Crispy on the outside and irresistibly cheesy inside, these Leftover Pork Quesadillas make an easy, flavor-packed dinner that comes together in just 25 minutes, all in one pan.
Leftover pork chops, tenderloin, or roast are combined with savory sausage, sautéed peppers and onions, bold seasonings, and plenty of melted cheese to turn simple leftovers into a crave-worthy meal you’ll want to make again and again!
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A Quick Look at the Recipe
✅ Recipe Name: Leftover Pork Quesadillas (Easy & Cheesy)
⏲️ Ready In: 25 minutes
🥣 Main Ingredients: Cooked pork, cooked sausage, onions, peppers, Cheddar cheese, tortillas
📖 Dietary Info: Low sugar
♨️ Method: Cooktop
🍽️ Yield: 2 servings
⭐️ Difficulty: Easy
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I first created these Leftover Pork Quesadillas one night while my husband Robert and I were camping in our Airstream. We arrived late at our campsite, and I needed to make a quick, satisfying dinner using what we had, which led me to make quesadillas with leftover grilled spicy pork chops from the night before. Since then, this easy leftover pork recipe has become a favorite, and I’ve made it dozens of times using spicy pork tenderloin, roast pork loin, and even roasted root vegetables.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Ready in just 25 minutes from start to finish.
- Easy to prepare in a single pan.
- Made with ingredients you have on hand.
- A flavorful, satisfying way to use up leftovers.
- Flexible and adaptable to suit your tastes or what’s in your frig.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rogerwhocooks
“Made this with leftover pulled pork and no sausage. My picky eating kids asked for seconds! Will be part of our regular line up from now on. Thank you.”
Pork Quesadillas Ingredients
This quick and easy pork quesdilla recipe calls for just 8 ingredients – all of which should be available at your local grocery store. Here are some notes on a few, including ingredient substitutions:
- Cooked pork loin chops – can also use leftover pork tenderloin, roast pork loin – or almost any other leftover protein!
- Yellow onion – can substitute red onion or green onions
- Bell pepper – any color will work (red, green, orange, yellow), or a mixture
- Mexican seasoning – Using this ingredient will depend on how your leftover pork was seasoned.
- Cooked breakfast turkey sausages – Can use any kind of sausage.
- Sharp Cheddar cheese – substitute Pepper Jack for even more spice.
Optional garnishes:
- Tomato-Mango Salsa (or purchased salsa)
- Sour cream
- Nonfat yogurt
- Chopped avocado or guacamole
- Chopped fresh cilantro
Ingredient Variations
Here are some suggested variations you can try:
- Make them more Southwestern. Spice things up with some diced jalapeños, green chilies, black beans, corn kernels, diced tomatoes, black beans, and/or cilantro.
- Make them Mediterranean. Along with the leftover pork, use feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and fresh herbs such as basil, parsley, and/or oregano.
Feel free to get creative with your own favorite ingredients. Quesadillas are incredibly versatile, and you can customize them to suit your tastes.
How To Make Pork Quesadillas
Here’s an overview of how to make these quesadillas; more details are provided in the recipe card below.
- In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add sliced onion and bell pepper; sprinkle with Mexican seasoning and cook, stirring frequently, until soft.
- Stir in chopped cooked pork and turkey sausage and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Place tortillas side by side on a cutting board. Sprinkle 1/4 of cheese on half of each tortilla.
- Spoon pork filling on top of cheese, dividing evenly between the 2 tortillas.
- Sprinkle the remaining Cheddar cheese on top of the filling.
- Fold tortillas in half around filling; brush one side with oil. Reheat the same large skillet (no need to clean it out) over medium heat. Add stuffed tortillas and cook until lightly browned on the bottom, around 3-4 minutes. Flip tortillas over and continue cooking until lightly browned on the other side, around another 3-4 minutes.
Helpful Tips for the Best Quesadillas
- Warm the filling first. Even if all the ingredients are already cooked, starting with a warm filling prevents the tortillas from browning before the center is heated through.
- Shred your own cheese. Pre-shredded cheeses contain anti-caking agents that affect melting, while freshly grated sharp Cheddar gives the best flavor and texture.
- Grate cheese while cold. Cheese straight from the refrigerator is easier to handle and grates more evenly.
- Cook quesadillas over medium heat. This gives the cheese time to melt while allowing the tortillas to crisp and turn golden without burning.
- Don’t overfill the tortillas. A lighter filling heats more evenly and makes flipping easier.
- Press gently while cooking. Light pressure with a spatula helps the melting cheese bind with the filling, ensuring the quesadillas hold together when flipping.
Serving Suggestions
Here are my favorite sides to serve with these leftover pork quesadillas:
FAQs for Leftover Pork
It’s easiest to shred pork when it’s freshly cooked or warm. You have a few choices:
– Chop pork into 1-inch pieces, place in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blad,e and pulse a few times until shredded.
