Quesadillas de Jaiba (Crab Quesadillas)
Corn tortillas folded around sweet white crab, melting cheese and a layer of refried beans, griddled until crisp and served with salsa roja.
Made with Salsa roja (cooked red salsa) and Corn tortillas from masa harina and Refried beans (frijoles refritos). Make a batch of the base first, then this takes minutes. Skip to the method
- Time30 min
- LevelEasy
- Costabout £2.24 a head
Cost is worked out from Aldi and Tesco shelf prices in October 2026. Your shop and brands will differ.
Ingredients
Tick what you need to buy. It goes on your shopping list.
Method
- 1
Gently mix the crab with the spring onions, coriander, lime juice and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Do not break the crab up too much.
- 2
Warm your ready made corn tortillas (see the base recipe) in a dry frying pan for 20 seconds each side so they are soft and pliable. Keep them covered with a cloth.
1 min 20 s - 3
Spread a thin layer of your ready made refried beans (see the base recipe) over half of each tortilla. Add a spoonful of the cheese and a spoonful of the crab, then fold over into a half moon and press the edge.
- 4
Brush a large pan or griddle lightly with oil and heat over a medium heat. Cook the quesadillas 2 to 3 at a time for 2 to 3 minutes each side, until the cheese is melted and the tortilla is crisp with brown flecks.
6 min - 5
Warm your ready made salsa roja (see the base recipe) in a small pan or serve it at room temperature.
- 6
Serve the quesadillas hot, cut into wedges if you like, with the salsa roja and lime wedges.
Tips
- Do not overfill. Overloaded quesadillas split open and leak cheese into the pan.
- Use a thin layer of beans on one half only. Too much makes the filling heavy and the tortilla soggy.
- Pasteurised white crab meat from a tub is the easiest UK option. Check it for stray shell fragments.
- Press the quesadilla lightly with a spatula as it cooks so the cheese melts evenly.
Storing and freezing
Eat fresh. Leftovers keep in the fridge for 1 day. Crab is perishable, so cool within 1 hour and reheat in a hot oven or pan until steaming hot all the way through. Do not freeze.
Questions
Can I use brown crab meat too?
Yes. Mix about 50 g of brown crab meat into the white meat for a richer, more intense flavour. Use less if you are not a fan of strong crab taste.
Can I use flour tortillas?
Yes, large flour tortillas make a bigger, crisper quesadilla in the northern Mexican style, but they contain gluten. Corn tortillas are more traditional for jaiba.
Is it gluten free?
Yes, if you use gluten free corn tortillas. Crab, cheese, beans and salsa contain no gluten. It contains milk and shellfish, so it is not suitable for those allergies.
More made with salsa roja (cooked red salsa)
Double check before you cook. Recipes can contain mistakes. Any diet labels come from the ingredients as written in this recipe and are a guide, not a guarantee. Always check every ingredient and the packet label for allergens and cross contamination, and ask your doctor or dietitian what is right for you, especially with coeliac disease, diabetes or a serious allergy. This is not medical advice.