Quesadillas Fritas are a classic Mexican street food, made with a homemade masa tortilla stuffed with melty cheese, and fried until crispy and amazing.
1 ½cupsshredded cheeseI used a mixture of mozzarella, Monterey Jack and cheddar
Vegetable oil to fry
Instructions
Mix the masa harina, water and salt in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon until it comes together into a smooth dough.
Then shape the dough into a ball with your hands.
Split and shape the dough into 12 equal sized smooth balls.
Place a dough ball between two sheets of baking parchment and squash it down into a flattened circle using a plate, large bowl or saucepan.
If the circle is not quite flat enough, finish using a rolling pin. Repeat with the remaining dough balls. Each quesadilla should be approx. 6-7” in diameter.
Sprinkle shredded cheese over one half of each quesadilla, leaving a gap around the edge of approx. half an inch.
Then fold over the dough and squash down the edges using your fingers or a fork to seal them together.
Heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a large high sided frying pan on a medium-high setting. Once hot, fry the quesadillas in batches until golden and crisp, about 3 minutes on each side.
Serve with your favorite toppings and dips such as fresh chopped cilantro, jalapenos, hot sauce, sour cream and avocado salsa.
Notes
Masa harina corn flour is not the same as corn meal. It's actually dehydrated corn dough and it's the perfect thing for making homemade fresh tortillas for quesadillas fritas. Look for it near the specialty flours at your grocery store.
Add other fillings! Try mixing the cheese with cooked taco meat, sauteed peppers and onions, or your favorite Mexican ingredients. Anything you'd put in a taco is fair game here!
We're using common household items to press the tortillas (a rolling pin and a plate), but if you have a tortilla press, feel free to use it for this recipe.
Keep the tortillas on the small side, so that they're easier to fit in your frying pan. Following this recipe, your quesadillas fritas should be half-circles of about 6 inches across.
Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. I suggest reheating them in an air fryer to get them crispy again.