– Or, place pork in a skillet with around 1/4 to 1/2 cup water or broth, cover, and cook over medium-low heat until warmed through. Remove from heat. Use 2 forks to shred the meat: insert forks into the middle of a piece of pork (with backs of forks touching) and pull them in opposite directions. The meat should fall apart into shreds. If it doesn’t come apart easily, cut the meat into smaller pieces and try again.
Refrigerated cooked pork will last three to four days, according to the USDA.
If your leftover pork chops are dry and/or tough, chop them, and place them in a small saucepan with a few tablespoons of chicken broth. Heat over low for about 10 minutes.
More Busy Night Dinner Recipes
Did you make this recipe?
If you make this recipe, be sure to comment and give it a rating below. Don’t hesitate to ask questions – I’m happy to help!
Leftover Pork Chop Quesadillas
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil, divided use
- 1/3 large yellow or red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 bell pepper, thinly sliced, green, red, or orange bell pepper (or a mixture)
- Mexican seasoning
- 2 cooked pork loin chops, (12 ounces) around 1/2-inch thick, chopped
- 2 cooked small breakfast turkey sausages, like Jimmy Dean, chopped
- 2 8-inch flour tortillas
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided use
- Tomato-Mango Salsa, or purchased salsa, for garnish
- Additional optional garnishes: sour cream, nonfat yogurt, chopped avocado, chopped cilantro
Instructions
- In a large, flat bottomed skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat.
- Add sliced onion and bell pepper; sprinkle with a coating of Mexican seasoning and cook, stirring frequently, until soft.
- Stir in chopped cooked pork and turkey sausage and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Place tortillas side by side on a cutting board. Sprinkle 1/4 of cheese on half of each tortilla.
- Spoon pork filling on top of cheese, dividing evenly between the 2 tortillas.
- Sprinkle remaining Cheddar cheese on top of filling.
- Fold tortillas in half around filling, and brush one side of tortillas with oil.
- Reheat the same large skillet (no need to clean it out) over medium heat. Add stuffed tortillas, oiled side down and side-by-side in the pan. Cook until until lightly browned on the bottom, around 3 to 4 minutes. Flip the tortillas over and continue cooking until lightly browned on the other side, about 3 to 4 minutes more.
- Cut each quesadilla into wedges (3 or 4 wedges per quesadilla) and serve with any or all of the recommended garnishes.
Notes
- Warm the filling first. Even if all the ingredients are already cooked, starting with a warm filling prevents the tortillas from browning before the center is heated through.
- Shred your own cheese. Pre-shredded cheeses contain anti-caking agents that affect melting, while freshly grated sharp Cheddar gives the best flavor and texture.
- Grate cheese while cold. Cheese straight from the refrigerator is easier to handle and grates more evenly.
- Cook quesadillas over medium heat. This gives the cheese time to melt while allowing the tortillas to crisp and turn golden without burning.
- Don’t overfill the tortillas. A lighter filling heats more evenly and makes flipping easier.
- Press gently while cooking. Light pressure with a spatula helps the melting cheese bind with the filling, ensuring the quesadillas hold together when flipping.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Clever and so good. The meat I had was tough and this recipe brought it to life (I chopped it into tiny morsels).
Thank you Susan! I’m happy you enjoyed our recipe.
Made this with leftover pulled pork and no sausage. My picky eating kids asked for seconds! Will be part of our regular line up from now on. Thank you.
Great idea to use leftover pulled pork! I’m happy to hear that you and your kids enjoyed our recipe.
Had one grilled pork chop leftover – and this recipe was PERFECT. Served the quesadillas with plain Greek yogurt and mango salsa and a side of chopped romaine, tomatoes with avocado/ranch crema. DELICIOUS and SOOOO easy. My husband said I can make it every week! I won’t – but we will definitely enjoy it the next time we have leftover pork! THANKS for the great recipe.
Thanks Bobette! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed my recipe. And I love the idea of serving a salad with avocado ranch dressing as a side dish with these quesadillas. I’m definitely going to try that next time I make these.
perfect for supper for hubby and me. I had all the ingredients here and easy to make. We will make again. Thank you…
You’re welcome! I’m happy to hear you all enjoyed my recipe.
Delicious! Made it as written.
Thanks Barbara! I’m so happy to hear you liked our recipe.
I love to make pulled pork and always have tons leftover and this was a perfect way to use some of it up. Left out the sausage and added more cheese (love cheese!).
Thanks Dave! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed our recipe. And yes, you can never have too much cheese!
Perfect! Love this recipe – will make again with other leftovers.
Great!
I tried this recipe, excellent!
Very good.
Glad you liked it!
This recipe was a great find! I made it with leftover pork roast, no sausage, added in some chopped green peppers and topped it with Pace salsa and cilantro. Yum yum. Thanks!
Thanks Suzy.