All you need is 20 minutes to make this scrumptious Avocado and Shrimp Quesadilla for dinner!
What do you like to eat for breakfast? Something simple like cereal or oatmeal or a big breakfast like pancakes or eggs and bacon? Do you prefer to start your day with something sweet like a muffin or something savory like a cheddar scone? Or, do you skip traditional breakfast foods all together and start your day off right with something like a sandwich or leftovers from dinner?
I’m asking about breakfast for two reasons. First, this avocado and shrimp quesadilla is inspired by one of my favorites from our regular breakfast diner. They have a shrimp, avocado, and cheese omelette that I order regularly. While I do enjoy morning sweets like donuts or French toast, if given the choice I usually pick something savory. Eggs folded over shrimp, avocado, and jack cheese is just about a perfect morning meal if you ask me.
Wanting to bring the taste of that breakfast dish to dinner, I came up with this delicately-flavored quesadilla loaded with two cheeses, salad shrimp, and avocado. These quesadillas are a cinch to make, and they are one of my new favorite Mexican recipes! The other reason I brought up breakfast is because I happened to have these quesadillas for breakfast this morning!
I was too hungry to wait for photos the night I made these, and time was running out since I wanted to get the recipe ready for tomorrow morning’s menu. So, what’s a blogger to do but make quesadillas for breakfast? I may have rushed the photos a bit since I was practically drooling over these cheesy shrimp quesadillas. It was so hard to wait! In fact, I didn’t actually make it through the shoot…
The thing I love about quesadillas is they are so easy to customize for everyone. I have one kid who doesn’t like shrimp and another who doesn’t like avocado, but this meal works for all of us because I can just make everyone’s quesadilla their favorite way (even with just cheese). I used corn tortillas to make it gluten free, but you can of course use whatever tortillas you like best. I know you are going to enjoy this quick and easy dinner recipe!
Double Cheese Avocado and Shrimp Quesadilla
These easy shrimp quesadillas come together quickly and can easily be customized to please the whole family!
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- olive oil
- 16 small corn tortillas substitute flour if you prefer
- 2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
- 1 cup frozen salad shrimp thawed and drained
- 2 ripe avocados cut into small cubes
- sea salt or kosher salt
- chili powder
- 8 ounces queso fresco a Mexican cheese usually found near feta in your grocery store
Instructions
- Drizzle a small amount (about a teaspoon) of olive oil in a skillet, and heat over medium-high heat.
- Place a tortilla in the skillet (or more if they will fit), and spread ¼ c. Monterey jack cheese over it. Arrange 2 tbsp. shrimp and about ¼ of one avocado over the cheese. Very lightly sprinkle salt and chili powder over the avocado (just a pinch of each). Crumble about a tablespoon of queso fresco over the avocado.
- Top each quesadilla with another tortilla, and carefully flip over with a spatula, keeping the filling contained. Cook for about two minutes longer until the bottom side is lightly browned. Remove and allow to cool for a couple minutes before cutting and serving.
- Repeat these steps until all quesadillas have been cooked, adding a little more oil between each batch. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 15
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: Mexican
You’ll also love these recipes!
Colleen says
Does the shrimp cook well inside the quesadilla or do you need to cook it before? I have cooked with shrimp so infrequently I don’t know. Is it ok to eat them raw? I am so experienced! :)
Andi says
Hi, Colleen! Shrimp do cook pretty quickly, but I don’t like to eat them undercooked. In this recipe, the salad shrimp are precooked, so you’re just heating them up in the quesadilla. I hope that helps :) Thank you!
Lisa @ Cooking with Curls says
Now that looks like an awesome breakfast Andi!! I wouldn’t have made it through the shoot either. ;)
Andi says
Thanks so much, Lisa! I wish I was having these for breakfast today ;) Hope you are having a good weekend so far!
Shaina says
Ah these sound delicious! I haven’t had Mexican food in way too long and now I’m craving. Stopping by from the Best of the Weekend Link Party, thanks for sharing!
Andi says
Thank you, Shaina! I could live off Mexican food! :)
CJ Huang says
Drool! Totally want to eat these quesadillas off my screen. :) I hope you can stop on by and share this or any other recipe with us on Five Friday Finds!
Andi says
Hi, CJ! I’ll stop by!
Linda C Smith says
This really looks tasty! Love the combo of shrimp and avocado. It was great meeting you at BlogHer14!
Andi says
Thank you, Linda! It was great meeting you too, and sorry for wandering off. I saw someone from Ahalogy that I wanted to meet up with at some point, and then I got sidetracked, which is the story of my life ;) I hope you had a good time!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
yum.. i dont think you can ever go wrong with avocado and prawns. thanks for sharing the great reicpe, definitely one worth saving!
Andi says
Thank you so much, Thalia! I bet you will love these if you are an avocado and shrimp fan.
Angie S says
I would totally throw an egg on that masterpiece! This will be great for our Water Wednesday rotation – thank you!!!
Andi says
That’s a good idea to put the egg in there too! Then you could eat it any time of day ;) Thank you, Angie!