Crispy on the outside, stuffed with creamy avocado and flavor-packed veggies, these vegan, fully loaded avocado quesadillas are sure to be a hit! Totally dairy-free, but you'll never miss the cheese!
One time, years and years ago, when cheese was a big part of my life, I got into an argument with a friend who tried to order quesadillas at a restaurant...without the cheese. Everybody knows that cheese is essential to a quesadilla right? I thought I knew everything back then.
It took a food blog for me to realize that no, cheese is not, in fact, essential to a delicious quesadilla. Today, I'm sharing what might be my all-time favorite vegan quesadilla recipe, stuffed with warm seasoned veggies and creamy avocado.
In fact, you probably see a trend with avocados being my favorite stand-in for all kinds of things I avoid these days. Panini sandwich filling, smoothie base, crema topping, slaw dressing...you get the picture.
This particular dish is something like a hybrid of fajitas and quesadillas. The veggies are seasoned up and pan seared, so you get that savory flavor and tender-crisp fajita texture, but once you sink your teeth into the grilled up tortilla, you'll find that these are unmistakably quesadillas, thanks to the rich and creamy consistency of the avocados.
Avocados are always in season, but I came up with these quesadillas with summer in mind. They're the perfect food for grabbing and snacking on, so they're great for entertaining.
You can even prep everything in advance up to the step of stuffing your quesadillas, and then throw a few on the stove at a time, so you've got a nice crispy stack at all times. You could even, I'm sure, throw them on the grill. I didn't grill mine, but I'm hoping somebody will, and if you do, let me know how delicious it was. I'll be jealous!
Pro Tips
- Much of the prep work for these quesadillas can be done in advance.
- For short term advance prep (1-2 hours): Do everything through step 3 of the recipe in advance. Then, right before you're ready to serve them, proceed with steps 4 and 5.
- For long term advance prep (1-2 days): Do everything through step 2 in advance. On the day of serving, proceed with steps 3-4. Why can't step 3 be done in advance? Because the avocados will likely start to brown after they're mashed.
- Want to make this recipe gluten-free? Use your favorite gluten-free tortillas.
- Feel free to switch up the veggies with your favorites. Just keep in mind that harder veggies might take a little longer to cook, while softer ones will cook up quicker.
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📖 Recipe
Loaded Avocado Quesadillas
Ingredients
For the Veggie Filling
- 3 Tbsp. lime juice
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tsp. ground cumin
- ½ tsp. chipotle chile powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp. agave or maple syrup
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
- 1 medium zucchini, chopped
- ½ medium red onion, sliced into strips
- 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and sliced
- 1 cup cooked or canned black beans, rinse and drain if using canned
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
For the Quesadillas
- 4 to 6 medium flour tortillas (soft taco size)
- 2 ripe avocados
- oil, for grilling
For Serving
- your favorite salsa or hot sauce
Instructions
- Stir lime juice, olive oil, cumin, chipotle chile powder, salt, pepper, garlic and agave or maple syrup together in a large bowl. Add bell pepper, zucchini, onion and jalapeño. Toss to coat. Optionally, allow to marinate at room temperature for up to an hour.
- Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add veggies and cook, flipping frequently, until most of the liquid has cooked off and veggies are tender-crisp, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add beans and cilantro. Flip a few times to incorporate, then transfer the mixture to a plate.
- In a small bowl, lightly mash the avocados with a fork. Spread a quarter or a sixth of mashed avocado onto half of a tortilla. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and optionally with some hot sauce. Arrange an even layer of veggies over avocado, then fold the tortilla closed over the veggies. Repeat until all tortillas are filled and all fillings are used.
- Lightly oil the skillet and place over medium heat. Place one or two tortillas onto skillet and grill until browned and crispy on bottom, about 4 minutes. Flip and grill until browned on opposite side, about 4 minutes more. Repeat until all quesadillas are cooked, adding oil to the skillet as needed.
- Serve with hot sauce or salsa.
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Made these for dinner last night, and they came out delicious! And they were easier to make than I expected! The only thing I could say is that I could have easily used 4 avocados. With the ingredients listed above, I was able to make 4 quesadillas, had a lot of the veggie mixture left over, but no more avocado. I'll make this tweak when I make these again in the future. Thanks for the recipe!
I like the original recipe but I also liked a variation that I made. The grocery store was all out of zucchini and jalapeños. I left those 2 ingredients out and added sliced cremini mushrooms and it worked. Another time I left out the avocado and made a refried bean and used that in place of the avocado. I would have used an avocado but it wasn’t ripe yet but it was okay with the mashed beans.
