Crispy honey thyme chicken and goat cheese quesadillas are a perfect quick and easy weeknight meal. When the dinner mood is set for warm-days-comfort this is exactly what you need. Pull apart melted creamy cheeses with bites of sweet honey thyme chicken all folded into a crispy flour tortilla. Pair it with some chips and guacamole or a spicy cucumber margarita and it’s pure bliss.
I am so excited to share this recipe, it was inspired by a restaurant near my daughters’ pediatrician. When the weather is nice we sit outside, with the warm sunshine, a chicken goat cheese quesadilla and an iced tea (or margarita) – it’s a whole vibe. I always try to schedule their appointments around lunch so I can go.
The Honey Thyme Chicken Marinade
This is a super quick marinade. The marinade can be on the chicken for 30 minutes or all day, depending on your schedule. If necessary, you can add it to your frozen chicken and let the chicken marinate and defrost at the same time.
In a bowl, whisk together the honey, the zest of one lemon, fresh lemon juice, fresh thyme, salt and olive oil. In a large zip lock bag or a food safe container, add the chicken and the marinade. Make sure the chicken is submerged as much as possible and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Quick and Easy Pickled Shallots
This is the second recipe this month that included pickled shallots, they may be my new go-to ingredient. They are great! The sweet and sour of the pickled shallots really add a nice acidic layer of flavor to the buttery soft chicken and then creamy soft goat cheese. The pickling process is quick and easy, no advance cooking necessary. This is totally optional, but I highly recommend.
In a small sauce pan, add red wine vinegar, water, smashed garlic cloves, a pinch of salt, sugar and the thinly sliced shallots. Heat up the liquid until it starts to have a low rolling bubble boil. Once the boil starts, turn down the heat slightly and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat and keep the shallots in the pan until you’re ready to use them, about 10 minutes. The crunchy tangy sweet shallots will add another irresistible layer of flavor.
How to Make Crispy Honey Thyme Chicken and Goat Cheese Quesadillas
The key ingredient to making the flour tortillas crispy is to use cooking spray and a pre-heated non-stick pan. You can use any kind of cooking spray you like – original, butter, olive oil or avocado oil. Make sure the non-stick pan is pre-heated to medium or medium high heat so that the outside of the quesadilla can brown and become crispy while the inside has time to melt and warm through. Similar to a pancake, you may have to adjust the heat between each quesadilla to achieve the creamy melted cheese on the inside with a gorgeous brown crispy outside.
Press down on the top of the quesadilla with slight pressure. The slight pressure will give the tortilla an even brown and crisp. If cheese is pressed outside of the edge it will brown and become crispy making it extra delicious.
Crispy Honey Thyme Chicken and Goat Cheese Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 1 TBSP Olive Oil
- 1 lb Chicken Breasts - marinaded and cubed into bite size pieces
- 4 oz Goat Cheese - plain - cut into small chunks or crumbles
- 8 oz Monterey Jack Cheese - shredded off the block
- 6 10in Four Tortillas
Honey Thyme Marinade
- 3 TBSP Honey extra to garnish - optional
- Zest of one lemon
- ½ Lemon - juiced, remove the seeds
- 4 sprigs Fresh Thyme extra to garnish - optional
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ¼ cup Olive Oil
Pickled Shallots
- 1 Shallot - thinly sliced
- 2 smashed Garlic Cloves
- ¼ cup Red Wine Vinegar
- ¼ cup Water
- ⅓ tsp Sugar
- ½ tsp Salt
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the marinade. Place the chicken in a zip lock bag or a food container and add in the prepared marinade so that the chicken is submerged as much as possible. Rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes - or all day.
- When you're ready to make the quesadillas: start the pickled shallots. In a small sauce pan, add all of the ingredients. Over medium-high heat, let the liquid come up to a low rolling boil. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside, let the shallots sit in the pickling liquid until needed, about 10 - 15 minutes.
- Cut the marinaded chicken into to bite size cubed pieces.
- In a pan, over medium-high heat, add 1 TBSP of olive oil and heat up to a simmer. Add in the chicken.
- Cook the chicken over medium-high heat until brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Grab the ingredients to assemble the quesadillas: cooked chicken, cheese, pickled shallots and tortillas.
- Lay out a tortilla on half of the circle, sprinkle on a handful of monterey jack cheese so that it covers the bottom, layer on some shallots, goat cheese and chicken.
- Fold the tortilla over and set aside, do the same with the remainder of tortillas until all the ingredients are used.
- Heat up a large non-stick pan to medium heat. Spray each side of the tortilla and place it down in the pan. Let it brown and crisp up while the cheese melts inside.
- Pull them off, drizzle with honey and sprinkle on thyme leaves for garnish. Cut into triangles and serve.
Groceries Are Expensive These Days – What to do with leftover ingredients
For this recipe you will use everything with no ingredients leftover, except for one 1/2 lemon and the red wine vinegar goes into the pantry for future marinades and dressings. Wrap the lemon in saran wrap until you need it for a recipe or add it to your iced tea!
If you want to double the marinade and chicken, the left over chicken would make amazing grilled preach chicken kabobs.
If you pickle more shallots, they are so easy to add to sandwiches, you can make these sliders with either ham or turkey.
