Spinach, Egg, and Bacon Quesadillas

Gooey and delicious on the inside and crispy on the outside.  Our Spinach, Egg, and Bacon Quesadillas are stuffed with scrambled eggs, melted cheese, crispy bacon, and fresh spinach.

Servings: 4 quesadillas

Total Time: 20 minutes

Living in San Antonio breakfast tacos are a regular breakfast menu item and often are just referred to as tacos. But quesadillas are much more of a lunch and dinner thing. So when we stumbled upon Village Smitty‘s breakfast quesadillas on a recent trip to Colorado we knew we had to try them. We loved them so much that we decided we had to do our own remake. Made with scrambled eggs, crispy bacon and fresh spinach these quesadillas are simple but delicious and the ingredients are so flexible.

Key Ingredients and Substitutions

Quesadillas are one of the simpler foods to prepare and cook but a good quesadilla requires a little more finesse.

The complete ingredient list and measurements are listed in the printable recipe below.

• Tortillas: If you can find uncooked flour tortillas buy them. These are our favorite and are as close to homemade as you can get. The preferred size is the standard 8-inch tortilla. The larger tortillas will be more difficult to flip.
• Cheese: We use sharp cheddar cheese in our breakfast quesadilla recipe but you can substitute any shredded cheese you like -Colby jack, Monterey jack, and pepper jack are all great choices.
• Eggs: Egg whites can be substituted for whole eggs.
• Bacon: The breakfast quesadillas that inspired our version were made with bacon but breakfast sausage, ham, or Canadian bacon can be used instead.
• Spinach: This was another filling inside Village Smitty’s breakfast quesadilla that we had to have in ours. And since we love spinach in our omelets why put it not in a breakfast quesadilla, too?
• Toppings: We served our breakfast quesadillas with a little guacamole or avocado but you can also top them with sour cream, hot sauce, or a little pico de gallo.

How to Make Spinach, Egg, and Bacon Quesadillas

Here are the quick step-by-step instructions with visuals; you can find the full instructions with the exact ingredients in the recipe card below.

Pro-tip: Quesadillas are best served warm and fresh, but you can make the ingredients ahead of time, perfect for a quick on-the-go easy breakfast.

1. Cook the Bacon: In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon to desired crispness. Place the cooked bacon on paper towels to drain excess grease. Remove all but approximately 1 tablespoon of bacon grease from the frying pan and lower the heat to medium-low.

2. Whisk the Eggs: In a medium-sized mixing bowl whisk together eggs, salt, black pepper, and green chiles.

3. Cook the Eggs: Add egg mixture to the skillet. Scramble the eggs until they are no longer runny, stirring often.

4. Add Bacon and Spinach: Add in bacon and spinach and cook for approximately 1-2 minutes until the spinach has wilted. Remove the egg, bacon, and spinach mixture and wipe the skillet clean.

5. Cook the Quesadilla: Place one tortilla in the frying pan (or cast iron griddle) and cook one side for approximately 15 seconds and set aside. Repeat with a second tortilla and flip over to crisp the second side while adding the filling. Cover the tortilla with ¼ cup of cheese and ¼ of the egg mixture leaving an approximately ½ inch border around the tortilla. Top egg mixture with another ¼ cup of cheese and cover with the second tortilla, cooked side down.

6. Flip the Quesadilla: Cook for approximately 60-90 seconds letting the bottom layer of cheese melt and the tortilla get crispy. With a spatula lightly press down on the quesadilla before carefully flipping it over. Cook for an additional 60-90 seconds.

7. Let’s Eat: Remove from the frying pan and place on a cutting board. Allow the quesadilla to cool for 1-2 minutes before cutting with a pizza cutter or sharp knife. Serve quesadillas warm with fresh salsa or avocado slices.

