Mushroom Quesadillas with Crispy Potatoes and Slaw

Mushrooms, peppers and onion charred hard and fast, cooked down with a tin of tomatoes and packed into a wrap with plenty of cheese. Crispy potatoes on the side and a bag of slaw to cut through it. This is the midweek dinner that feels like a treat and is anything but expensive. Let's cook!

Why These Mushroom Quesadillas Work

Cooking the veg in batches is the whole difference. A crowded pan steams and goes grey. Small batches in a properly hot pan char, and that char is where all the flavour is.

The tomatoes reduce right down before the veg goes back in. You want a thick, jammy filling with no liquid left, because wet filling makes a soggy quesadilla every time.

A bag of slaw is the smartest thing in the trolley. Several vegetables and a dressing for the price of one, and it does the fresh, sharp job that a rich cheesy wrap needs alongside it.

Cornflour on the potatoes is what makes them crunch. Boiled, tossed in oil and cornflour and air fried, they come out glassy and crisp with almost no fat.

It is properly filling for very little. Mushrooms have the meaty, savoury depth to carry a dinner on their own, and 400g goes a long way.

Recipe Details

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Serves: 2 to 3, with leftovers for lunch
• Difficulty: Easy
• Special Equipment: An air fryer for the potatoes, though the oven works

Start the potatoes first, because they take the longest and everything else is quick. That is the general rule for any dinner you want on the table in under an hour: find the slowest thing and get it going before you touch anything else. Then do your prep properly before the pan goes on. Slice the pepper, mushrooms and onion thin and have them sitting there ready, because once you start cooking it goes fast and there is no time to be chopping. That is mise en place, and it is genuinely the single biggest difference between cooking calmly and cooking flustered. The other thing is heat. Think fajitas. The pan wants to be hot enough that things sizzle the instant they hit it, and you want the vegetables still al dente with proper dark edges, not soft and stewed.

Ingredients

For the quesadillas

• 400g mushrooms, sliced thin
• 1 red capsicum, sliced thin
• 1 onion, sliced thin
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 heaped tsp smoked paprika
• 1 to 2 tsp cajun spice blend, or your own mix
• 1 packet of wraps
• Grated cheese, whatever you have
• Oil, salt and pepper

For the crispy potatoes

• 4 potatoes, cut into chunks
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• Oil, salt and pepper

To serve

• 1 bag of slaw with dressing

How to Make Mushroom Quesadillas

1. Potatoes on first. Cut them into chunks and get them boiling in salted water until just tender, about 12 minutes. This is the longest job so it starts before everything else.
2. Do all your prep. Slice the pepper, mushrooms and onion nice and thin, and have them ready in separate piles before the pan goes near the heat.
3. Char the veg in batches. Get a pan properly hot, oil in, and cook each vegetable separately. Hot and fast, so they take colour and stay al dente. Get the pan hot again before each new batch. Set them all aside.
4. Reduce the tomatoes. Tip the can into the same pan with the smoked paprika, cajun blend, salt and pepper. Cook it down until the liquid has gone completely and it is thick and jammy.
5. Bring it back together. Return all the charred vegetables to the pan and stir through the reduced tomatoes.
6. Crisp the potatoes. Drain them and let the steam go, then toss with oil, the cornflour, salt and pepper. Into the air fryer until deep golden and crunchy.
7. Build the quesadillas. Some of the veg mix onto half a wrap, plenty of cheese over the top, fold it over.
8. Pan fry them. A dry or barely oiled pan over a medium heat, pressing down, until both sides are crisp and the cheese has melted.
9. Dress the slaw and serve. Cut the quesadillas into wedges and pile them up with the potatoes and slaw alongside.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• Feels like a treat: Crisp, cheesy and a bit naughty for a Wednesday
• Mushrooms do the heavy lifting: No meat needed and nobody misses it
• Everything crisps: The wrap, the potatoes, the charred edges on the veg
• The slaw balances it: Sharp and fresh against all that cheese
• Great cold the next day: The filling is arguably better after a night in the fridge

Chef's Tips for Mushroom Quesadillas

Cook the vegetables in batches, always. This is the one that matters. Everything in at once and they release water, steam each other and go grey. Small batches char.

Get the pan hot again between batches. Adding cold vegetables drops the temperature, so give it a moment to come back up before the next lot goes in.

Slice everything thin. Thin means it chars in the time it has, and it means the quesadilla folds flat and crisps evenly.

Reduce the tomatoes until they are properly dry. If there is liquid left in the filling it goes straight into the wrap and you will never get it crisp.

Dry the potatoes before they meet the oil. Drain them and let them steam off for a couple of minutes. Water and cornflour make paste, not crust.

Do not overfill the wraps. Half a wrap, a modest layer, then fold. Overstuffed quesadillas burst in the pan and lose their filling.

Cheese on top of the filling, not underneath. It melts down through and glues the whole thing together as it cooks.

Substitutions & Variations

• Any mushroom: Button, portobello, or a mix. Portobellos give you more of a meaty bite
• Add a tin of black beans to the filling to stretch it further
• Different spices: Chipotle, plain chilli powder, or a taco seasoning sachet
• Make your own slaw from cabbage, carrot and a dressing if you have the time
• Oven instead of air fryer for the potatoes, 200C (180C fan / 400F / Gas Mark 6) for 30 minutes, turning once
• Add a spoon of sour cream or yoghurt on the side if you have some

Storage

Best eaten fresh: Straight from the pan, while the wrap is still crisp.

Fridge: The filling keeps four days and is excellent. Assembled quesadillas keep two days but soften.

Freezer: The filling freezes well for three months. Do not freeze them assembled.

Avoid: The microwave for reheating. Back into a dry pan for a couple of minutes a side brings the crisp straight back.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did my quesadilla go soggy? Wet filling, almost always. The tomatoes need reducing until there is no liquid left at all before the vegetables go back in.

Why are my mushrooms grey and watery? The pan was crowded or not hot enough. Mushrooms hold a lot of water and release it the moment they cool the pan down. Small batches, hot pan.

Can I make the filling ahead? Yes, and it is better for it. Up to four days in the fridge, or freeze it. Assemble and fry the quesadillas fresh.

What cheese works best? Anything that melts. A basic grated cheddar or a Mexican style blend is ideal. Hard cheeses like parmesan will not give you the stretch.

Do I need an air fryer for the potatoes? No. The oven at 200C (180C fan / 400F / Gas Mark 6) for about 30 minutes gets you there, turning once. The air fryer is just faster and crisper.

Why cornflour on the potatoes? It absorbs the last of the surface moisture and forms a thin coating that goes glassy and crunchy in dry heat. It is the single best potato trick there is.

Can I make it vegan? Yes. Use a vegan cheese, check your wraps and use a dressing free bag of slaw with your own dressing.

Is a bag of slaw really cheaper? Yes, when you would otherwise buy a whole cabbage, carrots, and a dressing separately for one dinner. That is why it earns its place on a budget shop.

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This is the one that surprises people. It looks like a takeaway and it came out of a tin of tomatoes and a punnet of mushrooms. Make the filling on a Sunday and midweek dinner is ten minutes away.

Enjoy!

Del x

Charred mushrooms, peppers and onion in a crisp cheesy wrap, with air fryer potatoes and a sharp slaw.