Oven Baked Black Bean Quesadillas

Black bean quesadillas are a staple in our household. They are easy-to-make, cheap, quick, and tasty. Plus, you only need four ingredients to make this recipe! Well – perhaps five ingredients because I rarely eat a quesadilla without good salsa!

Why make quesadillas in the oven?

I frequently make quesadillas in a frying pan (click here for that recipe). A frying pan does get a quesadilla nice and crispy, but there are two major reasons to bake your quesadillas.

1. It is easier to make a batch of quesadillas. If you want to make multiple quesadillas at once, you can prepare all of your quesadillas and bake them in one or two batches. If you use a frying pan, you will need to prepare and bake each quesadilla separately.
2. All the quesadillas will be ready at the same time. Unlike preparing quesadillas in a frying pan, all of your quesadillas will be hot and ready to eat at the same time.

The only noticeable difference between oven baking and pan frying is the texture of the tortilla. The oven baked tortilla is much crispier, while the pan fried tortilla has a crunchy yet chewy exterior. Both are good.

Cost Analysis:

Black bean quesadillas are a nice and cheap meal or appetizer. A basic black bean quesadilla will cost about $0.88 to make. This doesn’t include the cost of salsa.

Please note – the cost is based on what I paid for ingredients in the year 2020. Your actual costs may differ.

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Recipe:

Oven Baked Black Bean Quesadillas

• Servings: 2 quesadillas
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins
• Difficulty: easy
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This quick and easy vegetarian quesadilla recipe is the perfect no hassle lunch or party appetizer!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 2 flour tortillas (preferably taco size)
• 6 tablespoons of shredded Mexican cheese
• a few drops of olive oil (or other oil neutral oil if preferred)

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Lay your tortillas on a baking sheet. Place a few drops of oil on one side of the tortillas. Lightly rub the oil into one side of each tortilla.
3. Flip the tortilla on the baking sheet so that the oil side is DOWN.
4. Add three tablespoons of shredded cheese to one half of the tortilla (non-oil side)
5. Add a quarter cup of black beans to the same half of the tortilla (non-oil side)
6. Fold the tortillas in half
7. Place into the oven and bake for 10 minutes, and flip halfway through the baking process.
8. Slice tortilla into four pieces (I use a pizza cutter)
9. Serve with salsa, preferably pico de gallo!

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Easy Vegetarian Refried Beans

When we were newly married, we lived near an excellent Mexican restaurant. We didn’t eat there often, but when we did, I always got a dish that included refried beans. We no longer live near the Mexican restaurant, so I make them at home instead!

This recipe is delicious (and reheats reasonably well). It is a great side dish, but we often eat them as part of an entree. I use the refried beans as a filling in my tacos (in lieu of meat). I combine the beans with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and guacamole. It is absolutely delicious.

The beans are also relatively inexpensive. It costs about $1.65 to make a batch of the beans, and you should be able to get two entree-sized servings out of the batch. If you are serving as a side dish, you should be able to get four servings out of the batch. Enjoy! – Kristin

Frugal Cost Analysis:

Note: This cost analysis is based on what I paid for my own ingredients in the year 2020. Actual prices may vary.

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Recipe:

Easy Vegetarian Refried Beans

• Servings: 2
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins
• Difficulty: easy
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These homemade refried beans are easy, delicious, and cost $0.83 per serving. You'll never go back to the can…

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder (more if you like them spicy)
• pinch of kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon lime juice, optional
• 1 can (14.5-15.5 ounces) pinto beans, NOT drained

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan on medium heat.
2. Add diced onion and a pinch of kosher salt. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add garlic and chili powder and cook for an additional minute.
4. Mix in the pinto beans (with liquid from can), the vegetable broth, and lime juice.
5. Continue to cook the mixture on medium heat for about 20 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to stir and mash (or mush if you prefer the term) the mixture periodically. The beans are ready when they thicken.
6. Serve in tacos, as part of a taco salad, or as a side dish to any Mexican fare.
7. Enjoy!

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Hearty Southwest Black Beans & Rice

This recipe is a staple in our house. It is cheap, delicious and makes for great leftovers!

