Cheesy, spicy buffalo chickpea quesadillas made with large flour tortillas, sautéed buffalo chickpeas, and shredded cheddar cheese. Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream, and pickled red onions for a midweek lunch or dinner.
Quesadillas can make lunch quick and easy to put together. For this buffalo chickpea quesadilla recipe, you'll smash chickpeas and fry them up with some onion and buffalo sauce and then stuff it all into a tortilla with a bunch of shredded cheddar cheese. Fry the quesadilla for a crispy crunchy spicy quesadilla loaded with a flavorful and cheesy filling.
This quesadilla is a bit messy to eat but so worth it. And if you're a fan of buffalo chickpeas, try my buffalo chickpea wrap.
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Ingredients
About the ingredients for this recipe. See the recipe card below for exact amounts.
- Chickpeas - you'll need 2 cups of chickpeas which is about the amount in a large (19 oz) can of chickpeas. The smaller cans (15 oz) have about 1.5 cups.
- Yellow Onion + Green Onion - Half of an onion, diced, gives a bit of flavor, bite, and variation to the buffalo chickpea mix. I use the white part of the green onion to saute and then I sprinkled over the more tender greener parts.
- Large tortillas - You can use whichever wrap you prefer, I've made this with both whole wheat and white wraps and prefer the white wraps for frying.
- Cheddar cheese - I like cheddar cheese with this buffalo chickpea mix but you can use whichever melty cheese you like. Mozza or gouda would be good in this recipe.
- Butter - butter combines with the sriracha to make a kind of buffalo sauce for coating the chickpeas, and the fat helps deliver the flavor in this dish. Use vegan butter if you want to make a vegan buffalo chickpea quesadilla.
- Hot sauce - You can use any hot sauce you prefer. I've used Sriracha for this recipe. I always have Sambal Oelek and Sriracha as lower heat hot sauces in my house and I really like the flavor of Sriracha. You can use Frank's for more of a typical buffalo sauce or use any other hot sauce you like. If you want something spicier, Scorpion Hot Sauce by Hearbeat Hot Sauce (Canadian) is good and so is Magma by Tasty Heat (from Winnipeg).
Watch the video in this post to see exactly how to make Buffalo Chickpea Quesadillas. Read the step-by-step instructions with photos below.
Instructions
Prep Tips
- Chop half a yellow onion and slice a few green onions.
- Shred the cheese of your choice.
- Cook chickpeas or use canned chickpeas.
Step 1. Mash the chickpeas a bit. This helps the chickpeas stick into the inside of the quesadilla. I do this with a fork. You can use a food processor if you prefer but only pulse a few times.
Step 2. Make the chickpea filling. To make the filling, heat a skillet over medium heat and add oil and then both the yellow onion and the white parts of the green onions. Cook them for a few minutes to take the raw bite out of the onions and soften them.
Next, add the chickpeas. Stir and cook for a few minutes to heat the chickpeas through.
Add the butter and melt it and then add the hot sauce. Move the chickpea filling to a bowl and wipe out the skillet.
Step 3. Fry the quesadillas. Fill each tortilla wrap with half of the filling and then with the shredded cheese. Fold them in half to close them. Heat the pan over medium heat again and a bit of oil. Cook the quesadillas for about 3-4 minutes per side, until crispy and browned.
To serve the quesadillas, slice each into three or four pieces. I like to serve mine with some plain Greek yogurt for dipping. I also like to scatter the sliced tops of the green onions along with some red onions with my buffalo chickpea quesadillas.
RECIPE TIP: A large, 19 oz can of chickpeas has about 2 cups. You can cook your own chickpeas from dried using my Instant Pot Chickpeas No Soak method.
Substitutions
✔ This is vegetarian
> To make this vegan, use vegan butter and a vegan cheese substitute.
Equipment
I use my large non-stick pan for both parts of this recipe.
Storage
This recipe would not store very well, I suggest making them as needed.
More recipes like this
Recipe
Buffalo Chickpea Quesadillas
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups chickpeas mashed with a fork
- 1 green onion chopped
- ½ small yellow onion diced
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce or your preferred hot sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 large tortillas
- 2 oz cheddar cheese shredded, about 56 grams
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil and the onions. Saute for 3-4 minutes, until softened.
- Add the mashed chickpeas and saute for a minute or two to heat through.
- Add the butter and sriracha sauce. Let the butter melt, stirring everything together. Remove from the heat.
- Lay a tortilla out on a work surface. Add half of the chickpea mixture onto one half of the tortilla. Fold the other half of the tortilla over to close it up into a half circle.
- Spray a large skillet with oil, heat overmedium heat and add the tortilla. Cook on each side for 3-4 minutes, or until crispy and browned. Repeat for the other tortilla. Serve hot, sliced.
Notes
- Use whichever hot sauce you prefer.
- Make as needed, doesn't store well.
- To make it vegan, use vegan butter and a vegan cheese substitute product.
Nutritional information is an estimate. Values vary based on products used. Read our full Nutrition Disclaimer.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.
Recipes FAQs
In this cheesy buffalo chickpea quesadilla, there are 485 calories per quesadilla. This will fluctuate depending on your cheese, hot sauce, and wraps.
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