want to make an easier panini (less steps involved) or prefer a less crispy quesadilla.
• Optional – If you don’t have butter, you can use olive oil or your favorite vegetable oil to coat the exterior and interior of the bread.
• Do not add too many extra ingredients (e.g. mountains of meat or grilled vegetables) when making your paninis. Very thick paninis can have trouble properly heating the inside of the panini without burning the exterior of the panini.

• Keep an eye on the tortilla wrap when grilling your paninis. I like to open the panini machine & check inside every couple of minutes because tortilla wraps can grill faster than expected. You don’t want to burn your paninis.
• Do not forget to preheat your panini grill or the grilling will take longer than expected.
• My panini grill “beeps” when it has reached its set temperature target (e.g. 325 F). However, other panini grills do not have this feature so you might need to let your panini grill warm up for at least 5 minutes before using it to bake your panini. Read your manual for the specific time needed to preheat your grill.

• Do not leave your panini unattended and forget about it. You could cause a fire, burn your food, etc.
• Make sure the top of the panini press/grill is fully pressed against the top of the bread. The heat from the top grill adds the characteristic grill “marks” to the bread and makes sure the top of the bread is properly heated. With most machines, you do not have to physically press down on the panini. You just let the weight of the top do the “pressing”.
• Try to make sure the top of the panini press/grill is flat and even when you lower it onto the panini. A non-level top is more likely to result in uneven heating and/or pushing the top of the panini off the sandwich. Wear oven gloves if you are handling or adjusting a hot panini press/grill.

• In America, panini refers to a hot sandwich that has been grilled/toasted on a panini press/grill, etc. This type of sandwich is usually filled with cheese and various other ingredients such as meat, veggies, etc. A panini also usually has the classic grilled “stripes” on the crust.
• However, the word “panini” comes from Italy. According to Wikipedia, “In Italian, the noun panino (Italian: [pa’niːno]; pl.: panini) is a diminutive of pane (lit. ’bread’) and refers to a bread roll. Panino imbottito (lit. ’stuffed panino’) refers to a sandwich, but the word panino is also often used alone to indicate a sandwich in general.”

• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a panini press/grill. The panini press/grill gets very hot during the baking process and it will stay very hot even after you turn off the panini press/grill (it takes a long time to cool).
• Do NOT let kids near your panini grills because panini grills can stay hot for a long time. They might accidentally burn themselves on the panini grill.
• Make sure to READ your panini press/grill instruction manual in order to operate your press/grill safely & correctly. Always follow the safety instructions in your panini press manual.
• If you need any panini tools (e.g. wide heat-resistant spatulas) or panini cookbooks, check out Bread Dad’s section on Panini Grills, Tools & Books.
• For more easy panini recipes (such as grilled cheese paninis and ham & cheese paninis), please visit Bread Dad’s main section on Panini Recipes.

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Reference Sources

• Wikipedia, Panini Sandwich
• Wikipedia, Cheese
• Wikipedia, Quesadilla

Related Recipes

• Caprese Panini
• Cheese Steak Panini
• Ham & Cheese Panini
• Grilled Cheese Panini
• Tortilla

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