Applebees Quesadilla

No one can match the taste of Applebees Quesadilla. This copycat version of their quesadilla with bacon comes pretty close. Be sure to serve it with your favorite guacamole, salsa, and sour cream.

Cheese and bacon quesadilla cut into pieces served with sour cream, guacamole, and sour cream.


Bacon Quesadilla

These cheesy, tortilla appetizers from Mexico are easy to make and everyone will love them.

Applebee’s Quesadillas are the perfect go-to food when you’re entertaining or filling a buffet table.

What makes this simple dish special is the authentic ingredients that Applebee’s uses. Now you can make authentic Applebee’s Bacon Quesadillas because I’ve broken down all the ingredients for you.

Recipe Ingredients

Here’s a list of what you need:

  • Bacon
  • Flour tortillas
  • Butter
  • Pico de Gallo
  • Shredded Colby jack cheese
  • Sour cream
  • Guacamole
  • Picante sauce
Applebee's quesadilla recipe ingredients

Ingredient Notes

Pico de Gallo is actually a fresh, tomato salsa made by seeding and chopping tomatoes, chili peppers, onions, and cilantro. But I believe that Applebee’s uses something similar to Goya’s Pico de Gallo sauce, which you can find in the Mexican food section of your grocer.

If you want to rev up your ‘dillas, then go for the fresh stuff. Most grocers have small containers of fresh Pico de Gallo available in the produce section.

Or you can make it with my Pico de Gallo recipe. Since this quesadilla recipe only calls for a tablespoon of Pico de Gallo, try pouring leftovers over tuna steaks or serving it atop your favorite nachos.

Picante sauce comes in many forms and has many names but it’s always red… and hot. When shopping for this ingredient, look for names like Picante, Sriracha, Hot Sauce, or Hot Chili Sauce, and choose from mild to medium to hot-hot.

Colby and Monterey Jack cheeses are both American, cow’s milk cheeses, named after the towns they come from: Colby Wisconsin and Monterey California. They are often compared to cheddar, though they are milder in flavor to cheddar.

They are often sold as Colby-Jack, in a marbled brick or combined with a shredded mix. You can use either one if that’s what you’ve got in your fridge but I prefer the taste of both.

With this much knowledge, you can make Applebee’s Quesadillas your signature dish.

How to Make Applebee’s Quesadillas

  1. Slice the bacon into pieces and fry it until the bacon starts to turn crisp but not hard and brittle. Drain off the grease.
  2. Spread butter lightly on one side of the tortillas.
  3. Place the buttered side of a tortilla down in the skillet that has been preheated on medium heat.
  4. Sprinkle bacon over the entire tortilla.
  5. Spread Pico de Gallo and shredded cheese over the bacon.
  6. Place the second tortilla on top, buttered side up. 
  7. Cook for minute or two, long enough to heat the inside ingredients.
  8. Carefully flip the quesadilla on the other side until heated through but not browned.
  9. Transfer the quesadilla to a plate.
  10. Cut it into triangles and serve it with your favorite guacamole, sour cream, and salsa or picante sauce.
homemade applebees quesadilla on a plate

More Applebee’s Copycat Recipes

Favorite Mexican Recipes

Check out more of my easy appetizer recipes and the best Mexican food recipes here on CopyKat!

Cheese and bacon quesadilla cut into pieces served with sour cream, guacamole, and sour cream.

Applebee’s Quesadillas

Enjoy amazing Applebees Quesadillas when you make them at home with this easy copycat recipe.
5 from 2 votes
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Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Applebees Recipes, Bacon Quesadilla
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 1
Calories: 565kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 slices bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 2 flour tortillas burrito size
  • 2 teaspoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon Pico de Gallo
  • 1/4 cup colby jack cheese shredded
  • 1 tablespoon sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon guacamole
  • 1 tablespoon picante sauce

Instructions

  • Slice the bacon into pieces and and fry it in a non-stick skillet until the bacon starts to turn crisp but not hard and brittle.
  • Transfer the bacon from the skillet to a paper towel-lined plate to drain off the grease.
  • Pour off the grease from the skillet and wipe it clean. Put the skillet over medium heat.
  • Spread butter lightly on one side of the tortillas.
  • Place the buttered side of a tortilla down in the skillet that has been preheated on medium heat.
  • Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of bacon over the entire tortilla.
  • Spread 1 tablespoon Pico de Gallo and 1/4 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese over the bacon.
  • Place the second tortilla on top, buttered side up.
  • Cook for about one or two minutes, just long enough to heat the inside ingredients.
  • Carefully flip the quesadilla on the other side and finish cooking. The quesadilla should be heated through but not browned.
  • Remove the quesadilla from the skillet and place it on a plate.
  • Cut the quesadilla into triangles.
  • Serve quesadillas with your favorite guacamole, sour cream, and salsa or picante sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 565kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 1110mg | Potassium: 341mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 480IU | Vitamin C: 1.6mg | Calcium: 303mg | Iron: 2.3mg

About Stephanie Manley

I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.

Stephanie is the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home, and CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home 2.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Geoffrey Danielson

    Try draining all moisture from Pico de Gallo, then mix the Pico, bacon and cheese all together before placing on tortilla shell. It makes it much easier to evenly distribute all components.

  2. Rose Mihos

    Applebee’s Spinach and Artichoke Dip, I am a new computer person, how can I find the recipe for this dip? thank you

  3. Cheffrey

    Having worked for Applebees as a GM for 7 years, we would drain fresh-made pico and mix the cheese/bacon bits in with it & portion into 5 oz. portions for food cost control and consistency of product. We used six-inch shells for the small quesadillas (2) & 10-inch shells (1 folded over) for the large chicken & steak quesadillas. If you don’t have a kitchen scale to weigh out the filling, a large “handful” of filling is about 5 oz.

  4. Chelsea Rose

    If you could find a copycat recipe for Applebee’s Spinach and Artichoke Dip….that would be amazing!!! 😀 None of the spinach and artichoke dips I have made have even come CLOSE to the Applebee’s version :}

5 from 2 votes

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