Full-flavored Steak Quesadillas are an easy, crowd-pleasing dinner thanks to quick-cooking, taco-seasoned, tender steak strips, melty Monterrey Jack cheese, and sauteed onions and peppers. The ingredients come together in less than 30 minutes in a toasty flour tortilla on the stovetop.
If your family asks for quesadillas on the regular, you've definitely come to the right place. Not only does our family rotate quesadilla recipes often, but being Tex-Mex lovers, it just feels right. On any given week, you might find shrimp quesadillas, pulled pork quesadillas, or veggie quesadillas with all the queso and black beans!
This recipe also serves as an appetizer for Tex-Mex nights at home or game day!
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
This is an authentic Mexican restaurant-inspired recipe that provides you with a quick and easy route to the perfect steak quesadillas. We're talking melty cheese, warm, crispy (yet soft) tortillas, and perfectly cooked steak. Using sirloin steak over flank steak makes for a meal that's easy to cook indoors on a pan or griddle and cooks up tenderly quickly with no chew.
The road to perfectly cooked steak on the stovetop can be hit or miss, but it is easily mastered with our steak-prep tips and temperature guide for this specific recipe.
Another possible pain point is folding over the tortilla. It sometimes isn't pretty. The good news? Our fork-and-spatula tip makes this so simple.
This recipe was developed with simplicity in mind for the weeknight cook for an easy dinner the kids will love--but so will the grownups. The recipe requires no marinade; all you need is a simple mix of spices!
To add smoky flavor to your steak, check out our grilling tips for grilled sirloin steak, and this carne asada recipe also works wonders inside a quesadilla.
Steak Quesadilla Ingredients
Sirloin Steak | Top sirloin is the best cut of meat for steak quesadilla. Compared to other cuts of meat, not only is sirloin lean and delicious (enhanced by our own cooking tips), but it's budget friendly as well.
If you have leftover steak from fajita night, feel free to sub that in. If you want to embed extra flavor into your steak, a fajita marinade will absolutely do that. In fact, if you want to get really savory, you can even use leftover crockpot Mexican shredded beef in this steak quesadilla recipe, and it will taste amazing.
Seasoning | The steak seasoning is a simple mix of chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. We use this homemade blend to flavor our steak burrito, too, and it just never disappoints.
Oil | Flavorless oil with a high smoke point is what you need. Avocado oil is our oil of choice because of its health benefits, but canola will also work. We found oil to be a better option for crisping up the tortillas versus butter. They are much less likely to burn and leave zero gritty milk solids behind in the pan.
Tortillas | For this quesadilla recipe, we use standard-size flour tortillas.
Cheese | We went with no other than the classic quesadilla cheese found in authentic Mexican restaurant quesadillas in the Lonestar state: freshly grated Monterey Jack cheese for steak quesadillas. Freshly grated cheese is best for both flavor and texture. (Think of our cheese quesadilla recipe as your base for this recipe.)
Peppers and Onions (optional) | Feel free to use any combination of peppers and onions. Sliced bell peppers, sliced jalapenos, and white onion make for a delicious trio, but be sure to remove those seeds before cooking!
How to Make Steak Quesadillas
This is a very quick-cooking dish, so it's important to have your ingredients ready to go before you begin cooking the steak. The prep work is minimal--all you need to do is slice the peppers and onions and grate the cheese.
Prep the Steak | Remove excess moisture from the steak's exterior by gently patting the filet all over with a handful of paper towels.
Set Out the Steaks | This step is non-negotiable. You must allow your top sirloin steaks to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking. This removes the chill from the beef, enabling even cooking and juicier results.
Season | Drizzle the steaks with avocado oil and sprinkle them with your seasoning mix (chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper). Rub all over until the steaks are evenly coated and set aside.
Ready Your Pan | Drizzle avocado oil in your pan and allow it to come to temperature before adding your steak.
Sear Steak | Sear the steak for about 3-4 minutes on one side, then flip and sear for about 2-3 minutes on the other.
If you want your steak to be cooked to your liking, a temperature guide and a digital thermometer will be your best friends.
Adhere to the following temperatures to achieve the steak of your dreams:
- Rare | 125°F
- Medium Rare | 135°F
- Medium | 145°F
- Medium Well | 150°F
- Well-Done | 160°F
As your steaks rest, their temperature will continue to rise. Pull your steak 5° before you hit your desired temperature.
Slice Steak | Slice the steak into thin strips with a very sharp knife, cutting against the grain. Going against the grain means cutting in the opposite direction of the lines you see running across the beef. They all run in one singular direction.
