Healthy Snacks: Quesadillas

By: Mackenzie Schieck

Choosing healthy fixin's will make quesadillas a tasty, good-for-them kids' snack.

More Healthy Snacks for Kids

Defining Moment

No one can quite agree on a definitive definition of a quesadilla, but the elements most descriptions have in common is it's a tortilla stuffed with cooked meat and cheese, then cooked until the cheese melts. (As opposed to a taco or burrito, which are not typically cooked after being stuffed.)

The Snack is Flat--Not the Flavor

Depending on how many little mouths you have to feed, this snack can be as easy as tossing some cheese and pre-cooked chicken and veggie mixture between two tortillas and heating it in a skillet. Slice it like a pizza and the kids have a utensils-free food to enjoy (unless the tortillas are packed extra full--you might want to keep some forks handy). If you have more than a couple kids to feed, double up on everything and put the quesadillas on a baking sheet in the oven at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C.) until the cheese is melted. So, who needs a snack? Try some of these recipes:

Keeping it Healthy

Be sure to make good choices when assembling your quesadillas:

Use the fat-free version, or hold the sour cream altogether.
Add flavor by chopping up some avocado to sprinkle on each piece--avocados are high in fat, but mono-saturated fats (the "good" kind that lowers cholesterol).
Go easy on the cheese--it adds protein, but also quite a bit of fat if you're not careful.
Spoon on some extra salsa to get even more veggies in each bite.
Buy whole wheat tortillas, avoiding those made with lard--or, just make some yourself:

Note: Many reviewers mentioned they substituted olive oil for shortening in the Mexican Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas as a healthier option, so if you're game, it might be something worth trying.