These vegetarian quesadillas featuring sweet potato and black beans are foolproof! Quesadillas are one of my favorite things to order out, but you don’t often see a veggie-only version on menus, let alone one with sweet potato and black beans. I love this meal prep because it’s freezer-friendly and super satisfying on every level.
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The main elements in this meal prep recipe are tortillas, sweet potatoes, black beans, cheese, and green bell peppers. Salsa on the side is optional, but highly recommended. There’s something really natural about the combination of black beans and sweet potatoes. (Hint: they’re really good if you add them to our vegetarian black bean and spinach enchiladas!)
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How to customizing these vegetarian quesadillas
- Make it gluten-free: use gluten-free tortillas! I recommend Mission brand GF tortillas. You can also turn these into tacos and use corn tortillas, either hard or soft. (It’s often difficult or even impossible to find corn tortillas large enough for a quesadilla).e
- Make it dairy-free: Use non-dairy cheese such as Daiya! You need something melty to bind the quesadillas together–try not to skip the cheese, even if it’s a plant-based one.
- Add meat: Shredded chicken, shredded pork or ground turkey would be awesome in this meal. About 1/2 a pound (226g) should do it! This is a good meal for leftover roasted chicken.
- Not into sweet potato or want to add more veggies? Another kind of sweet squash would be great, such as butternut, but you can use other veggies such as cauliflower, zucchini, bell peppers, red onion, corn, mushrooms and greens. Yukon gold potatoes would work, too!
- Not into black beans? Try chickpeas for more of a Mediterranean flavor profile! Or, try white beans and send this in a more of an Italian direction with mozzarella, Parm, roasted peppers, and baby spinach.
- Want to turn this into more of a breakfast quesadilla? Add scrambled eggs before they go in the oven, and use any kind of potato you want. (Or frozen potatoes or hash browns!). This would also be really good if you scrambled a soft tofu, instead of eggs. You can even transform this into a wrap, too, if you wanted…. but we’re getting ahead of ourselves here!
Quesadillas are an awesome meal prep template since there’s a lot you can do with them. Get creative and remember to go based on your own tastes, preferences, and needs.
What to serve with vegetarian quesadillas
You can absolutely eat these by themselves and they will be satisfying enough for a meal! But if you want to combine them with some sides, here is what I would recommend:
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Why I recommend baking quesadillas (instead of cooking them on the stove)
Technically, you can make this recipe on the stove if you don’t feel like firing up the oven. I like baking them because it’s a hands-off, mess-free way to cook a bunch of quesadillas at once! But I’ll leave the method up to you. Just allot more time if you’re doing this whole thing stovetop.
How to reheat vegetarian quesadillas
- Microwave. If this is your only option, I recommend wrapping the quesadilla in a dry paper towel while microwaving it. The paper towel will soak up extra moisture! It won’t be crispy, but it won’t be soggy, either.
- On the stove. Use a non-stick pan over a medium flame! You might have to flip the quesadilla to reheat it evenly.
- In the toaster oven. Your best bet for a fast, crispy, warm quesadilla.
- Under the broiler in the oven. This is my method of choice, but you have to keep a very close eye on your quesadilla so it doesn’t burn!
- In the air fryer. If you have one! I haven’t tried this, but apparently it works like a charm.
How to store vegetarian quesadillas
Quesadillas can last in the fridge for up to 5 days and are freezer friendly for up to 6 months! We recommend storing them in glass airtight containers. They are, however, best eaten with in a couple of days and aren’t our favorite thing to reheat from frozen.
Try out these other delicious quesadilla recipes, too!
And don’t forget to try some more delicious WWL recipes!
Sweet Potato Black Bean Quesadillas
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 400 F.
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Add 1 TBSP olive oil to a skillet over medium heat. Then add the sweet potatoes and onions with a little salt and pepper. Cover the pan and let the potatoes and onions cook down for about 10-15 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are pretty soft.
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Add the green bell pepper, black beans, garlic, chili powder, paprika, cumin and more salt and pepper. Stir well and cook until the bell pepper has softened, about 10 more minutes.
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Assemble the quesadillas: Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Add a tortilla and sprinkle 1/2 cup of cheese over one half. Scoop about 3/4 cup of filling on top of the cheese. Sprinkle another 1/2 cup cheese on top of the filling. Fold the tortilla over so it covers the filling and press down gently to even it out. Repeat 2 more times. Note that if you have extra filling, you can freeze it on its own or make more quesadillas to freeze in the future!
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Bake the quesadillas at 400 F for 15-20 minutes. No flipping needed! Let them cool before cutting and placing in containers.
