How to Grill Quesadillas

It wasn’t so long ago that quesadillas—chewy-crisp flour tortillas filled with gooey melted cheese—burst upon our North American culinary landscape. It was love at first bite. In Mexico, quesadillas are traditionally cooked on a comal (a flat skillet). They can be baked in the oven, as is often the case in the United States. Now, I’m of the school that if something tastes great off the griddle or out of the oven, it probably tastes even better off the grill—even when that something is as flammable as a flour tortilla. The secret to grilling a quesadilla is to lower the heat and keep the cooking time brief in order to melt the cheese without burning the tortilla. It also helps to have a safety zone where you can move the quesadilla if it starts to burn (see the Tip). The effort is well worth it.