This vegan quesadilla recipe is fresh, flavorful, and fun! Packed with veggies like sweet potatoes and peppers, it's an easy dinner or game day snack.
When Jack’s devouring a vegan quesadilla, you know it’s good. He’s the biggest cheese lover I know, but he would happily eat 2 (erm, 3…) of these vegan quesadillas and still go back for more.
While this vegan quesadilla recipe includes vegan cheese, we really love it because of the fresh veggie filling. Spicy poblanos play off caramelized roasted sweet potatoes, and diced bell peppers add a delicious crunch. Served with all the fixings, it’s super flavorful and fun. Try it for a quick and easy dinner or a healthy game day snack!
Vegan Quesadilla Recipe Ingredients
This vegan quesadilla recipe is super easy to make! Here’s what you’ll need:
- Flour tortillas – Though I love using corn tortillas for tacos and enchiladas, I always use flour tortillas when I make quesadillas. They’re more flexible than corn tortillas, so they can easily fold in half without breaking.
- Vegan cheese – Use your favorite store bought shredded vegan cheese! I like the Daiya brand.
- Charred poblano peppers – They add some spice to this vegan quesadilla filling. I also love how their smooth texture plays off the crunchy raw veggies and gooey cheese.
- Roasted sweet potatoes – Their sweet flavor balances the poblanos’ heat.
- Red bell peppers – For crunch!
- Black beans – Packed with plant-based protein, they make these quesadillas nice and hearty.
- Scallions – Their mild oniony flavor adds a nice freshness to this vegan quesadilla recipe.
- Serrano peppers – If you like spicy food like me, add sliced raw serranos to your quesadilla for extra heat. Otherwise, skip them!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Vegan Quesadilla Recipe Tips
- Dice the fillings finely. In the photo above, you’ll see that the filling ingredients are chopped into small pieces. Just look at those little sweet potatoes! I cut them to that size for a reason. For one, it makes it possible for them to fit in the quesadilla in the first place. If the pieces are too large, they’ll just fall out! The small pieces also allow you to get some of everything in each bite. Yum!
- They fit less than you think they will. When you assemble your vegan quesadilla, it’ll be tempting to really pile in the fillings. But each tortilla holds less than you might expect. If you try to pack in too much, many of the fillings will fall out when you fold the quesadilla in half, or you won’t be able to fold it in half at all. It only takes a little of each ingredient to make a flavorful (and full!) vegan quesadilla.
- Customize them! This vegan quesadilla recipe is SUPER customizable, so have fun making it your own. If you don’t have vegan cheese on hand, use mashed baked sweet potato flesh or a slather of refried beans instead. Substitute roasted red peppers for the poblano or butternut squash for the sweet potato. Add fresh spinach or a spoonful of corn salsa. You really can’t go wrong!
Vegan Quesadilla Serving Suggestions
Enjoy your vegan quesadilla hot from the stove, while the cheese is still melty. I like to dress mine up with fresh cilantro, guacamole, and a squeeze of lime juice, but all sorts of fixings would be fantastic here. Experiment with my homemade salsa, tomatillo salsa, pickled red onions, or pico de gallo!
More Vegan Appetizers and Snacks
If you love this recipe, try one of these fun vegan appetizers or snacks next:
- Cowboy Caviar
- Vegan Cheese Dip
- Baked Zucchini Chips
- French Onion Dip
- Homemade Soft Pretzels
- Steamed Dumplings
- Or any of these 35 Vegan Appetizer Recipes!
Vegan Quesadilla Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 poblano peppers
- 8 flour tortillas
- 1½ cups shredded vegan cheese, such as Daiya
- 1 sweet potato, diced and roasted
- 1 red bell pepper, stemmed and diced
- 1/2 cup cooked black beans, drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup chopped scallions
- 1 serrano pepper, thinly sliced, optional
For serving:
- Guacamole
- Lime wedges
- Sliced serrano peppers
- Cilantro
Instructions
- Roast the poblanos. Char the peppers over a gas burner or under a broiler until the skin is blackened all over. Remove them from the heat, place in a bowl and cover with a towel or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. Uncover and use your hands to peel and remove the loose skin. Slice off the stem, and remove the seeds, and slice it into strips.
- Assemble tortillas with sprinkles of cheese, sweet potatoes, poblano slices, bell pepper, black beans, scallions, and serrano, if using. Fold each tortilla in half and cook in a hot skillet for about 2 minutes per side. Serve with guacamole, salsa, lime wedges, serranos, and cilantro.
Healthy, delicious and easy! It’s a lot of chopping but well worth it. It takes a bit longer since you have to roast the sweet potato and poblano, so don’t wait until you’re starving to make this. And make sure to follow the instructions and cut everything up small, as well don’t have a heavy hand when filling—a little goes a long way (pun intended). I was really surprised and happy with how well this turned out!
Hi Lauren, great tips! I’m so glad you loved the quesadillas.
This was a great combination! I loved the sweet potato and red pepper combo. I used. white beans and real cheese instead of vegan. Will definitely make again!
So glad you loved the recipe!
This was delicious (although, I’ll try another vegan cheese next time – the one from my local grocer didn’t melt). My 3-year-old and I made it for my partner for supper and everyone loved it! I followed all directions but added very little spicy peppers, because we are weaklings on the spiciness front. Perfect family dinner!