Breakfast Quesadillas with Spinach and Black Beans
Vegetarian breakfast quesadillas recipe featuring scrambled eggs, spinach and black beans in a crispy tortilla. This healthy recipe is easily gluten free.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 2, 2024
Blink. Blink. Blink. I’ve spent so much time staring at quesadilla photos this morning that I can hardly see straight. Quesadillas are challenging to photograph. Actually, all of the staple Mexican meals are difficult to photograph—tacos, tostadas, huevos rancheros, burritos, enchiladas. They’re all messy, round and irritatingly, impossibly delicious. I try to do them justice. I don’t even want to tell you how many photos I took of these quesadillas before I settled on the ones you see here.
I’m hoping these pictures will entice you to make these extra-crispy scrambled egg quesadillas. The filling is composed of spinach, black beans and scrambled eggs (hello, protein!), which is secured to the tortillas with a light sprinkle of shredded cheese.
Then, to make the quesadillas can’t-stop good, I sprinkled a tablespoon of cheese on the outside of the quesadilla and let it fry against the pan. Served with guacamole, you have an outrageously tasty, complete meal. The quesadillas are so tempting, in fact, that I had to take Cookie on a walk last night just to get away from the leftovers. I polished off the rest this morning.
These quesadillas are one of those beautiful recipes that scale well, from a single serving to family-sized proportions. I live alone so I appreciate quick, satisfying, one-person meals. Sometimes I don’t want to eat the same leftovers for days. I’ve heard from some of you lately who are in the same boat. Sometimes those leftovers serve as reminders of what we don’t have—a boyfriend, a husband, friends in a new city. This recipe is for you.
You can, of course, make more than one quesadilla if need be. Just multiply the filling ingredients as necessary and cook them all at once. Then transfer the filling to a bowl and make two quesadillas at a time in a large skillet. You could get multiple burners going if you have enough skillets. I think these would be a fun brunch recipe for a small gathering. Kids just might love these quesadillas, too. I love a good breakfas-for-dinner option, don’t you?
Vegetarian Breakfast Quesadillas with Scrambled Eggs, Spinach and Black Beans
This quick and healthy breakfast quesadillas recipe includes spinach and black beans. Extra crispy outsides and guacamole on the side make this scrambled egg quesadilla a totally irresistible breakfast (or lunch or dinner!).
Ingredients
Scrambled egg quesadillas (ingredients per quesadilla, multiply as necessary)
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 cup spinach, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup cooked black beans
- 1 medium whole grain tortilla
- ½ cup melty shredded cheese (like cheddar or Monterey Jack), divided
- Hot sauce, like Cholula
- Sea salt
Guacamole (yields enough guac for 2 to 4 quesadillas)
- 1 large avocado, diced
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (about 1 small lime, juiced)
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion or radishes
- 3 packed tablespoons fresh cilantro (about 1 small handful)
- 1 small garlic clove, pressed or minced
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- To make the guacamole: Combine the guacamole ingredients in a small bowl. Mash with a fork until the mixture is well combined and mostly smooth. Set aside.
- To prepare the eggs: Scramble the eggs in a small bowl. Season with a couple dashes of hot sauce and a dash of salt.
- To cook the eggs: Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a medium-sized skillet (either well-seasoned cast iron or nonstick) over medium heat until shimmering. Add the chopped spinach and cook, stirring often, until wilted, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the black beans to the skillet. Pour in the scrambled eggs and cook, stirring often, until the eggs are just set, about 1 to 3 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a bowl to pause the cooking process (the eggs will finish cooking in the quesadilla).
- To cook the quesadilla (if desired, you can cook two quesadillas at once): In a large skillet (preferably cast iron, but nonstick also works), warm the tortilla over medium heat, flipping occasionally. Once the pan and tortilla are warm, sprinkle one half of the quesadilla with ¼ cup cheese. Top the cheese with scrambled eggs, then top the scrambled eggs with almost ¼ cup cheese, reserving about 1 tablespoon of cheese for later. Press the empty tortilla halve over the toppings.
- Let the bottom side of the quesadilla cook for a minute, then carefully flip the quesadilla with a spatula. Immediately sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of cheese over the hot side of the quesadilla and let it melt as the other side cooks for a couple of minutes. Flip the quesadilla again, and let the cheese sizzle into the quesadilla for a couple of minutes. Use the spatula to get underneath the melty cheese side and flip again. Cook that side for a couple more minutes if necessary, until both sides are a nice, crisp golden brown.
- Transfer the quesadilla to a cutting board to cool for a few minutes, then slice each quesadilla into 2 slices using a pizza cutter or a very sharp knife. Serve with guacamole.