Still making these in 2024. A bit labor intensive but they're great.
This is so good! My avocados aren't ripe yet so I had to use vegan cheddar, but it was still delicious. I think it's the marinade for the veggies that makes it so great. I can't wait for my avocados to get ripe. Once they are ready I'll be making this again. I think I'll make another cheese one right now. Yummm!
Are any of these ingredients optional? We're trying to serve 50 people with these and don't want to blow $100.
You could use fewer or different veggies if you'd like. I wouldn't recommend leaving out any of the seasonings though, as they're all pretty important for flavor.
Alissa, this recipe is so amazing! Made it tonight. Easy and big flavors. Can be tailored to suit a blander or spicier palate. Love love love!!!
Wonderful!! Glad you love it! Thanks Cathy!
We've made this quesadilla recipe to a T several times now and it has become a go-to favorite. Who needs cheese? I've sent it to all of my friends that will listen!
Yay! I'm so glad you like it, and thank you for sharing!!
Made tonight. Still so delish! Thanks!
I have been looking for new recipes to spice up my vegetarian diet & made this delicious recipe tonight. I actually used the black bean spread from your pinwheel appetizers and rolled it all in a tortilla. I used salsa for dipping. Fantastic. This a keeper!
I also made the wild rice & mushroom soup last week. Again delicious & so filling. Co-workers commented on the lovely aroma. I turned a few on to the recipe.
Keep the vegetarian recipes coming :)
Thank you!! That sounds like a delicious variation! I'm so glad you're enjoying the recipes!
I just made these last night! I made the veggies a little more “chunkier”. The marinade is fantastic. My roomie says to me, “This is my favorite dish out of everything vegan you’ve done.” Thank you so much for a go to future favorite!!
I'm so glad to hear that!! Thanks so much Rudy!
Making these again! So yummy!
I'm glad you like them!!
As a new Vegan I’m still learning how to fill my meals with great recipes. This is definitely a delicious keeper. Thanks for the help.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!! Thanks Eddie!
What can I substitute in place of the zucchini? Corn maybe? I’m only a fan of grilled zucchini :)
I think corn would work great! You could also try mushrooms, cauliflower or broccoli.
Thanks so much! Going to give corn and mushrooms a try!
AMAZING! Thank you.
Thank you!! :)
Made these a few days ago, but mixed the avocado with the veggies after they had cooked, and put it all in a crunchy corn taco shell instead of the tortillas.. Lets just say these are my go to homemade tacos from now on.. they were amazing!!
I'm so happy to hear that!! Thanks Laurie!
Delicious, I've made all the bits in advance to have for dinner tonight but I couldn't resist making one quesadilla to tide me over, so yum! Thanks for the recipe. x
Glad you like it!!
I'm not a vegan but these tasted amazing! I branched from the vegan part of it the second time I made it adding some cheese and chicken which also tasted great! I'd say it is an overall great recipe!
I'm so glad you enjoyed them!!
How much cilantro is called for in the recipe? Step two says to add beans and cilantro.
1/4 cup! Thanks for catching that! It's in there now. :)
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! I made it for my family and all the ingredients were ones we already had in, and we all loved it! Had one disappointing quesadilla recipe before but I was glad I tried another one, I will definitely be making this again, will become a regular family dish! I hadn't thought about making a mixture to marinate the veg in before, it's such a good idea. I'll have to use that mixture for other veg, especially in other Mexican dishes.
These were really excellent!
Glad to hear it! Thanks so much Brigitte!
Oh goodness! These look amazing! Will definitely give these a whirl sometime this week!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy them!
Looks awesome. Have you ever cooked the veggies and the quesadillas on the bbq grill? Going to try it later this week
Thank you! I haven't, but I did do a grilled fajita recipe a while back. :)
Made it tonight per the recipe. Really, really good! Definitely a keeper.
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed them!
I too have a cheese less recpie
This looks great!! I think m kids are goin to love this. I will def. give it a try :)
I hope you enjoy!
These. Are. Gorgeous. So perfect for a little Meatless Monday action or a nice healthy lunch!! Love it!
Thank you so much Karly!
Ooh yummy, Made these last night.Very tasty!
Glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for stopping by to let me know! :)
These look AMAZING! Thanks for the recipe. Always looking for new ways to use avocados! #client
Thanks Oriana! Avocados are one of my favorites, so happy to share!! :)