Vegan Quesadillas with Black Beans

Published by Ela on 5. August, 2018, updated on 16. July, 2021 | 55 Comments As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

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5 from 27 votes

These Mexican-inspired vegan quesadillas with black beans are perfect for lunch, dinner, a side dish, or a filling snack! The recipe is gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and super easy to make.

Cheesy Vegan Black Bean Quesadillas

Serve me some good vegan quesadillas, and we are friends, lol. Seriously, quesadillas are life! I was addicted to cheese before I went vegan, and that’s why I get so excited when I create a new vegan cheesy deliciousness. And this is one of them!

You have to give this recipe a try if you don’t believe me, it’s really that good. These black bean quesadillas are dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free, and everything is homemade from scratch, even the vegan cheese, and the tortillas. No strange ingredients which you can’t pronounce!

Filling ingredients for Mexican-inspired vegan quesadillas

The great thing about quesadillas is that you can get creative. You can make them with vegan cheese only, or you can also add your favorite veggies. I love to add fried veggies, and my favorite ones are:

Peppers
Mushrooms
Corn
Onion
Garlic

I also love to add legumes such as black beans (or kidney beans) because they are healthy and contain plant-based protein.

Which vegan cheese?

As mentioned before, I normally make everything from scratch because of two reasons. Either I can’t buy great vegan products in the store, or I don’t want to buy them because they contain lots of unhealthy ingredients. Therefore, I used my popular easy vegan cheese sauce for this recipe.

I added 1 teaspoon of psyllium husk powder, which helps to make the sauce thicker and hold the tortilla together. You can leave out the psyllium husk powder if you don’t have it, the cheese sauce will still taste great, but it will be runnier.

My vegan cheese sauce recipe is ready in 3 minutes, it’s furthermore nut-free (no cashews!), soy-free, and tasty.

However, if you don’t want to make your own vegan cheese sauce, you can simply use your favorite store-bought vegan cheese. I would recommend vegan mozzarella or vegan cheddar cheese. I also shared a firm vegan cheese on my blog before, maybe you want to check it out.

How to make vegan quesadillas

When I crave some delicious cheesy “finger food” I’ll make these vegan quesadillas because the recipe is so simple. You just need to fry and season your favorite veggies, make the cheese sauce (or use store-bought cheese), and have your tortillas ready.

Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in a pan, add 1 tbsp soy sauce, onion, garlic, pepper, and mushrooms, and sauté over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the corn, black beans, and spice mix and fry for a further 3-4 minutes.
Make a batch of my vegan cheese sauce and spread some of it in an even layer on one tortilla. You can use any other vegan cheese of choice.
Add a layer of the veggie mixture (about 2-4 tbsp) and place another tortilla on top.
Transfer to a (lightly oiled) skillet and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Brush the top with a little oil, flip, and cook from the other side until both sides are nicely browned and toasty.
Repeat steps for the remaining tortillas. Cut into 4 pieces and enjoy hot!

I make my own gluten-free tortillas with chickpea flour and tapioca flour because I cannot buy gluten-free tortillas in the store. In my opinion, they taste even better than wheat tortillas, but you can, of course, use any store-bought tortillas of choice.

How To Serve

Serve on its own as a delicious quick snack.
Serve as a side with vegan tomato soup, vegan broccoli cheese soup, vegan tortilla soup, Mexican pinto bean soup, or roasted cauliflower soup.
Enjoy with different dips and spreads like refried beans, onion dip, vegan spinach artichoke dip, or this Yum Yum sauce.
Serve with this Mexican avocado salador a vegan Buddha bowl.

FAQs and Tips

Can I use different veggies? Even though these are Mexican-inspired vegan quesadillas, you can use your favorite vegetables. Some examples are roasted cauliflower, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, sweet potato, and eggplant.
I used gluten-free soy sauce, but feel free to use tamari or coconut aminos.
You can use canned black beans or cook them from dry. Also, I used fresh corn from the cob, but frozen corn or canned corn is fine too.
Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in a skillet with a lid. Freezing should work fine too.

Should you give this vegan quesadilla recipe a try, please leave a comment below, and don’t forget to tag me in re-creations on your Instagram or Facebook post with @elavegan and #elavegan because I love to see them.