Have leftover corned beef from your St. Patrick’s Day dinner last night? Repurpose your leftover corned beef and make this delicious Loaded Irish Quesadillas recipe that’s exploding with mashed potatoes, caramelized onions, cheese, and of course, corned beef!

Raise your hand if you had corned beef last night for your St. Patty’s Day dinner? We did over here in the Hernandez house and I have to admit, it was absolutely delicious!

This is the second time I made corned beef this month. It has been on sale almost every week at Publix so it was kind of hard not to grab one before St. Patrick’s Day. Plus, it’s one of the easiest things to cook because you can throw it in a crockpot and forget about it until dinnertime.

At least that’s what I do. I used a recipe very similar to this one but I didn’t add cabbage. I know that’s not really the “Irish way” to do it but it’s the way we like it here in our house. I’m curious, how do you cook your corned beef?

Getting back to my first corned beef from earlier this month. I must admit, it probably was the best corned beef I have ever made to date. It seriously melted in your mouth. I bought a 4-pound corned beef for the three of us just so I could have extras to make these loaded Irish quesadillas.

The corned beef was so stinking good that we literally ate it all in one night. I served it up on some rye bread with spicy mustard and “The Boys” devoured it. Okay, I had my fair share too!

Knowing how much they enjoyed that first corned beef, I purchased an even bigger one for my second go-round because I absolutely wanted extras to make these yummy quesadillas. I’m sure you can already guess (since I’m writing a post about Irish quesadillas) that there were plenty of extras to go around.

In all honesty, part of the reason we had extras last night was mainly because the corned beef was a little bit on the drier side. The only difference between my first corned beef and the one I cooked last night was the time it spent in the crockpot. The first corned beef cooked for a good 10 hours on low, while the one last night only cooked for 8 hours.

My advice to anyone making corned beef in their crockpot is to let it cook low and slow for as long as possible. The 10-hour mark made for a perfect corned beef in my opinion!

With the extra corned beef in the refrigerator, I was finally able to make my long-awaited loaded Irish quesadillas. I’d love to say these were 100% my original idea but I’d be lying if I did. They are, however, my own rendition of a dish I tried at a local restaurant.

A couple of summers ago, Zach and one of his friends created a music duo called, Burn Wolf. Through a connection that his friend’s father had, the boys got a weekly gig at the local (you guessed it) Irish pub.

It was a very exciting time. Not only did we get to watch Zach perform on a weekly basis, but we got to do so while drinking a couple of pints and eating some delicious bar food. It was a win all the way around!

My favorite item on the menu was hands down the loaded Irish quesadillas. They stuck out to me the very first time I looked at the menu. I had never tried anything like them and I was instantly intrigued. I loved all the ingredients listed for the dish (corned beef, cheese, mashed potatoes, onions) so I figured I’d give them a try. 

It was love at first bite! I believe I ate every last morsel on my plate that first day and didn’t even feel guilty about it at all. The quesadillas were seriously that good.

I continued to order those loaded Irish quesadillas on a weekly basis until the dreaded day that they changed their menu and no longer offered them anymore. Let me tell you, it was like a knife through my heart. I was so very sad but became determined to recreate that same recipe at home.

And that is how the recipe for these Loaded Irish Quesadillas was born. Some of the best recipes I have in my arsenal were all created in these same stressful situations. I needed to create something in a pinch to satisfy my obsession. I didn’t have a choice…

Loaded Irish Quesadillas

What you need: leftover corned beef, mashed potatoes (store-bought or homemade), shredded cheese (cheddar, colby jack, etc.), flour tortillas, onions (sauteed or caramelized), butter

Before I share the recipe, I want to note that you can make this recipe as easy or complex as your little heart desires. What do I mean by this? If you have an awesome recipe for homemade mashed potatoes and you want to use them in these quesadillas, more power to you. I used a packet of mashed potatoes for simplicity. I did, however, opt to caramelize my onions instead of just sauteing them. The decisions are all yours, my friend!

You want to start by either caramelizing or sauteing your onions. I chose to caramelize mine using this recipe. It’s super easy to caramelize onions but it does take some time. If you are crunched for time, I suggest sauteing your onions instead.

Place your first tortilla on a cutting board and sprinkle on a generous amount of cheese. I went with a Colby Jack variety for my quesadillas.

Next, spread on a layer of mashed potatoes. I used the Idahoan variety that comes in a packet. Fancy, I know!

Add a generous amount of your leftover corned beef on top of the mashed potatoes.

The onions are next. Again, I went with the caramelized variety for mine and I wasn’t disappointed.

Sprinkle on another generous amount of cheese.

Add your second flour tortilla on top. Check out how loaded these quesadillas are!

Melt a tablespoon of butter in a saute pan over medium heat.

Carefully transfer your quesadilla to your pan and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes on the first side. Keep an eye on this. You just want to brown the tortilla.

Flip over the quesadilla and brown the other side. Typically this side will take a little less time so be aware of that.

Remove your quesadillas from the stovetop and cut into quarters. And that’s all she wrote!

I highly suggest you grab yourself a pint of green beer, yoga pants, and a plate filled to the brim with these Loaded Irish Quesadillas. If you want to share it with your family, that’s totally up to you. I won’t tell either way!

Want to remember this? Post this recipe for Loaded Irish Quesadillas to your favorite Pinterest board!

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