Easy Black Bean, Salsa & Vegan Cheese Quesadillas

These easy black bean quesadillas with salsa and vegan cheese make a quick lunch option when you want something tasty and satisfying.

Quesadillas make a brilliant lunch, when you don't want a sandwich, but they are great for dinner too with potato wedges, salad and a tasty creamy dip like this Russian dressing or a creamy ranch dressing.

The plant-based quesadillas I'm sharing today are a twist on a classic quesadillas filled with black beans instead of refried beans and lots of delicious Tex Mex flavours.

Jump to:

• 🌮 What are quesadillas?
• 🌮 What are quesadillas filled with?
• 🌮 Cooking & serving traditional quesadillas
• 🌡️ Can you make quesadillas in an air fryer?
• 🧾 What you need to make black bean quesadillas with salsa and cheese
• 🧂 Can you use taco seasoning?
• 🥬 Are fresh herbs a good option
• 🥫 Can you use refried beans?
• 🥣 Making the bean mixture ahead
• 🧀 Smoked vegan cheese
• 🧀 Get that melty cheese ooze
• 🥗 Serving black bean quesadillas
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Related recipes
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Pairing
• ⭐ Save your favourite recipes for free!
• 👩🏻‍🍳 How to make Easy Black Bean, Salsa & Vegan Cheese Quesadillas
• 📖 Recipe
• Comments

🌮 What are quesadillas?

Quesadillas are Mexican dish made with tortillas and cheese that date back to 16th century Mexico.

There are other fillings too, but the cheese is always there.

After all the word quesadilla comes from queso the Mexican word for cheese and dilla which means small thing so translated it means little cheesy thing.

But, dilla is also the slang name for dude.

So these are actually cheese dudes!

How fun is that? I might have to start calling them cheese dudes.

They are made from one large flour tortilla folder over the filling or two large flour or corn tortillas filled.

🌮 What are quesadillas filled with?

They are usually filled with cheese, spices and sometimes beans, vegetables or other things we won't talk about.

They are eaten at all times of the day and night in Mexico as street food or made at home.

An easy any time snack or light meal.

Turn your tortillas into tacos and make easy buffalo chickpea tacos.

🌮 Cooking & serving traditional quesadillas

Quesadillas are usually dry fried in a hot large skillet or frying pan until golden brown and crisp and all melted oozy cheese inside.

Although, they are sometimes deep-fried in Mexico too.

They are cut into triangles with a pizza cutter or sharp knife and served with salsa and guacamole.

Try them with this fresh homemade salsa or vegan Thousand Island dressing.

For a movie night snack, try serving these with Polish raspberry beer.

The slight sweetness is a nice contrast to the spice in this recipe.

For more inspiration, check out 101 Vegan Sandwiches - Back to School Kids Lunch boxes.

🌡️ Can you make quesadillas in an air fryer?

Yes, you can make quesadillas in an air fryer.

Either fold them in half over the filling Tex Mex style and crisp them up in the air fryer or use mini flour tortillas (or mini corn tortillas).

You can also make them on a crepe pan or an electric crepe maker.

🧾 What you need to make black bean quesadillas with salsa and cheese

Here are the simple ingredients you need to make this black bean quesadilla recipe.

• Flour tortillas - corn tortillas, whole wheat tortillas or your favourite type of tortillas
• Vegan cheddar
• Black beans - can of black beans or other beans like kidney beans or pinto beans
• Spring onions (green onions) - or red onion
• Red pepper - or you could use orange or yellow bell pepper
• Corn - freshly cooked corn or canned corn
• Salsa
• Tomato puree
• Chilli flakes - optional
• Paprika
• Dried oregano
• Salt & black pepper

See the full printable recipe card for quantities, notes and calories.

🧂 Can you use taco seasoning?

If you have taco seasoning, it's a great option to use to flavour the black bean mixture.

Or try my homemade fajita seasoning.

Either use that or the spices and herbs I suggest.

🥬 Are fresh herbs a good option

I suggest dried herbs in this recipe, but if I had some fresh herbs I would have added them when making these quick dairy-free quesadillas.

Fresh coriander (fresh cilantro) or parsley are the best options.

A squeeze of lime juice will freshen up the filling too.

🥫 Can you use refried beans?

Yes, you can use refried black beans instead of canned black beans for the simple black bean filling in this easy recipe.

You will find them in cans or sachets in your local supermarket or grocery store.

Use them in place of the black beans and mix in the other ingredients as described in the step-by-step photos and the recipe card.

To save time, you can make the spicy bean mixture for these easy vegan quesadillas ahead of time.

Store bean mixture in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, then make up the quesadillas as you want them.

🧀 Smoked vegan cheese

I use grated vegan cheddar when I make these easy quesadillas for an easy dinner or lunch.

However, smoked vegan cheese like the vegan Smoked Applewood would work really well in these too.

You could also mix in some vegan mozzarella.

🧀 Get that melty cheese ooze

Vegan cheese is notorious for not having that melty ooze you get with dairy cheese.

But, I have a wee tip for you.

Add a few wee dollops of mayo to the vegan cheddar cheese and it really helps the cheese to really melt and ooze.

Give it a go!

🥗 Serving black bean quesadillas

Serve these spicy bean quesadillas plain for a snack or load your plate up.

Here are a few serving ideas for this vegan quesadilla recipe:

• Salsa - shop-bought salsa or homemade salsa (pico de gallo)
• Guacamole - shop-bought guac or homemade
• Avocado slices - ripe avocado
• Sour cream - vegan sour cream, creme fraiche or yoghurt
• Vegan nacho cheese sauce
• Ranch dressing
• Corn - corn on the cob or canned corn
• Coleslaw - try this carrot slaw
• Potato salad - try this dill potato salad
• Potato wedges - spiced wedges
• Sweet potato fries
• Tortilla chips - try these homemade paprika tortilla chips
• Salad

👩🏻‍🍳 Related recipes

Looking for more recipes with flour tortillas? Try these:

👩🏻‍🍳 Pairing

These are my favourite dishes to serve with Black Bean, Salsa & Cheese Quesadillas:

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👩🏻‍🍳 How to make Easy Black Bean, Salsa & Vegan Cheese Quesadillas

These step-by-step photos will show you how to make this one-pan meal the whole family will love.

Step 1

• Drain your black beans and mash them in a bowl with a fork.
• Add the onion, red pepper, corn kernels and spices.

Step 2

• Add the salsa, tomato puree, herbs and seasoning.
• Mix well into the bean mixture.
• Take your first large flour (or corn) tortilla and spread half of the mixture across it.

Step 3

• Add a layer of grated cheese across the top of the bean mixture, right to the edges.
• If you want to help that ooze, add little dollops of mayo.
• Add the other tortilla on top and dry fry in a large hot skillet or frying pan until golden and crisp on one side.
• Carefully flip over and cook the second side.
• Place on a cutting board and slice into triangles with a pizza cutter or sharp knife.
• Serve and enjoy!