Low-Carb Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Quesadillas

These Low-Carb Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Quesadillas are about as easy as it gets for a quick breakfast without eggs, and they’re also low-glycemic and South Beach Diet Phase Two! Use the Diet-Type Index to find more recipes like this one.

Click here to PIN Low-Carb Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Quesadillas!

This is the time of year when you never know what the weather is going to be doing, so I like to think of season-spanning recipes that will taste no matter what the temperature is. And I think these Low-Carb Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Quesadillas definitely qualify for that category. You could enjoy these on the coldest winter day, and they’d also taste great in the summer. And for all those people who ask for low-carb breakfasts without eggs, this is a great option for that!

I first made this recipe at a time when I was infatuated with Mission Carb Balance Tortillas. I love those tortillas with only 3, 4, or 6 net carbs, depending on the size and which one you choose. (And no, they have not paid me to talk about their products, just in case you were wondering.) But probably what inspired these breakfast quesadillas the most is a long-time love of McDonald’s Sausage Biscuits! For years, any time I went on a road trip or had to leave the house early, I’d swing through McDonald’s drive-in window and get a Sausage Biscuit (no egg.) Of course when I started following a more carb-conscious eating plan I had to stop getting those sausage biscuits, although I might still get one once or twice a year!

But I still have my love for those flavors, and I think theseLow-Carb Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Quesadillas have a lot of the same flavor notes. I used low-fat turkey breakfast sausage patties and Costco Four Cheese Mexican Blend with the Carb Balance Low-Carb Tortillas to make a quesadilla that’s not too high in fat, but if you prefer higher fat, use pork sausage and any cheddar cheese blend that melts well. Kara and I thought these were delightful for a quick breakfast; give them a try and see what you think!

Heat a little olive oil in a heavy frying pan and cook the sausage over medium-high heat until it’s nicely browned on both sides. Cut sausage in half. Add a little more olive oil or butter to the pan and cover the tortilla with grated cheese (about 1/3 cup). Yes, we started with a non-stick pan but switched to a cast-iron frying pan after we’d made a few tortillas. And the cast iron was much better, but watch that it does’t get too hot!

Lay four cut sausage pieces across half the tortilla, then fold the other half over. Cook about 1-2 minutes per side (depending on your pan), until the cheese is nicely melted and both sides are slightly brown.

Serve quesadillas hot, with some salsa and sour cream to add at the table if desired.

More Tasty Ideas with Tortillas:
Low-Carb Breakfast Tacos with Sausage, Peppers, and Egg ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Breakfast Quesadillas with Smashed Avocado, Egg, and Spinach ~ The Perfect Pantry
Egg Burritos to Die For ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Copycat Applebees Tortillas ~ CopyKat Recipes

Print Recipe

Low-Carb Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Quesadillas

Yield: 4 servings

Total Time: 20 minutes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

When you want a low-carb breakfast that doesn’t have eggs, these Low-Carb Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Quesadillas are really a treat!

Ingredients:

• 8 breakfast sausage patties, turkey or pork (about 10 ounces ground turkey or pork)
• 1 tsp. + 2 tsp. olive oil (or use butter for cooking the quesadillas if you prefer)
• 4 low-carb flour tortillas (I used Mission Carb Balance Low-Carb Tortillas, 8 inch size)
• 1 1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese blend, more or less to taste (I used Kirkland 4-Cheese Mexican Blend)
• sour cream, salsa, hot sauce, or guacamole for serving, optional

Directions:

1. Heat one teaspoon olive oil in a large heavy frying pan. (Use a cast-iron frying pan if you have one.) Add the sausage patties and cook over medium-high heat until sausage is hot and well-browned on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side. Remove sausage to a cutting board and cut in half.
2. Add a tiny bit of olive oil (or butter) to the frying pan, turn heat to medium, and lay a tortilla in the pan.
3. Sprinkle the tortilla with enough cheese to lightly cover the surface (about 1/3 cup), lay four sausage pieces on one side of the tortilla, and fold the other side of the tortilla over to make a half-moon shaped quesadilla.
4. Turn tortilla over and cook until it’s slightly browned on the other side, turning again if needed to brown the first side. Cooking time will depend on your pan, but probably not more than about 2 minutes per side. (If you use cast iron, it will get hotter and hotter as you cook, so may need to turn the heat down for the last couple of quesadillas.)
5. Serve hot with things like sour cream, salsa, hot sauce, or guacamole to add at the table if desired.

This recipe created by Kalyn and Kara and inspired by Sausage Biscuits at McDonalds I used to eat before I started thinking about carbs!

All images and text ©Kalyn Denny for Kalyn's Kitchen.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
If you’re making these quesadillas for the South Beach Diet, it would be recommended to use turkey breakfast sausage and a low-fat cheese blend. For other low-carb diets, full-fat sausage and cheese would be preferred. TheMission Carb Balance Low-Carb TortillasI used have only 6 net carbs per tortilla, and since all the other ingredients have little or no carbs, this is a pretty low-carb treat for breakfast.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Nutritional Information?
If you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into this nutrition analyzer, which will calculate it for you. Or if you’re a member of Yummly, you can use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information there.