The BBQ Recipe I've Cooked More Than Any Other (And Never Messed Up)

I own probably a dozen barbecue cookbooks. I've spent hours reading bibles on smoking. I've experimented with duck, cured my own bacon, and chased the perfect smoke ring on a pork shoulder. Some of those cooks were triumphs. Some were expensive learning experiences.

But the recipe I've cooked more times than any other — the one I make when friends are coming over, when I can't be bothered planning, when I want something that's guaranteed to work and guaranteed to disappear — is a recipe I found on Weber's own website.

Chipotle Chicken Quesadillas. That's it. That's the one.

Why This Recipe Works

It's deceptively simple. You grill chicken breasts and corn cobs on the barbecue, slice them up, load them into flour tortillas with chipotle chillies, cheese, onion and coriander, then grill the folded tortillas until the cheese melts and the outside goes golden and crisp. Serve with a quick guacamole and sour cream.

That's the whole thing. Twenty minutes of prep, thirty minutes on the grill, feeds four people generously, and every time I make it someone asks for the recipe.

The reason it never fails is that there's almost nothing that can go wrong. The chicken breasts are forgiving — a minute over or under doesn't ruin them. The corn is grilled whole and cut off the cob after, so there's no fiddly work on the barbecue. The assembly is fast and intuitive. And the final grilling of the tortillas takes two minutes a side — just long enough to melt the cheese and crisp the shell without burning anything.

It's the rare recipe where the technique is simple enough for a complete beginner but the result tastes like you know what you're doing.

The Chipotle Is the Secret

If you haven't cooked with chipotle chillies in adobo sauce before, this recipe is your introduction. Chipotles are smoked jalapeños, packed in a thick, dark, smoky-sweet sauce. They're not blow-your-head-off hot — they're warm, rich, and deeply flavoured. A couple of tablespoons finely chopped and spread on the tortillas before you add the filling is what lifts this from a standard chicken quesadilla to something genuinely memorable.

You'll find them tinned in the Mexican section of most supermarkets (for this specifically, Woolies is my go-to), or at any decent deli. A single tin is more than you need for one batch — leave the jar with the rest in the fridge for next time, it won’t be long!

How I Cook It

I use my Weber Q at the Daylesford cottage or the Weber Pulse when I'm in the city. Both work perfectly — you just need a grill with a flat surface and a lid.

The method, in my words:

Start with the chicken and corn. Oil them lightly, season with salt and pepper, and get them on the grill over direct medium heat with the lid closed. The chicken needs about eight to ten minutes a side. The corn needs about twelve minutes, turning it a quarter every few minutes so it chars evenly. Both should have good colour and a bit of char when they come off. I start the corn just before the chicken and have them all come off at the same time.

Rest the chicken for five minutes. This is the step most people skip, and it's the step that makes the difference between juicy chicken and dry chicken. Five minutes. Just leave it on a board.

While the chicken rests, prep your fillings. Slice the corn kernels off the cobs. Finely chop the red onion. Mash the avocado with lime juice, salt and pepper for a quick guacamole. Get the tortillas, cheese, coriander (if you’re into that), and chipotle chillies ready to go.

Slice the chicken thin. Thin slices melt into the quesadilla better than thick chunks. You want every bite to have chicken, corn, cheese, and a hit of chipotle.

Assemble the tortillas. Spray one side of each tortilla lightly with olive oil — that side goes face down. On the top side, spread a thin layer of chipotle on one half, then layer the chicken, corn, onion, coriander and cheese on top. Fold in half.

Back on the grill. Two minutes a side over medium heat. You're looking for a golden, lightly crispy tortilla with cheese melting out of the edges. The trick when flipping: slide a metal spatula under the round edge and flip toward the fold, so the fillings don't spill out.

Serve immediately with the guacamole, sour cream, and lime wedges.

Why I Keep Coming Back to It

Every barbecue cook has a repertoire — the recipes they can make without thinking, the ones they trust absolutely. This is at the top of mine.

Part of it is reliability. I've never had a bad batch. The recipe is robust enough that variations in timing, heat, or ingredient quantities don't derail it. Slightly overcooked chicken? The chipotle and cheese carry it. Corn a bit under-charred? Still delicious. Forgot the coriander? Doesn't matter.

Part of it is speed. From cold grill to food on the table in under an hour, including prep. That makes it perfect for the weekend lunch that wasn't planned — someone calls on Saturday morning, you check the fridge, and you've got everything you need.

And part of it is the reaction. There's something about a table full of chipotlequesadillas — golden, smoky, messy, — that makes people happy in a way that more ambitious cooking doesn't always manage. Nobody's intimidated by a quesadilla. Nobody needs to know what's in it before they try it. People just pick one up and eat, and then they pick up another one, and then the plate is empty. The chipotle quietly heroes the dish while everybody’s busy tucking in.

The Shopping List

Almost everything here is a pantry staple or a quick supermarket grab:

Three chicken breasts (skinless, boneless), two corn cobs, a red onion, a jar of chipotle chillies in adobo sauce (check Woolies if your local preferred shop doesn’t have them), flour tortillas, cheddar cheese, a couple of avocados, a lime, sour cream, fresh coriander, olive oil, salt and pepper. That's it.

Total cost for four people: well under $30. Total effort: minimal. Total risk of failure: essentially zero.

What I Drink With It

A cold beer is the obvious pairing and it's a good one. Something pale and crisp — a lager or a pale ale — cuts through the richness of the cheese and complements the smoky chipotle.

If you're reaching for wine, a dry rosé works beautifully. The acidity and freshness balance the heat and the richness without competing with the flavours. A slightly chilled pinot noir is another option if you'd prefer red.

Or, if you're in Daylesford on a Saturday afternoon and you've just pulled these off the Weber Q in the garden, a cider from the Daylesford Cidery down the road is hard to beat.

The Full Recipe

I'm not going to reproduce Weber's recipe here — they wrote it, and they deserve the credit and the traffic. Head to the Weber Australia recipe page for the full ingredients list and method. What I've given you above is how I actually cook it, which is the same recipe with a few personal habits built in.

If you own a Weber — any Weber — and you haven't tried this one yet, it should be your next cook. And if it becomes your go-to the way it's become mine, I won't be surprised.

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