Vegan Quesadillas

Yo. I love quesadillas. And that is why today I’m sharing a recipe for vegan quesadillas. They are so easy to make and the rewards are pretty great. Even as a vegan, I can still get down.

This is obviously not a traditional quesadilla recipe.

I am embarrassed to admit that I generally favor flour tortillas for quesadillas over corn tortillas given that flour was the imposed food.

However, I did grow up eating Mexican food from the taco trucks and taquerias in East Oakland (as well as childhood best friend’s home) and flour tortillas just happened to be in all my favorite dishes with the exception of tacos. Tacos always had corn tortillas and that’s what I prefer as well.

I always reserved fresh corn tortillas for breaking up and using each piece as a vessel for my beans and rice. For those who are not already familiar, the Fruitvale/Foothill area of Oakland, where I grew up, has a high population of Mexicans so the local culture was rich with Mexican influence.

Quesadillas became a true comfort food for me when I had a baby. Being stuck on the couch nursing my new infant for days at a time made it so that I couldn’t use both hands. Exclusive breastfeeding was non-negotiable so I knew I wanted to adapt for my baby as opposed to having my baby adapt for me.

Since my baby was still a newborn who still required to be held, our postpartum doula would prepare me easy cheese and cracker plates which were enough to satisfy me. Sometimes they’d even prepare me two in one day. Eek! After our doula left, our new helper, with a chef background decided to make me something more comforting as the days got colder: quesadillas!

Quesadillas remind me of my early days with my child. But now my kiddo is a little lady and my hands are free (well sort of). So I’mma pack my vegan quesadillas!

To make a decent vegan quesadilla, every single ingredient needs to be good. I’m not going to sit here and pretend like vegan cheese tastes better or even as good dairy cheese. So when making this specific dish, it’s good to aim for things that are flavorful. If I have the extra time, I do try to add things like caramelized onions and roasted peppers. That’s just personal preference.

Having said that, finding decent vegan cheese isn’t so hard for me anymore. My favorite brand is Violife for vegan shredded cheddar cheese. I’ve come to accept the fact that when I eat these things that are supposed to be “substitutes”, I have to appreciate them for what they are because it’s not a fair comparison. And I honestly like Violife cheddar cheese.

Gardein’s ground beef is the “meat” that I chose for this. I use it in other things too like vegan mapo tofu. It’s one of the few meat substitutes my husband will tolerate. Everyone who reads my blog knows I’m a proponent for soybeans and I constantly have to defend it (and MSG) against myths that are lowkey racist.

And the beans are just plain ol’ canned vegetarian beans that are labeled so but are fortunately vegan.

I find this combination for vegan quesadillas to be easy, rich and comforting. Most of all, it’s decent vegan food that I can have regularly.

And I hope you like it too.

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