Notes
Make it gluten free: Use gluten-free tortillas.
Storage suggestions: Quesadillas keep well in the fridge, covered, for a few days. Reheat in the microwave or, better yet, warm in the oven/toaster oven. To keep leftover guacamole fresh, mix in an extra squeeze of lime juice and press plastic wrap over the surface to help prevent browning.
Leftover guacamole? Use it as a dip for chips or veggies (carrots, bell peppers, etc.). You could even spread it on toast.
Change it up: This recipe is super versatile. Sauté vegetables like bell peppers or mushrooms before adding the greens and eggs. Change up the greens (arugula, chard or kale would be good) or skip them altogether. Serve with pico de gallo or sour cream instead of the guacamole.
Make it quick: Skip the onions and cilantro in the guacamole or serve with a fresh tasting, store-bought salsa instead of guacamole.
Recommended equipment: My beloved 12-inch cast iron skillet makes the best quesadillas.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
P.s. Food for thought: An open letter to the future Mrs. Clooney by Mackenzie Dawson, via Erin, and Comorbid: finding stability on shifting ground by Beth Kirby.
Your quesadilla photos are gorgeous – I’ve taken some truly horrendous ones. Breakfast quesadillas are my all-time fave, and it’s genius to pan fry them with some cheese on the outside! Can’t wait to try them.
Thanks, Erica! Quesadillas are so tricky. That pan-frying trick will change your quesadillas forever!
Oh my gosh!!! I just made these, they are so delicious, I can’t wait to make them again and show my family and friends. I recently did turkey crumbles, Gouda cheese, black beans and the top part of the broccoli and it was great!
Thank you, Peyton! Happy to hear it!
You did such a terrible job with these photos that I’m TOTALLY not going to rush home and make these for lunch in an hour… (why oh why is there not a sarcasm font?)
SERIOUSLY SO EXCITED ABOUT THE GLORIOUS GOODNESS THAT IS THIS AWESOME LOOKING RECIPE.
Haha! Yes! My work is done. :)
Yum! I ought to make breakfast quesadillas more often, they’re just as pancakes and much healthier anyways. :)
Whether or not these are difficult to photograph it’s rare to find a recipe for a quesadilla that’s bad. They’re always messy and sooooo delicious. I love the idea of starting my day off with an eggy one. Yum!
I really enjoy savory breakfasts, so these sound wonderful :)
Gorgeous!!! And beautiful pics!
The quesadilla with the big dollop of guac and hot sauce criss crossed on it is all I want. Made a similar recipe to this but with tacos and added bacon to it. SO good.
Kate, you have forever changed the way I will make my quesadillas, the extra sprinkling of cheese on the outside is genius!! Also,Breakfast quesadillas sound way tastier than the usual breakfast tacos I have :)
You actually did an exceptional job in capturing how good these really are. So great. They look amazing and I plan on making them here very soon. Thanks and have a great weekend!
Hi Kate, your idea for the sprinkling of cheese on the outside of the tortilla is genius, these are the kinds of things that make recipes so special , it’s the little things. Thanks for sharing!
Your quesadillas looks amazing!I always struggle to photograph food that looks ‘messy’ but that’s when you know it’s very, very good :) xo
Ooh these look fabulous!! I totally hear you on looking at so many photos of the same thing that you can barely see straight by the end. #foodbloggerproblems. However, you have done a beautiful job! I love breakfast for dinner and you’ve given me yet another fabulous reason to use my cast iron skillet!
These look WONDERFUL! I can’t wait to make some early on in the week and just warm one up each day!
I like your new ‘notes’ section, Kate! Really useful!
As for the quesadillas, well as usual with your recipes, I love them. I actually made some veggie quesadillas of my own recently for my blog (Greek-Mex – weird, I know, but it worked!), so I totally hear you regarding the photos. Foodgawker told me that mine could have been better! ;-) I went for the overhead ‘keep them in a circle’ approach in the end.
Already checked out your breakfast Pinterest board & re-pinned a few – very nice!
Greek-Mex sounds great to me! I have some Mediterranean quesadillas on my blog, too. Sorry to hear about Foodgawker—they can be finicky sometimes.
WOW!! I cannot wait to make these for brunch – they look amazing! Thanks for the wonderful recipe – and Pinned!!
These look delicious (and they photographed well!). I made spiced beans yesterday– from a Martha Rose Shulman recipe– and put them in a bowl with brown rice, a poached egg, sliced avocado and Sriracha. And I *just so happen* to have 1 cup left over…and there are some tortillas in the fridge too. Hello breakfast! Also, love the Pinterest board for breakfast ideas. It really is the best meal of the day, no? Happy Cinco de Mayo! Thanks for sharing.
