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Breakfast quesadillas are a high protein meal that I normally serve on weekend mornings. The tortillas are stuffed with crispy O’Brien potatoes, scrambled egg whites, ham and fat free cheddar cheese and grilled until the tortillas are crispy and the cheese is melted and gooey.
You can substitute in breakfast sausages or Canadian bacon in place of the ham and your favorite cheese in place of the fat free cheddar. You can also use plain hash browns, or diced roasted sweet potatoes or butternut squash in place of the O’Brien potatoes. I have made all these variations at one time or another and they are all delicious.
We love breakfast food all day long. You can pair breakfast quesadillas with a side of fruit, cup of soup or a side salad and serve them instead for a satisfying lunch or dinner.
Please see the recipe card below for exact amounts and directions.
Ingredient Round Up
- Low carb tortillas – I used Mission Carb Balance flour tortillas.
- Frozen O’Brien potatoes or hash browns. You can substitute homemade hash browns.
- Egg whites – You can substitute whole eggs.
- Ham from the deli, leftover baked ham – I used a slice of ham from a ham quarter from Aldi.
- Shredded fat free cheddar cheese or your favorite cheese.
- Salt & pepper
- Butter
Sodium Alert: This is a high sodium recipe. The tortillas, ham and cheese are all high in sodium. If you use lower sodium ham, cheese and tortillas the sodium content in the recipe will be reduced from 996 mg to 776 mg. You can either make sure your other meals for the day are low in sodium to compensate or pass on this recipe. See the low sodium product list under ‘Resources’ in the top menu bar.
Making the Breakfast Quesadillas
- Place the frozen O’Brien potatoes on a baking tray. Bake in an air fryer or traditional oven until cooked. Set aside.
- While the potatoes are cooking, place the egg whites in a mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to the eggs and beat with a fork.
- Take a stick of butter and peel back the paper. Quickly rub the stick of butter over the surface of a hot skillet. When I do this, I use 4 g butter.
- Add the beaten egg whites to the skillet and scramble and cook until done. Set aside.
- Chop the ham and set aside.
- Spread the cooked O’Brien potatoes on the bottom half of a flour tortilla.
- Spread out the scrambled egg whites over the O’Brien potatoes.
- Evenly place the chopped ham over the scrambled egg whites.
- Sprinkle the shredded fat free cheddar cheese over the chopped ham.
- Fold the top half of the flour tortilla over the ingredients on the bottom half.
- Place the quesadilla in a two sided electric grill, such as a George Foreman grill, panini press, or cook in a skillet.
- Grill until the tortilla is crispy and the cheese is melted.
- Transfer the grilled quesadilla to a plate. Cut in thirds, serve and enjoy.
Serving Ideas
- Egg, potato, ham and cheese quesadillas are a great weekend breakfast. You can serve them with fruit or yogurt parfait to round off the meal.
- Breakfast quesadillas make a satisfying lunch or dinner when served with a cup of soup or a side salad.
- Quesadilla brunch bars can be fun. Have scrambled egg whites/eggs, breakfast meats such as chopped ham, sausage and bacon, hash browns, shredded cheese, vegetables such as chopped onion, bell peppers and mushrooms and tortillas available. Let folks put together their own quesadillas and pop it into a two sided grill or panini maker.
WW 4 pt per breakfast quesadilla
Servings: 2 quesadillas
Calories: 234.1kcal
Equipment
- air fryer
- cuisinart grill or panini press
- small baking tray
- small mixing bowl
- fork or whisk
- skillet
- spatula
- knife
Ingredients
- 2 Mission carb balance tortillas or your favorite brand
- 1½ c frozen O'Brien hash brown potatoes
- 2½ oz chopped ham
- 6 egg whites
- 4 tbsp shredded fat free cheddar
- pinch salt
- pinch pepper
- 1 stick butter (see notes)
- olive oil spray
Instructions
Prepping the Ingredients
- Line the air fryer baking tray with aluminum foil. Spread the O'Brien potatoes out on the tray and spritz them with the olive oil spray.
- Cook the potatoes at 400℉ on the top level of the air fryer for 8 min. Remove the potatoes from the air fryer. Turn the potatoes over and return them to the air fryer for another 3-4 min. They are done when they are tender and crispy. Set aside.
- Chop the ham into bite size pieces and set aside.
- Place the egg whites into a mixing bowl. Add the salt and pepper. Use a whisk or fork to beat the egg whites until frothy.
- Preheat the skillet. Pull back the paper on the stick of butter. Quickly rub the stick of butter over the bottom of the skillet. When I normally do this, I use 4 g of butter.
- Add the egg whites to the buttered skillet. Use a spatula to scramble the eggs as you cook them. Remove the eggs from the skillet when done and set aside.
Preparing the Breakfast Quesadillas
- Preheat the double sided electric grill or panini grill to 400℉.
- Place a flour quesadilla on a plate. Spread half of the air fried O'Brien hash brown potatoes on the bottom half of the quesadilla.
- Spread out half of the scrambled egg whites over the potato layer.
- Spread half of the chopped ham over the scrambled egg layer.
- Sprinkle half of the shredded fat free cheddar cheese over the chopped ham layer.
- Fold the top half of the tortilla over the bottom half. Transfer the quesadilla to the electric grill or panini press. Lower the lid and grill until the tortilla is crispy and the cheese is melted. If you don't have a grill or panini press, you can cool the quesadilla in a hot skillet.
- Transfer the grilled quesadilla to a plate. Cut into thirds and serve.
Notes
When I make scrambled eggs, I prefer to lightly rub a stick of butter over the surface of the skillet. On several different occasions, I weighed the stick of butter before and after greasing the skillet with it. I routine find that I use 4 g of butter when using this method.
This is a high sodium recipe. The tortillas, ham and cheese are all high in sodium. If you use lower sodium ham, cheese and tortillas the sodium content in the recipe will be reduced from 996 mg to 776 mg. You can either make sure your other meals for the day are low in sodium to compensate or pass on this recipe.
Nutrition
Serving: 1quesadilla | Calories: 234.1kcal | Carbohydrates: 31.3g | Protein: 28.2g | Fat: 4.2g | Saturated Fat: 1.3g | Sodium: 996mg | Fiber: 16.8g | Sugar: 1.9g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