I usually eat mine taco-style in tortilla shells with shredded cheese, tomato, lettuce, and guacamole. James prefers to load his up with taco fixings and eat with chips. Either way is great!

This is a relatively cheap recipe at $0.80 per generous serving. Happy eating!

Cost Analysis:

Note: This cost analysis is based on what I paid for my own ingredients in the year 2020. Actual prices may vary.

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Recipe:

Southwest Black Beans & Rice

• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Time: 5 mins
• Difficulty: easy
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Rice, Black Beans, Corn and some basic spices make for a hearty vegetarian main dish or a great side dish!

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or minced
• 3/4 cup uncooked rice (I usually use long grain)
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (or salted water if you don’t have broth)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 can of black beans (about 15 ounces), drained
• 1 small can of whole kernel corn (8-9 ounces), drained

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a medium size saucepan on medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add rice and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes (until slightly toasted).
3. Add vegetable broth and bring mixtures to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low for about 20 minutes.
4. Add cumin and chili powder and stir into rice mixture.
5. Stir black beans and corn into the mixture.
6. Serve with all the standard taco fixings inside of tortillas, with tortilla chips, or just enjoy plain!

Quick & Easy Guacamole

We love avocado, but avocados can be made even better when turned into this easy guacamole! We celebrated Cinco de Mayo by this year by loading up on 25 cent avocados.

Click here for some tips on keeping avocados fresh longer!

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Recipe:

Quick & Easy Guacamole

• Servings: 2-4
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins
• Difficulty: easy
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A fast and delicious addition to any Mexican fare.

Ingredients

• 1 avocado
• a few spoonfuls of fresh salsa,
or a small roma tomato and 1/4 small yellow onion (diced)
• 1/2 tsp dried cilantro
• 1/2 tsp lime juice
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• ground pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a small bowl, cube and mash your avocado.
2. Add fresh salsa (or add diced tomato and onion)
3. Mix avocado and fresh salsa (or diced tomato and onion)
4. Add onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and lime juice
5. Stir all ingredients together
6. Serve with chips (or veggies if you prefer)!

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Easy Cheesy & Cheap Vegetarian Quesadillas!

Black bean quesadillas are one of our staple frugal lunches! We sometimes add sauteed onion or fajita style peppers to spice up the dish. Overall, it results in an affordable, hot, and delicious meal! This is great with our homemade easy guacamole!

Frugal Cost Analysis:

Item	Ingredient Cost per Unit	Units Required for Recipe	Total Cost
Tortillas	$0.23 per tortilla	2 tortillas	$0.46
Black Beans	$0.48 per cup	1/2 cup	$0.24
Shredded Cheese	$0.17 per tablespoon	6 tablespoons	$1.02
Olive Oil	0.23 per tablespoon	1/2 teaspoon	$0.04
Total cost for 2 quesadillas			$1.76
Total cost for 1 quesadilla			$0.88

Note: This cost analysis is based on what I paid for my own ingredients in the year 2020. Actual prices may vary.

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Recipe:

Easy Cheesy & Cheap Vegetarian Quesadillas

• Servings: 2
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins
• Difficulty: easy
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A quick and delicious lunch with a crunch.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 2 flour tortillas (taco size)
• 6 tablespoons of shredded Mexican cheese (we use Kraft four cheese)
• a few drops of olive oil (or other oil if preferred)
• you may want to add onion (saute first with olive oil and kosher salt!)

Directions

1. Heat a medium or large frying pan (medium heat)
2. Add a few DROPS of olive oil to the frying pan and heat the oil
3. Once the oil is warmed, put one tortilla in the frying pan
4. Add three tablespoons of shredded cheese to one half of the tortilla
5. Add a quarter cup of black beans to the same half of the tortilla
6. Fold tortilla in half and warm until tortilla begins to brown on the bottom
7. Flip tortilla and continue cooking
8. Slice tortilla into four pieces (I use a pizza cutter)
9. Repeat steps 3 through 8 for your second quesadilla
10. Serve with salsa and guacamole!