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Cheesy Green Chile and Avocado Rice Quesadillas. Cheese, rice, smashed avocado, and roasted poblano peppers…all tucked inside soft flour tortillas, then pan-fried until warm and crispy. These easy vegetarian quesadillas come together quickly and include simple ingredients. They’re crispy on the outside and cheesy inside. Serve with a fresh roasted serrano pepper cilantro lime salsa and sour cream. Great for dinner and simple to throw together.
I’m sure I’ve shared this story before, but when I first started cooking as a young teen, I would make quesadillas. Nothing fancy, just really delicious food. Cheesy quesadillas are just of those meals that everyone loves! My brothers would eat them almost every day. They’d usually go snowboarding after school (once we had moved to Colorado), so when they got off the hill they always needed a pre-dinner snack.
Sure, they’d throw frozen pizzas or bagel bites into the oven on occasion. But I swear, almost daily they would request one of my quesadillas.
We’d always, always have leftover rice and chicken in our fridge, so I’d make chicken, rice, and cheese quesadillas. I’d add taco seasoning for flavor, but that was about it. And they LOVED them.
These days I’ve upgraded to a bit more flavor, but the thing I’ve never given up is the rice. Rice-filled cheese quesadillas really are one of the most delicious, simple meals.
We loved them then and we still love them today. Today’s quesadillas are vegetarian with roasted poblano peppers and avocado. They’re a family favorite and so easy to make. Under 30 minutes, and very little prep!
Char the peppers
You could use canned green chilies, but charring fresh poblanos always tastes so much better, and it’s easy to do.
Just broil the peppers along with either a serrano or jalapeño pepper and garlic until lightly charred. This only takes minutes and is practically mess-free.
The serrano (or jalapeño) and garlic are for the salsa. Take both, chop them, and mix with fresh cilantro, green onion, lime, and olive oil. This is a peppery herb-style salsa, so it’s a little different, but a really nice fresh topping for these quesadillas.
Make the quesadillas
Now, simply assemble the quesadillas. I find it easier to make half-circle quesadillas as opposed to larger round quesadillas. The half-size is just so much easier to work with.
Layer the tortillas (make sure you try my homemade flour tortillas!) with cheese and rice. Then add the mashed avocado. Tip, add a squeeze of lime juice + a pinch of sea salt to preserve the color and add flavor.
Next, layer on the poblanos and a spoonful of salsa verde. Don’t overfill your quesadillas, that just makes them messy and difficult to flip. Thinner quesadillas are best.
Pan fry each in a skillet, then enjoy with plenty of the cilantro salsa and a dollop of yogurt.
These really aren’t anything fancy, they’re just really delicious food. I love making these when the fridge is empty and all I can find are cheese, rice, and avocados. And there’s almost always some kind of pepper in my fridge. And if not, there’s always a jar of salsa verde in the pantry.
Perfect easy meal – just one of those meals that everyone loves!
Looking for Mexican dinners? Here are my favorites:
One Skillet White Chicken Chili Bake
Skillet Chicken Fajitas with Creamy Jalapeño Verde Sauce
Cauliflower Al Pastor Quesadillas
Lastly, if you make these, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Cheesy Green Chile and Avocado Rice Quesadillas
Servings: 4
Calories Per Serving: 846 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 poblano peppers
- 1-2 serrano or jalapeño peppers
- 1 clove garlic, lightly smashed
- 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt
- 4-6 large flour tortillas
- 2 avocados, mashed
- 1 cup rice, cooked
- 1/2 cup salsa verde
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican cheese
- greek yogurt, or sour cream, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the broiler to high. Arrange the poblanos, serrano peppers, and garlic on a baking sheet. Broil 2 minutes, until charring. Flip and broil 2-4 more minutes, until the peppers are charred. Watch the garlic closely.2. To make the salsa. If desired, de-seed the serrano pepper, then slice, add to a small bowl. Finely chop or mash the garlic and add to the bowl with the peppers. Add the cilantro, green onion, 2 tablespoons olive oil, lime juice, and a pinch of salt. 3. Grab the poblanos, peel away any charred skin, de-seed, and thinly slice them. 4. To assemble, layer cheese, rice, avocado, and poblanos on one half of a tortilla. Drizzle over the salsa verde, then sprinkle over more cheese. Fold the tortilla over to cover everything. 5. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a skillet, add 1 quesadilla, and cook 2-3 minutes per side until crisp and golden brown. Serve warm with cilantro, chile salsa, and a dollop of Greek yogurt.
what brand of tortilla do you like
Hi Joan,
For this recipe, I made my tortillas homemade:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/homemade-flour-tortillas/?amp%3Bpreview=1&%3B_ppp=c615df5100
Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Can you freeze these?
