Loaded Steak Quesadillas

Name: Loaded Steak Quesadillas
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: Flour Tortillas; 1 lb Creekstone Farms strip steak; Cornhusker Kitchen Duck Fat; 2 cups Chihuahua melting cheese; 1 cup black beans, rinsed; 1/2 cup 505 Fire Roasted Hatch Green Chiles, medium heat; 1/2 cup Holmes Made Nightmare Salsa, optional; 1 cup sour cream; Hoff Smoken Ghost Hot Sauce, to taste (we used about 2 tsp); 1/2 tsp Cattleman’s Grill Mexicano Seasoning; 1 tsp lime juice

May 07, 2024 • Tom Jackson

Loaded Steak Quesadillas are a scrumptious treat cooked on a preheated Yoder Smokers YS640s pellet grill. Creekstone Farms strip steak, seasoned with Cattleman’s Grill Road House Seasoning, is seared and chopped before being assembled with Chihuahua melting cheese, black beans, Fire Roasted Hatch Green Chiles, and optional Nightmare Salsa on flour tortillas. Cooked on the grill until golden brown and the cheese is melted, these quesadillas are served hot with a zesty dipping sauce made from sour cream, Hoff Smoken Ghost Hot Sauce, Cattleman’s Grill Mexicano Seasoning, and lime juice. It's a flavorful delight perfect for any meal.

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE

Pulling the steak at 125°F is the technique that protects the final texture: The steak gets a second cook inside the quesadilla on the griddle — if pulled at medium (135–140°F) it will overcook to well-done by the time the quesadilla is golden brown. Pulling rare keeps the steak at a perfect medium when it comes out of the folded tortilla, which is the intended result.
Chihuahua melting cheese is the right choice for quesadillas: Unlike cheddar, which can break and become greasy at griddle temperature, Chihuahua (queso Chihuahua) melts smoothly and completely without separating — the result is a cohesive, gooey pull rather than the chunky melt that other cheese varieties produce in a pressed quesadilla format.
The ghost pepper dipping sauce is the element that makes this genuinely memorable: Sour cream with Hoff Smoken Ghost Hot Sauce, Mexicano Seasoning, and lime juice is a 60-second prep that transforms a standard quesadilla side into something worth making on its own — the heat is substantial, the cool of the sour cream is the contrast, and the lime acid ties it together.
The two-temperature grill approach — sear at 450°F, quesadilla at 350°F — serves two distinct purposes: Direct fire at 450°F develops the Maillard crust on the strip steak efficiently; 350°F on a cleaned griddle provides even, gentle heat that melts the cheese and crisps the tortilla without burning the surface before the interior is fully melted.

Loaded Steak Quesadillas

Tom Jackson

Rated 4.5 stars by 2 users

Cuisine

Mexican

Servings

4

Prep Time

5 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Calories

816

Loaded Steak Quesadillas offer a mouthwatering fusion of flavors and textures. Begin by preheating your Yoder Smokers YS640s pellet grill to 450ºF. Season Creekstone Farms strip steak generously with Cattleman’s Grill Roadhouse Seasoning. Once the grill is ready, sear the steaks on a Yoder Smokers Cast Iron Grill until they reach an internal temperature of 125ºF. After resting, chop the steak into small pieces. Lower the grill temperature to 350ºF and clean the griddle. Assemble the quesadillas by layering Chihuahua melting cheese, steak, black beans, 505 Fire Roasted Hatch Green Chiles, and optional Holmes Made Nightmare Salsa onto flour tortillas. Cook the quesadillas on the griddle until golden brown and the cheese is melted. For a zesty kick, serve with a dipping sauce made from sour cream, Hoff Smoken Ghost Hot Sauce, Cattleman’s Grill Mexicano Seasoning, and lime juice. These loaded quesadillas are sure to impress with their savory steak, gooey cheese, and spicy salsa filling, making them a perfect crowd-pleaser for any occasion.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Flour Tortillas
1 lb Creekstone Farms strip steak
Cornhusker Kitchen Duck Fat
2 cups Chihuahua melting cheese
1 cup black beans, rinsed
1/2 cup 505 Fire Roasted Hatch Green Chiles, medium heat
1/2 cup Holmes Made Nightmare Salsa, optional

Dipping sauce

1 cup sour cream
Hoff Smoken Ghost Hot Sauce, to taste (we used about 2 tsp)
1/2 tsp Cattleman’s Grill Mexicano Seasoning
1 tsp lime juice

