This copycat Taco Bell Quesadilla Sauce has a flavorful, creamy kick for all your south-of-the-border recipes!
Create this quesadilla sauce with a little sour cream, mayonnaise, jalapeños, and some southwestern spices!
Skip the drive through and enjoy restaurant-quality flavor without ever having to leave home!
Ingredients and Variations
Make this copycat recipe for Taco Bell’s quesadilla sauce in the comfort of home with simple ingredients you likely have on hand – free of additives or preservatives.
Dairy – Use full-fat sour cream and mayonnaise for the best flavor and creamiest consistency. Greek yogurt can be switched out for the sour cream, if necessary.
Seasonings – Use more or less jalapenos and cayenne pepper depending on how spicy you want it to be.
Variations – A teaspoon of tomato paste or a few dashes of Tabasco add depth of flavor to copycat quesadilla sauce! Mix in some finely shredded Mexican cheese blend, if desired.
How to make Copycat Taco Bell Quesadilla Sauce
This copycat Taco Bell chicken quesadilla sauce is ready in one step!
- Whisk all the ingredients together, as described in the recipe below.
- Chill at least an hour before using.
Best Serving Ideas
- Drizzle quesadilla sauce in tacos, burritos, over Frito pie , Mexican pizza, chicken taquitos, or over grilled steaks for a southwestern flavor punch!
- It also makes a great salad dressing thinned with a little milk or heavy whipping cream! Perfect on a homemade taco salad!
- It’s also super tasty as a dipping sauce for nachos, quesadillas, and crispy chicken nuggets or wings.
How To Store Quesadilla Sauce
Keep copycat Taco Bell quesadilla sauce in a jar with a tight-fitting lid in the refrigerator for up to a month (like any homemade salad dressing).
More Mexican Inspired Recipes!
Did you try this recipe for Copycat Taco Bell Quesadilla Sauce? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Copycat Taco Bell Quesadilla Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise not Miracle Whip
- 1 tablespoon jalapeños chopped, fresh or canned
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- cayenne pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add sour cream, mayonnaise, jalapeños, garlic powder, cumin, paprika, salt and cayenne pepper. Mix together thoroughly.
- Allow the sauce to chill in the fridge for at least an hour, to let the flavors develop.
Notes
- Store leftovers in a jar with a tight-fitting lid in the refrigerator for up to a month.
- Add a little milk or cream to create a zesty salad dressing.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
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This was perfect!
Just tried this. It’s a keeper for sure! So easy to whip up and if your in a hurry it still tastes great with only a 15 min fridge wait.
So glad to hear you love this sauce Irene!
Are the nutritional information based on per serving of 4? Thank you!
Yes Stephanie, the number of servings is right above the recipe title. Enjoy!
I LOVE this sauce!! I’m confused about the nutritional information. Are the 107 calories and 10 grams of fat in the entire four servings, or is that for 1/4 of the entire sauce that the recipe makes?
Great question Erika! The nutritional information is always per serving, so this is for ¼ of the sauce. Enjoy!
This turned out so yummy! I used canned Jalepenos that I had on hand. I also blended it in a food processor to make it more smooth and uniform. Very very similar to Taco Bell.
Yay! That’s what we like to hear Abigail. So happy you enjoyed it.
Way too much garlic powder too much for me anyway
Oh no, sorry to hear that Kyle! You can definitely reduce the garlic powder to taste 🙂
delicious! i love it! quesadillas are my favorite, especially from Taco Bell. Their sauce it amazing. Thank you so much for the great recipe!
Thank you Sylvanna! I’m so happy to hear that you love this recipe as much as we do!
My husband made homemade quesadillas and the only thing that was missing was the jalapeno sauce and I think this would actually make the kicker. I hope that we can make this the right way and it comes out good.
Mmmm, that sounds delicious Lisa-Ann! I hope this satisfies that missing ingredient craving!
My mouth is watering. I have to make this tonight!”
Please do Maggie!
Just sub cayenne for a bit more paprika
Hey! Can we refrigerate the sauce and if we can for how long?
It should last a few days. If you refrigerate it immediately and take out only what you use, I’d say up to 5 days or so.
Found your recipe via googling for a copy cat of the Taco Bell quesadilla sauce. I love their steak quesadillas. Made the sauce. Spot on! Thanks! I’m sharing the recipe with friends who love it, too.
So glad you loved it, thank you for sharing!
I’m a bit of a spice wuss and this was WAY too hot for me. It had to have been the jalapeños, which were weirdly chunky in the sauce which is unlike Taco Bell’s. I tried mincing them finer to make a smoother sauce but it didn’t quite work out. My chopped jalapeños came from a jar and were without seeds and still too spicy for me. Again, I’m a spice wuss. This recipe was very close flavor-wise, just way too hot for me? Anyone have any suggestion or advice to tone down the heat?
You can soak the jalapenos in water for a bit (30 minutes or so) to lose some of the spice. Also blend them in a food processor if you have one & that will eliminate the chunks.
The Mezzetta brand makes a “tamed” version of pickled jalapenos. With these you get the flavor, but not the heat.
I used jarred jalapeños and only used the juice. I think that it have less of a kick then putting actual jalapeños.
I love this recipe but I don’t used jalapeños, I use Frank’s red hot and I don’t put in the garlic and I add sugar to my tastes and I love it. I’m not big into to much spicy stuff so this worked really well. Don’t know if this is a help but just thought I’d let you know
This is the best copycat recipe I have tried! I used smoked paprika instead of normal paprika (has a more smoked baconish flavor) but it was spot on!!! Thank you so much!!!
So happy that you love it Chas! You’re welcome!
Perfect! I have been making this at least every two weeks since I came across this site. I think my husband looks forward to steak nights just so that we can make quesadillas the next day with the leftover steak!
The only thing I would say is that you definitely need to let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. An hour is not enough and it tastes completely different the next day!
OMG I CANNOT WAIT TO TRY THIS!!!! I’ve been wondering what was in that sauce! So good!
Enjoy Jenn! It’s so delicious!
We had this today and the garlic was way over powering. Next time we’ll only do half of what recipe calls for garlic powder.
Awesome sauce! How long do you think this could last in the fridge. I made extra and really dont know. Thanks for the great recipes.
It should last a few days. If you refrigerate it immediately and take out only what you use, I’d say up to 5 days or so.
I tried this sauce last night and it is perfect! It tastes so close to the Taco Bell version. My husband and I ate way too much last night because we couldn’t get enough of that sauce. Yum!!
Tasted great. I made it a second time and substituted the cayenne pepper for Chipotle and used half jalopeno/half habanero. Highly recommend if you want a little more of a kick.
Yum, great substitutions Chris!
This recipe definetly came close! The only thing I would have to say is add some more paprika and cumin, and also add a pinch of onion powder and sugar. If you want it extra spicy I wouldn’t add the jalapeño seeds- almost burned my tongue off on that one, and I love spicy! Fun new sauce to try, especially if you’re like me and can’t get enough of Taco Bell sauces!! Thanks!
The sauce sounds delicious! What recipe did you use for the quesadillas?