Batya, that spicy beans dish sounds stellar. Breakfast is my favorite, too!
These quesadillas look yummy and filling, and I think the photos look great! I understand what you mean though. Sometimes I get ready to photograph something and feel completely uninspired! Also loved those two articles. Thanks for sharing the links!
This looks so light and easy and delicious for breakfast, yum!
Oh this looks super good! I’m a Kansas City girl and a vegetarian too…this is quickly becoming my new favorite recipe site…so much yummy stuff and from such a sweet personality!! I really appreciate the single servings and advice for leftovers since my hubby is definitely a meat eater and not big on veggies even if they are served with meat or eggs, so I’m on my own in the kitchen. Beautiful photos too!
Molly, thank you so much for your sweet comment! It’s always nice to hear from a fellow KC girl/vegetarian. Glad you’re enjoying the recipes!
Mexican Food really is the hardest food to photograph! Despite it’s deliciousness… You did do a good job in making these quesadillas look irresistible so I’d say mission accomplished!
This sounds so good. I’m quite new to this quesadilla business and would love to make this breakfast version. Now off to explore your new Pinterest board!
Wow these look incredible! Wish I had them for lunch right now :)
These were delicious! Your beautiful photos convinced me to make them for breakfast today. They were good with the gruyere I had on hand, but will be better next time with cheddar. On the side we tried basic guac, sour cream, and spicy salsa — the salsa was our favorite.
Julie, so glad you enjoyed the quesadillas! I tried my quesadillas with salsa and wasn’t crazy about them that way… but that’s because I don’t like the salsa I bought! D’oh.
I love quesadillas, burritos, enchiladas… anything cheesy, avocadoey and spicy (I think the word ‘avocadoey’ doesn’t exist but oh well) in a warm tortilla! Love your ultra-crispy version here. I’ve recently grown to love black beans, so good!
*re the photo issues, you’ve done an amazing job! Totally overcame the lack of aesthetic appeal in a normal quesadilla! x
Girl, you did good here! These photos are lovely and the recipe sounds fantastic.
You more than nailed these photos, they are beautiful! This breakfast is calling to me :) I also never would have thought of keeping leftover quesadillas for reheating later. Awesome work-breakfast idea!
You did a wonderful job photographing this quesadilla! I would love to have one of these for breakfast or dinner. I love the eggs with the spinach and black bean combo, so delicious!
I love the tip for cooking a little cheese directly into the tortilla! I’m making sweet-potato and black bean quesadillas tonight in honor of Cinco de Mayo, and I’m totally going to try this out!
Karen, hope you loved the cheese outside trick!
My husband will be SO into this recipe. Whenever I make something from your blog, he’s like, “This is so good!” This is a even bigger compliment because he loves ordering out (which I used to take as a reflection on my cooking skills, but now I just roll with it).
Woohoo! That makes me happy, Fiona. Always lovely to hear from you.
Why does it always end up that ugly food turns out to be the most delicious?! Although, honestly, these look pretty damn good to my eyes. And stomach.
Gorgeous photographs!
I have just added this to my weekend to do list
Thanks, Lorna! Hope you love the quesadillas!
Wow, I can always go for good breakfast quesadillas!
This looks so good! I would probably even just eat the filling on a morning I’m feeling too rushed to deal with flipping a tortilla!
By the way, I love this: “Sometimes those leftovers serve as reminders of what we don’t have—a boyfriend, a husband, friends in a new city.”
Thank you.
I made these for breakfast yesterday and they were absolutely delicious! Fabulous recipe – thanks so much.
Awesome, so glad you enjoyed the quesadillas, Carrie!
Long time veggie, new Celiac diagnosis. This was my first go at a gluten-free recipe to please my meat-eating husband and it was great!! Heck, I’m basically new to the kitchen and this recipe did not intimidate me at all! Thanks Kate for making my transition to GF a bit brighter!! Looking forward to trying more stuff. So happy I found your Veggie/GF recipe site!
Wendy, welcome to the blog! So glad you both enjoyed the quesadillas! Not all of my recipes are gluten free, but I try to provide gluten-free substitution suggestions in the notes, when applicable. Here’s an index of all of my gluten-free recipes, in case you haven’t stumbled across it yet: https://sooka.info/gluten-free-recipes/%3C/a%3E. Happy cooking!
Do you know what the calories would be for this? I know I could probably figure it out on my own, but was just curious if you knew. Sorry if it is posted and I just didn’t see it.