View Cart (0) Checkout

Directions

Preheat your Yoder Smokers YS640s pellet grill to 450ºF with the diffuser removed and a Yoder Smokers Cast Iron Grill installed over the fire box.
Season your steaks with the Cattleman’s Grill Roadhouse Seasoning.
Spray the griddle with duck fat. Place the steaks on the griddle. Cook until seared, then flip and continue cooking until the steaks reach an internal temperature of 125ºF. Remove from the griddle and let rest for five minutes.
Turn the grill temperature down to 350ºF. Clean the griddle with a scraper.
Chop the steak into small pieces, then assemble the quesadillas.
Place about one quarter cup cheese on one half of the quesadilla. Top with about one quarter cup of steak, one quarter cup beans, then two tablespoons each of the green chiles and Nightmare Salsa. Place another quarter cup of cheese on top and fold the tortilla over the fillings.
Spray the griddle with duck fat again, then place the quesadillas on the griddle. Close the lid and let them cook until golden brown, then flip. Continue cooking until the bottom is browned and the cheese is melted, about 8-10 minutes total.
Mix the ingredients for the dipping sauce, and serve on the side.

Recipe Note

Recipe FAQ

What is the history of the quesadilla?
The quesadilla originated during Mexico's colonial period, likely evolving from indigenous flatbreads filled with local ingredients like beans, chiles, and squash. Spanish settlers introduced cheese to the indigenous diet, producing what became the classic form: a tortilla filled with cheese and cooked until the exterior crisps. Regional variations developed across Mexico — northern regions adopted flour tortillas and meat fillings, while central and southern Mexico retained corn tortillas with fillings like huitlacoche and squash blossoms. Today the quesadilla is one of the most widely made Mexican dishes globally, adapted to local ingredients while retaining its fundamental form.

Why pull the steak at 125°F?
The strip steak gets a second cook when it goes back onto the griddle inside the folded quesadilla. Pulling at 125°F (rare) allows the steak to reach approximately 135–140°F (medium-rare to medium) during the 8–10 minute quesadilla cook. If you pull the steak at medium (135–140°F), it will overcook to well-done inside the sealed quesadilla — the chopped steak will be dry and tough rather than tender and juicy. The 125°F pull is intentional, not undercooked.

Can I substitute a different cut of steak?
Yes — flank steak, skirt steak, and sirloin all work in this format. Flank and skirt have more connective tissue and benefit from being sliced against the grain before chopping. Strip steak is the premium choice here because it has the fat marbling to stay juicy through two heat applications. Avoid very lean cuts like eye of round, which will dry out during the quesadilla cook.

How spicy is the Nightmare Salsa?
Holmes Made Nightmare Salsa is one of their hotter offerings — genuinely spicy, not just warm. The recipe lists it as optional, and the heat level of the finished quesadilla is substantially affected by whether you include it. The Hoff Smoken Ghost Hot Sauce in the dipping sauce also adds significant heat. If serving to mixed heat tolerances, omit the Nightmare Salsa from the filling and serve both salsas on the side so each person can calibrate their own heat level.

Can I make the dipping sauce ahead of time?
Yes — the sour cream dipping sauce keeps refrigerated for up to 3 days. The ghost hot sauce will continue to steep in the sour cream over time, so the sauce will become progressively hotter after the first day. Make it the same day for the intended heat level, or make it a day ahead if you want more integrated heat.

Can I make this indoors?
4 out of 5 — Great in the kitchen, better on the grill. A cast iron skillet or grill pan over high heat handles the steak sear and the quesadilla cook equally well. What you lose is the direct-fire griddle character from the YS640s firebox setup — minor for this recipe given the bold seasoning and fillings.

Recipe Highlights

Remove the diffuser plate and cook directly over the firebox for the steak: Directions Step 1 specifies removing the diffuser plate so the cast iron griddle sits over direct fire at 450°F. This produces the high, dry surface heat needed for a proper sear on the strip steak — indirect heat at 450°F on a pellet grill is significantly cooler at the cooking surface. The diffuser goes back in before the quesadilla cook at 350°F.
Clean the griddle between the steak sear and the quesadilla cook: Directions Step 4 specifies cleaning the griddle with a scraper after the steak comes off. The steak leaves behind rendered fat, seasoning residue, and meat juices that will burn at the lower 350°F quesadilla cook temperature and impart bitter, acrid flavors to the tortilla surface. A clean griddle produces a clean, golden-brown crust on the quesadilla.
Put cheese on both sides of the filling — not just one: Directions Step 6 specifies placing cheese on the tortilla first, then the fillings, then another layer of cheese on top before folding. The cheese on both sides serves as structural adhesive — it melts and binds the fillings to both tortilla surfaces, preventing the quesadilla from opening up when flipped and producing an even melt throughout the interior.
Close the grill lid during the quesadilla cook: Directions Step 7 specifies closing the lid. The enclosed heat melts the cheese from above while the griddle browns the tortilla from below — an open lid would require significantly longer cook time and uneven melting. The 8–10 minute total time assumes a closed lid at 350°F.