Hey Addie,
Sure, I don’t see why not! Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
WOW! I have been meal planning 3-4 meals a week exclusively from your website for 7 weeks. I always include one vegetarian meal. They are amazing, unusual and so fun! Thank you thank you! Yummo!!!
Hey Karin,
Awesome!! Thanks for making so many recipes, I love to hear that you are enjoying them!! xT
Holy Amazeballs! Home run Tieghan! So good, so easy, 5 freakin stars!
Hey there,
Fantastic!! Thanks so much for trying this recipe, I am thrilled to hear that it was enjoyed! xxT
Made this tonight and it was so good! Don’t skip out on the optional salsa verde, it’s bursting with flavor. Don’t be fooled by the vegetarian label… this recipe is amazing and filling! This is getting thrown in to the weekly mix of recipes as a no meat dinner night as my partner approves and can’t stop eating it ?
I used jalapeños in the salsa verde, forgot to top w/ chile salsa and it still tasted great.
Thanks Tieghan for another great healthy meal ❤️
Hey Sydney,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it!! Have a great week:) xxT
Ok sorry if silly question but wanted to clarify. Is the salsa verde and chile salsa two different parts? You are topping the quesadilla with the chile salsa but filling it using jar salsa verde right? Thanks so much, you’re the best! 🙂
Hey Jaime,
Sorry for any confusion, you are going to use the salsa verde in the quesadilla and then top them with the Chile salsa. I hope this makes sense! Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
I made this as an enchilada filling (inspo from one of the comments below!) and it was AMAZING. Such a good and different vegetarian dinner. I made a while enchilada sauce and filled the tortillas same as described in this recipe.
Hey Leesha,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try! ?xx
This was an easy, delicious recipe. I just dumped everything into the avocado instead of making the salsa…..added some mango pico I had…lotsa lime juice and cilantro.
Great, easy, healthy meal!!
Hey there,
Fantastic!! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for making it! Have the best weekend:) xTieghan
How spicy are these? I’m pretty sensitive to spice, but have tried these types of peppers or salsa. Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes!
Hi Tara,
These do have a little kick, I would use bell peppers in place of the jalapeños/serano peppers and just be sure to scrape the seeds out of your poblanos. I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
So good and easy! We added some chicken! That salsa on top is so fresh and yummy!! Will definitely make again!
Hey Marisa,
Wonderful!! Thank you so much for trying this recipe out, I am so glad to hear that it was a winner! xxT
Amazing. Made these tonight with the homemade tortillas and added chicken. So insanely good. The salsa is key.
Hi Amy,
Wonderful!! Thank you so much for trying this recipe out, I am so glad to hear that it was a winner! xxT
Made these tonight. Did not make flour tortillas, purchased fresh ones at grocery store. Used purchased verde sauce, otherwise followed recipe as written. I used fresh poblano and Serrano peppers, and garlic. I halved the recipe, and used small 6” tortillas. Was very tasty! My husband loved them. Will definitely make on Friday’s in Lent next year.
Hey there,
Wonderful!! Thank you so much for trying this recipe out, I am so glad to hear that it was a winner! xxT
I am going to try to this as Enchiladas for a fantastic vegetarian dinner. Any suggestions for a white enchilada sauce? Bechamel or maybe a pepperjack cheese sauce? I want those charred peppers to be the star.
Try a mushroom soup, works great in a green chili enchilada cassarole
Hi Rebekah,
Sure, any sauce you want to use would work for you! Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
Hi these look great! But, they are not vegetarian as they contain cheese ?
You’re confusing vegetarian with vegan, she was correct.
Hi Annie,
I feel most people consider cheese to be vegetarian friendly, if you don’t then I would certainly skip this recipe:) xTieghan
Gosh, Tieghan, you’ve done it again! We eat a lot of quesadillas, because they are so quick to throw together and my teenage son love them because they are so filling and hot. These look so fantastic I think I’ll try them tonight! Love the idea of the avocados and peppers together. Yum!!
Hey Amy,
Wonderful!! Thank you so much for trying this recipe out, I am so glad to hear that it was a winner! xxT