Hi Pam, I’m sorry, I don’t know the nutrition details for the recipe. If you calculate them, please feel free to share in the comments. I’m sure others would like to know, too!
OMG i just made these and they were soooo good.
Hooray! Thanks for commenting, Jasmine!
I calculated approx. 554 calories (which did NOT include the gauacamole).
Thanks for sharing, Jennifer!
Have had these for dinner two nights in a row-yum! Keep the easy, single person recipes coming, loved it! :)
Also, I bought the cast iron skillets you recommended to me, but am having trouble keeping one clean. I’ve looked online, but wanted to see if you had any preferred tips? Thanks, Kate!
Will do, Paige! Cast iron skillets can be a little tricky sometimes. Mine seem to have a life of their own—sometimes they’re super well seasoned, other times not so much. My best tip for achieving a non-stick surface is to let the pan heat up *before* adding oil and cooking in it. To clean my pans, I use a bamboo scraper from Crate and Barrel to scrape off the goop (if it’s bad, I’ll fill the pan with water and let it sit for a few minutes, but you don’t want to leave water in there for long). Sometimes that plus a good rinse is plenty, or I’ll rub kosher salt onto it, rinse and dry. Hope these tips help!
Just made these… Yummy all the way from Ireland. Love all your recipes I’ve tried…
Thank you, Kerrie! Glad you enjoyed it!
Just made these and they are so so yummy!! i didnt have avacados or any cooked black beans so i skipped the guac and used lentils in place of black beans and it worked great!!!!
Thanks, Martha! Lentils sound like a great idea!
I would like to make this the night before so I can bring it to work in the morning. How would you go about storing the quesadillas or assembling them so they don’t get soggy overnight?
Hey Beth, great question. I’d let them cook until they’re nice and crispy, then place them on a wire cooling rack and make sure they’ve cooled completely before you pack them up for tomorrow’s breakfast. When it comes to reheating (if you’re reheating), a toaster oven would be best, but I had pretty good luck in my microwave. If you’re using a microwave, I’d recommend reheating them with a paper towel underneath to absorb excess moisture. Enjoy!
Made these for dinner last night. So amazing!! Making them for dinner again tonight hah
You are on a Mexican kick! Love it! :D
With my kiddos at their dads for the weekend, I was wandering around my kitchen wanting to make something better than a bowl of cereal to give me energy that would last so I could accomplish a lot while they were gone. I realized I didn’t have much in, so I searched… And found this. I was in disbelief at how delicious these were and so simple!thank you for taking the time to post this. I really want to start making better choices and this was great!
Thank you, Nicole! Delighted to hear it!
Kate, Thank you for sharing the recipe ….It turned out sooooooooooo good. I would just put half the amount of salt that the guacamole recipe calls for, as combined with cheese I think the salt was a bit too much for me, but I was glad that I tried it. An excellent jump start for the day and looking forward to trying some more recipes from your website….they all look so appetizing. Once again thank you :)
Thanks, Sammy! So glad you enjoyed the quesadillas!
Im late to the party but figured I might as well chime in anyway. First, your photos look great! Second, I do the same cheese on the outside trick! It makes it so crispy and delicious! I’ve always liked corn tortillas better so I used two of those. It’s pretty much the only time you don’t have to worry about them falling apart! Also, gluten free, as an alternative. Thanks for all the great recipes and keep up the good work!
Thanks, Sarah! Glad you’re with me on the cheese-on-the-outside trick! :)
So, so, so, so DELICIOUS!! I even made these for my husband who is NOT a fan of beans nor guac, and he loved it!!! The guacamole was soooo good!! This will definitely be on our “must make again” list! Thanks for sharing!
Hooray, thanks Erin!
The basic concept was good, but the guacamole was awful. I’d never seen ground coriander used in a guacamole recipe before, and apparently for good reason, because it totally ruined it.
my whole family loves this recipe- big hit- Thanks again Kate for another amazing recipe. The only problem I have is with the cheese on the outside bit-(which looks and sounds SO good) I’m still trying to get cast iron pans to work for me and when I try the cheese on the outside bit with either a cast iron or a non stick, the tortilla just cements itself to the pan and it’s a big mess -any tips greatly appreciated.
Do you scramble the eggs separately, or as I interrupted the recipe, pour the whisked eggs into the pan with the spinach and beans and cook? My eggs didn’t set or fluff up too well, but that may be because I increased the ingredients to feed the family. Next time, I’ll scramble the eggs first, then mix them into the greens and beans. Regardless, we enjoyed the quesadillas. The guac was nice with the minced radishes; a tasty variation.