I've been making these Texas BBQ Chicken Quesadillas for years but I've never blogged them properly, with an actual recipe and a decent photo. I made them for dinner tonight and figured now was as good a time as any, seeing as some Facebook friends were asking for the recipe.


Use your favorite BBQ sauce for the chicken. We like Dinosaur sauce.

Texas BBQ Chicken Quesadillas
As seen on Allrecipes

2 tablespoons oil
2 onions, sliced into thin rings
1 tablespoon honey
2-3 chicken breasts, diced
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
cooking spray
4 10-inch (burrito size) flour tortilla
shredded Mexican cheese

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with foil.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the onions and cook until they begin to caramelize, stirring often, about 20 minutes. Turn the heat down if the onions are browning too quickly. You want them to be soft and deeply brown. Mix in the honey and stir to combine. Remove the onions to a bowl and set aside.

Put the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the pan and add the chicken. Cook over medium high heat until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in the BBQ sauce to evenly coat the chicken.

Coat a griddle pan or large, flat skillet with cooking spray and add one of the tortillas. Heat over medium heat until hot, then add one of the tortillas. Cook until the tortilla is lightly browned on both sides. Remove the tortilla to a cutting board and repeat with the other 4 tortillas.

While the other tortillas are cooking, start assembling the quesadillas. Lay one tortilla flat and add some shredded cheese to one half. Top with a quarter of the onions and a quarter of the chicken. Add some more cheese, then fold the tortilla in half. Place on the prepared baking sheet. As the other tortillas brown, assemble in the same way.

Once all the quesadillas have been assembled, put the baking sheet in the oven for about 10-15 minutes to melt the cheese.

If I had known ribs were this easy to make at home I would have been making them once a week.

We recently had a BBQ-themed dinner with our friends C&T. Among other things, T made four racks of ribs. I probably had half a rack myself and when she asked if we wanted to take some home I jumped at the chance. I knew I had to blog about these because (1) they're so delicious and (2) they're so easy to make.

Photo credit - T. Casey

T gave me basic instructions for the ribs and told me she used Pioneer Woman's recipe for BBQ sauce. I can't wait to make these myself this summer. I've also talked her into making another rack or two for our next themed dinner in August.

Pork Ribs

pork rib racks (4 racks will feed an army)
pork rub (T used McCormick Grill Mates pork rub)
BBQ sauce

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees.

Rub the ribs on both sides with some of the pork rub. Lay each rack in a double layer of foil. Add 1/4 cup of water and then seal the foil around the ribs.

Bake for 2 hours.

While the ribs are baking, make the BBQ sauce (recipe below or use your own). Once the ribs are done, remove them from the foil. Spread some of the BBQ sauce on each rack.

Preheat a grill to high. Lay each rack on the grill. You want to leave them alone so they get a nice crust.

Remove the ribs from the grill. Place one rack at a time on a cutting board. Slather with more sauce on both sides. Using a very sharp, long knife, cut the ribs between the bones. Pile on a serving platter and have lots of napkins on hand.

Homemade BBQ Sauce
As seen on Pioneer Woman

1 tablespoon canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, diced
1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (or a few shakes of red pepper flakes)
4 tablespoons distilled vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Dash salt

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring, being careful not to burn them. Reduce the heat to low. Add the ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, chipotle peppers or red pepper flakes, vinegar (or less to taste), Worcestershire sauce and salt and stir.

Allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Taste after simmering and add whatever ingredient it needs (more spice, more sugar, etc.).

Yield: 2 cups