What Are the Best Tips for Making Shrimp Quesadillas?

Some of the best tips for making shrimp quesadillas are to properly defrost the shrimp, spice the food enough so that it is not bland, and cook it on medium-high until well done. It is important to defrost the shrimp before putting together the shrimp quesdillas, because otherwise the cook’s guests will be eating raw or nearly raw shrimp. Next, shrimp quesdillas often require a lot of spice to keep them from being bland, including but not limited to fresh cilantro, chilies, and salt and pepper. The corn tortilla should be folded in half and then placed on a pre-heated skillet to cook until done.

If the cook is starting with raw, frozen shrimp, the seafood should be safely and properly defrosted and cooked before putting together the quesadillas. This can be done by placing them in a bowl with water and ice until they are completely defrosted. To cook the shrimp, they are usually dropped into boiling water for no more than two minutes. Shrimp that is cooked for too long is sometimes rubbery and tasteless, so not overdoing this step is important for both the flavor and texture of the final dish. If the shrimp is pre-cooked, it generally only needs to be defrosted and then added to the quesadilla; cooking it or microwaving the shrimp to warm them up will usually result in overdone shrimp.

There are many shrimp quesadilla recipes, but most of them require a good amount of spices to flavor the otherwise bland tortilla, shrimp, and cheese mix. In addition to cilantro, chilies, and salt and pepper, some people add lemon or lime juices, diced green onions, and garlic. There is no right or wrong way to create shrimp quesadillas as long as the tortilla, shrimp, and cheese are in their proper places, so a cook can experiment to find the spices that he or she most likes.

Shrimp quesadillas are typically cooked on medium-high heat until the corn tortilla begins to brown. It is important not to overdo this step because it is possible to end up with rubbery shrimp and a blackened tortilla. On the other hand, some people prefer their shrimp quesadillas to be very brown, nearly black, in which case the shrimp may need to spend less time in boiling water during the preparation stage. Once the quesadilla appears done, it is removed from the skillet and sliced similarly to a pizza and then left to cool until it can be eaten without burning the fingers.