Sauté Peppers + Onions (Optional) | Remove the steak from the pan and add a little more oil if needed, then add your peppers and onions. It takes about 5-7 minutes on the stove top for the vegetables to soften. Then, transfer them to a bowl, remove the pan from the heat, and wipe it clean. Or feel free to get another pan. Whatever floats your boat.
Assemble the Quesadilla | Lay the tortilla down in a clean pan drizzled with a scant amount of oil over medium-low heat. (Pro-tip: You can use a griddle to make multiple quesadillas at once!) Then, sprinkle the tortilla to cover with the grated cheese. Try not to get any outside of the tortilla. Add steak strips to cover only one side of the tortilla and sprinkle with the cooked vegetables, if using.
Fold the Tortilla | Folding a tortilla in half versus flipping one on the stovetop is easier and much more likely to keep your filling intact this way. Bonus.
Once the cheese is melted across the tortilla, use your spatula to fold the cheesy side over the steak side. Then, use a fork to hold the quesadilla in place, just until everything inside is melded together. Right about this time, your steak quesadilla will be perfectly toasty. Cut it in half and serve!
Toppings for Steak Quesadillas
Tex-Mex toppings are easy to come by and even more amazing to consume. Cilantro lime dressing will elevate your dish in a fresh and tangy way, while a chipotle sauce brings smokiness to the forefront alongside your flavor bomb of steak and cheese.
Chile con queso. Enough said. There can never be enough queso in a Tex-Mex dinner. Never.
Homemade guacamole, salsa fresca, and pico de gallo are a triplet our family includes every single time we serve quesadillas, and we are sad if any one of those is left out.
Storing and Reheating Quesadillas
Store | Your steak quesadillas can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheat | Our favorite way to reheat steak quesadillas is in the Air Fryer. Simply reheat at 350°F for about 4 minutes. You can also reheat in the oven at 350°F on a sheet pan. They should be warmed through after 6-8 minutes.
Freeze | This dish freezes excellent. Allow to cool completely and store in freezer safe zip-top bag.
More Mexican Recipes You'll Love
Steak Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 1 ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper, chili powder, and garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin and onion powder
- 1-1 ½ pound beef sirloin steak (about 1-1 ½" thick)
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil or canola, separated
- 2 green bell peppers, seeded and diced
- 1 white onion, diced
- 8 flour tortillas
- 12 ounces (about 2 cups) freshly grated Monterrey Jack cheese
Instructions
- Combine all of the seasoning in a small bowl. On a work surface, pat away the excess moisture from the surface of the steak using a paper towel. Drizzle with one tablespoon of oil, sprinkle over the seasoning and rub all over to adhere.
- Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is heated through, place the steak on the skillet and cook undisturbed for about 3-4 minutes. Turn the steak over and cook 2-3 minutes more. Once the steak is cooked to the temperature of your liking, set it aside on a cutting board to rest.
- If the pan is dry, add another 1-2 tablespoons of oil. Add the diced peppers and onion and sauté 5-7 minutes, stirring often, until softened. Transfer the vegetables to a small bowl and set aside.
- After about 10 minutes of resting, slice the steak into thin strips, cutting against the grain.
- Wipe the pan clean and place over medium-low heat. Add a light drizzle of oil to the pan and allow to come to temperature.
- Carefully, place 1 flour tortilla on the pan and scatter about a ¼ cup of shredded cheese over the entire tortilla. Then, to only one half of the tortilla, add steak strips and a scatter of the onion and pepper mixture.
- Once the cheese starts to melt (about 1 minute), use a spatula to fold the side with cheese only over the steak side. Hold the quesadilla down with your spatula until the filling has melded together, about 30 seconds to 1 minute more.
- Repeat with the remaining tortillas, adding an additional light drizzle of oil to the pan as needed. Cut in halves or quarters, serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Stephanie says
A great easy tasty dinner to add to the rotation. Quesadillas are one of my favorites and peppers, onions and cheese are a must on them.
SHANIKA says
These Steak Quesadillas look perfect! We'd surely eat this up in a few seconds in my house! Haha!
Caroline says
Love how easy these are and they look so tasty!
Debbie says
This looks easy and sounds fabulous!! Win Win for dinner!! My family will love me forver when I cook these for them.
Cookilicious says
Simply love Quesadillas! They are so flavorful and filling!
Noelle says
There is nothing better than steak in a quesadilla, great recipe!!
Chris Collins says
I'm an absolute sucker for quesadillas and these steak versions look so delicious!!
Emmeline says
I am seriously addicted to quesadillas but this was actually the first time I thought about adding steak! Such a great & delicious idea! Thanks!
Carrie Robinson says
We usually make chicken quesadillas in my house, but I am thinking that we need to give these steak ones a go next time! 🙂
Irina says
You have bought me with the phrase "dinner is served in less than 30 minutes — start to finish!" This is what I need right now. Thanks!