Recipe Tips and Notes

• Don’t overstuff. A quesadilla is better when you keep it on the lighter side. Leave about a 1/2-inch border around your tortilla. Preparing your filling ahead of time is a good idea and make sure there are equal parts cheese to protein (or vegetables). You want to use enough cheese to hold the whole thing together. Too little, and your filling will fall out.
• Do use a good melting cheese. Not all cheese is created equal. The key to keeping your filling inside the quesadilla is using a good melting cheese. American or cheddar are great choices but you can substitute with Monterey Jack, Gruyere, Fontina, and the list goes on. Looking for a more traditional cheese? Try queso asadero or queso Oaxaca which are classic cheeses used in quesadillas in parts of Mexico.
• Don’t use corn tortillas. Traditionally in most parts of Mexico quesadillas are made with corn tortillas, but the flexibility of flour tortillas will help hold in the filling and cheese.
• Do use a little butter. To get quesadillas crisp use a small pad of butter or neutral oil such as canola. A little goes a long way so don’t overdo the butter or oil. Also, avoid olive oil since it can have an overpowering flavor.
• Don’t cook them ahead of time. No one likes a soggy quesadilla. The best quesadillas are crispy, hot, and gooey which means cooking them fresh. Warming them in an oven can help but they will never taste as good as when they first come off the pan.
• Do cook your quesadillas on medium-low heat. Tortillas can burn easily so avoid high heat. It only takes a minute or two for your tortillas to get golden brown and crispy and your cheese melty.

Frequently Asked Questions

Let’s Connect! If you make our Spinach, Egg, and Bacon Quesadillas or any other recipe on Casual Epicure, please don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It helps others who are considering making our recipes and we love hearing about your cooking experiences. And if you snapped some shots, share them on Instagram, and be sure to tag @casual.epicure so we can feature them in our stories.

Other Recipes to Try

If you enjoy this spinach, egg, and bacon quesadillas recipe, we recommend checking out some of other our breakfast recipes:

Spinach, Egg, and Bacon Quesadillas

Gooey and delicious on the inside and crispy on the outside.  Our Spinach, Egg, and Bacon Quesadillas are stuffed with scrambled eggs, melted cheese, crispy bacon, and fresh spinach.

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 20 mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Southwest American

Servings 4 quesadillas

Calories 617 kcal

• In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon to desired crispness. Place the cooked bacon on paper towels to drain excess grease. Remove all but approximately 1 tablespoon of bacon grease from the skillet and lower the heat to medium-low.

• In a medium-size mixing bowl whisk together eggs, salt, black pepper, and green chiles.

• Add egg mixture to the skillet. Scramble the eggs until they are no longer runny, stirring often. Add in bacon and spinach and cook for approximately 1-2 minutes until the spinach has wilted.

• Remove egg, bacon, and spinach mixture and wipe frying pan clean.

• Place one tortilla in the skillet (or cast iron griddle) and cook one side for approximately 15 seconds and set aside. Repeat with a second tortilla and flip over to crisp the second side while adding the filling.

• Cover the tortilla with ¼ cup of cheese and ¼ of the egg mixture leaving an approximately ½ inch border around the tortilla. Top egg mixture with another ¼ cup of cheese and cover with the second tortilla, cooked side down.

• Cook for approximately 60-90 seconds letting the bottom layer of cheese melt and the tortilla get crispy.

• With a spatula lightly press down on the quesadilla before carefully flipping it over. Cook for an additional 60-90 seconds.

• Remove from the frying pan and place on a cutting board. Allow quesadilla to cool for 1-2 minutes before cutting with a pizza cutter or sharp knife.

• Repeat for remaining quesadillas.

• Serve quesadillas warm with fresh salsa or avocado slices.

1. Green Chiles: Use canned diced green chiles.
2. Eggs: Don’t overcook the eggs.  They will be heated inside the quesadilla as it cooks.
3. Flour Tortillas: You will want to use standard size flour tortillas, not the smaller street size or larger burrito size tortillas.  For extra crispiness brush each side with butter prior to cooking.
4. Cheese: Cheddar cheese can be replaced with any good melting cheese.
5. Nutritional information:  The nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.  It does not include the nutrition for any substitutions.

Serving: 1 quesadillaCalories: 617 kcalCarbohydrates: 51 gProtein: 29 gFat: 33 gSaturated Fat: 18 gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1 gMonounsaturated Fat: 5 gCholesterol: 244 mgSodium: 1719 mgPotassium: 196 mgFiber: 2 gSugar: 3 gVitamin A: 106 IUVitamin C: 41 mgCalcium: 85 mgIron: 19 mg