Arizona Cheese Crisps are open-faced quesadillas made with extra-large, thin flour tortillas, toasted with butter and cheese, and served with strips of mild green chiles.
Here’s one of my favorite recipes from my mom—what she calls “Sonora Quesadilla,” popular in Tucson, Arizona, where they’re known as “cheese chips.”
Unlike our usual stovetop quesadillas, which are made with corn or flour tortillas and jack cheese, cheese chips are open-faced and are made with very large flour tortillas that are roasted with butter and cheddar cheese, often topped with strips of mild green chillies.
They’re crispy, buttery, and absolutely delicious.
The tortillas used to make cheese chips are much thinner than the sturdy burrito-sized flour tortillas we’ve found for this craft. It just means we have to cook them a little longer to get them crispy. Don’t stack too much cheese; as with pizza, this has a negative impact on the result.
- Want to make your own tortillas? Try this recipe: Homemade Flour Tortillas
Arizona Cheese Chips
If you want green chiles on your quesadilla (they’re optional), you can either roast your own (use Anaheims, Hatch, or Poblano) or use canned whole green chiles.
To roast your own, blacken them over a gas stove, on a grill, or under a grill, then place the chiles in a covered bowl for a few minutes, then rub off the blackened skin.
(See the video How to Roast Chilies over a Gas Flame.) Then deseed and cut into strips.
ingredients
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one bigBurrito size (13 inch diameter or larger) flour tortilla
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1 tablespoon butter
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1/2 Cup grated cheddar cheese
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1 or 2 roasted green chilliespeeled, cored, cut into strips (optional)
method
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Preheat oven to 350°F:
with a stand in the middle.
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Butter a flour tortilla to the edges:
Place the flour tortilla on a large baking sheet (a dark-colored baking sheet or baking sheet works best). Spread the butter all over the tortilla to the edges. The butter is essential to the flavor of a cheese chip, so don’t skip it!
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Bake the tortilla until lightly toasted:
Bake the Easy Butter Tortilla for about 6 minutes or until it just starts to get lightly toasted. (Check the timing for your particular oven.)
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Sprinkle with cheese, add strips of green chili, back in the oven:
Remove the tortilla from the oven and sprinkle with the cheddar cheese, leaving about 1/2 inch from the edges. If you like, add strips of green chili in a star pattern.
Place the tortilla back in the oven and bake an additional 2 minutes or until all the cheese is melted. Take out of the oven and eat!
My mom will use the convection setting on her oven when making these cheese chips. For convection, she places the buttered tortilla in a cold oven and heats it on convection at 375°F for 7 to 10 minutes. She then sprinkles the cheese on top and puts the quesadilla in the oven for a few more minutes.
Links:
Flour tortillas: where they come from and how to make them
Quesadilla Recipe
Classic Cheese Chips – by What’s Gaby Cooking
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 489 | calories |
| 34g | Fat |
| 29g | carbohydrates |
| 17g | protein |
