What can I make with cheese and tortilla?
Cheese and Tortilla is the most-wasted item in most kitchens and one of the most useful. Recipes using cheese and tortilla are below, organised from fresh to properly stale.
12 recipes with cheese and tortilla
Loaded Nachos
Tortilla chips baked with cheese, beans, and every topping.
Tex-Mex20m4Chicken Quesadillas
A delicious and easy-to-make Mexican dish filled with chicken, cheese, and vegetables, served with salsa and sour cream.
Mexican45m4Chilaquiles
A traditional Mexican breakfast dish made with fried tortilla chips, salsa, and cheese.
Mexican60m4
Birria Tacos
Braised beef tacos griddled in chile fat, served with consomé.
Mexican200m6Greek Village Salad (Horiatiki)
Tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, olives and a slab of feta with olive oil.
Mediterranean10m4
Wedge Salad
Chilled iceberg wedge with creamy blue cheese and bacon.
American10m4
Smash Burger
Thin, ultra-crispy burger smashed on a hot griddle.
American10m4Breakfast Quesadilla
Scrambled eggs, cheese, and salsa folded into a toasted flour tortilla.
Mexican-American15m2
Street Corn (Elote)
Grilled corn slathered in creamy chile-lime sauce and cotija.
Mexican15m4
Monte Cristo Sandwich
Ham, turkey, and Swiss battered and griddled French-toast style.
American20m4
Fish Tacos
Crispy or grilled fish in warm tortillas with cabbage slaw and crema.
Mexican-American20m4Smashed Cheeseburger
Thin, crispy-edged beef patties with American cheese on a toasted bun.
American20m4
Best uses for cheese and tortilla, fresh or stale
- 1Fresh: toast hard, rub with a raw garlic clove, and finish with good oil and salt.
- 2A day old: cube, toss with oil and season, and bake at 400F for croutons or a panzanella base.
- 3Properly stale: blitz into breadcrumbs and freeze them - they last months and rescue any weeknight dinner.
- 4Soaked in an egg-and-milk custard it becomes French toast or a savoury bake with almost nothing else.
What goes well with cheese and tortilla
Cheese and Tortilla is at its best with butter, garlic, olive oil, cheese, eggs and herbs. Any two or three of those, plus cheese and tortilla, is already a dinner rather than an ingredient list.
Storing cheese and tortilla
Keep cheese and tortilla at room temperature in paper or a bread box for 2-3 days - the fridge makes it stale faster. For anything longer, slice and freeze it, then toast straight from frozen.
Substituting cheese and tortilla
If you are out of cheese and tortilla, look for something that behaves the same way in the pan rather than something that tastes the same. Match the moisture level, the cooking time, and the richness, and adjust the liquid slightly if your substitute releases more water. When in doubt, describe what you actually have in the chat and Mr. Chef will rewrite the recipe around it.
Cheese and Tortilla recipes: common questions
- What can I make with cheese and tortilla and not much else?
- Plenty. With cheese and tortilla plus an onion, garlic, oil, and salt you already have the base of a skillet dinner, a soup, or a simple sauce. Add a starch - rice, pasta, bread, or potatoes - and it becomes a full meal. The recipes above are ordered so the ones needing the fewest extra items come first.
- What is the quickest cheese and tortilla recipe?
- Look for the entries above marked 20 minutes or less. As a rule, anything cut small and cooked in a hot pan beats anything roasted whole, and one-pan recipes save more time in cleanup than in cooking.
- Can I substitute cheese and tortilla?
- In most recipes yes, as long as the replacement plays a similar role - similar moisture, similar cooking time, similar richness. Swapping across roles (a watery vegetable for a starchy one, for instance) usually needs a change in liquid or cooking time too.
- How do I use up leftover cheese and tortilla?
- Fried rice, a frittata, a grain bowl, a soup, or a quesadilla will absorb almost any leftover cheese and tortilla without a recipe. If you want something specific, tell Mr. Chef exactly what is in the fridge and it will build a recipe around it.