Goose and Pepper Philly Cheesesteak Quesadillas are filled with thinly sliced goose breast, peppers, mushrooms, onions, and plenty of provolone cheese. Then they're cooked in a skillet until the tortillas are crisp and the cheese has melted around all that hot, savory filling. If you're looking for an easy goose recipe after a successful waterfowl hunt, this is one you'll want to make again and again.
As a wild game chef and full-time recipe developer living in Fargo, North Dakota, I've spent more than two decades hunting waterfowl and just as much time figuring out better ways to cook the birds I bring home. Canada goose breasts are wonderfully lean and deeply flavored, but they reward a cook who understands how to handle them.
That's particularly true with these goose quesadillas.
Instead of cooking the breasts whole, I slice them thinly against the grain, season them generously, and give them just a few minutes in a hot skillet. Add peppers, onions, mushrooms, provolone, and crisp flour tortillas, and suddenly two goose breasts from just one goose become an easy family dinner that disappears remarkably fast at our house.
October is prime time for chasing honkers across North Dakota. After a cold morning in a harvested field, with decoys scattered across the stubble and geese moving overhead, this is exactly the sort of meal I want waiting at the other end of the day.
Why You'll Love These Goose Quesadillas
The inspiration is a Philly cheesesteak, but the method is pure weeknight cooking.
You get thin strips of seasoned goose and peppers tucked among tender mushrooms, onions, and melted provolone. A thin smear of mayonnaise adds richness before you fold everything into a flour tortilla and return it to the skillet.
Most importantly, this goose quesadilla recipe doesn't require any specialized cooking skills.
Start with slicing the goose breast. Look closely at the meat and identify the direction of the muscle fibers. Then turn your knife perpendicular to those fibers and slice across them. Cutting the meat about ¼-inch thick gives you pieces that cook quickly and are easier to chew.
When cooking, don't crowd the skillet. You want the goose to meet a properly heated pan and begin cooking immediately. Since the meat is sliced thin, about three minutes is all it needs in this goose quesadilla recipe.
Then comes the part that makes the kitchen smell amazing: mushrooms, red and green peppers, and onion hitting the same skillet. They pick up the seasoned bits left behind by the goose while softening and sweetening.
An Easy Goose Recipe for Family Dinner
I'm always trying to find recipes that bridge the distance between hunting and an ordinary Tuesday night.
Bringing home a Canada goose matters to me, but so does what happens afterward.
I want my wife, Melissa, and our 11-year-old daughter, Lucia, to look forward to eating the wild game we bring home. And I want the meals we make from it to give us another reason to sit down together.
These goose and pepper Philly cheesesteak quesadillas do exactly that.
I'll set the cutting board on the table with the quesadillas sliced into thirds while they're still hot. The tortillas are crisp enough to hear when you bite into them, while the provolone inside remains soft and stretchy. Then we sit down, pass food around, talk about school or our plans for the upcoming weekend, and somehow six quesadillas don't look like nearly as many as they did five minutes earlier.
For me, that's one of the best parts of cooking wild game.
The hunt may begin before sunrise in a North Dakota field, but it doesn't really end until I've turned what I brought home into something worth sharing around our dinner table.
Tips for the Best Goose and Pepper Quesdaillas
- Slice against the grain. This is especially important with Canada goose breast. Cutting across the muscle fibers shortens them and makes each bite easier to chew.
- Keep the goose thin. Aim for slices about ¼-inch thick so they cook quickly and evenly.
- Use the same skillet. After cooking the goose, sauté the vegetables right in the same pan. Those browned, seasoned bits left behind contribute flavor to the mushrooms, peppers, and onion.
- Don't overfill the tortillas. Half a cup of filling is enough. It may not look like much when you first spoon it on, but once you add two slices of provolone and fold the tortilla, you'll have a substantial quesadilla that's still manageable to flip.
- Watch the heat. Medium heat gives the cheese time to melt while the tortilla crisps. Too much heat can scorch the tortilla before the center gets hot.
COME GOOSE HUNTING IN NORTH DAKOTA
If you would like to come to North Dakota and experience an amazing waterfowl hunt, check out the North Dakota Game and Fish website. And if you want me to come along with you as your camp cook, photographer, or butcher, you can find out more details here.
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Goose Philly Cheesesteak Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 2 goose breasts from 1 Canada goose
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 teaspoons avocado oil, divided divided
- 8 ounces white or baby bella mushrooms chopped
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- ½ medium yellow onion chopped
- 6 flour tortillas medium burrito size
- 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise divided
- 12 slices provolone cheese
Instructions
- On a cutting board, use a sharp knife to slice the goose breasts thin (about ¼-inch-thick) against the grain.
- Transfer sliced meat to a bowl, then season with salt, garlic powder, oregano, and pepper. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 2 teaspoons of the avocado oil and cook the goose until fully cooked, about 3 minutes. Remove from the skillet and transfer to a large plate.
- Sauté mushrooms, peppers, and onion in the same skillet with 1 teaspoon of oil until tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the same large plate with the cooked goose meat and toss to mix.
- Spread 1 teaspoon of mayonnaise on each tortilla. Place ½ cup of the meat and vegetable filling onto one side of the tortilla. Top with 2 slices of cheese and close the tortilla.
- In the same skillet, over medium heat, add 1 teaspoon of oil. Cook two quesadillas at a time for about 2 minutes per side, or until crispy and the cheese is melted.
- Remove from skillet, cut each quesadilla into thirds. Repeat with remaining quesadillas.
Jerry says
These were amazing!
Jeff Benda says
Thanks Jerry!