Cook Out Quesadilla — Calories, Tray Side & How to Order (2026)

What Is the Cook Out Quesadilla?

The Cook Out quesadilla is a grilled tortilla filled with melted cheese, sold in three versions: cheese (355 calories), chicken (449 calories) and beef (514 calories), according to the Cook Out official nutrition PDF. It is one of the few items at Cook Out that works both as a tray entree and as a tray side.

Cook Out, the drive-thru chain founded in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1989 and headquartered in Thomasville, North Carolina, lists quesadillas on its menu next to burgers, North Carolina barbecue, hot dogs, chicken and wraps. The nutrition PDF gives one portion for each filling: a 98.2 g cheese quesadilla, a 123 g chicken quesadilla and a 126.5 g beef quesadilla. It does not list a separate, smaller tray-side portion the way it does for nuggets, onion rings or hushpuppies, so the numbers on this page are the same whether you order a quesadilla on its own, as a side, or as part of a tray entree.

The quesadilla is sold at the roughly 370 Cook Out restaurants in 11 states listed on Cook Out’s store locator in October 2026. Most stores open at about 10:30 AM and serve until about 3 AM Sunday through Thursday and 4 AM on Friday and Saturday, so a quesadilla is available well into the night at most locations. Hours vary by store; see the Cook Out hours guide.

• Cheese quesadilla: 355 calories, 13 g protein, 24 g carbs, 644 mg sodium.
• Chicken quesadilla: 449 calories, 19 g protein, 31 g carbs, 788 mg sodium.
• Beef quesadilla: 514 calories, 22 g protein, 42 g carbs, 845 mg sodium.
• On a tray: food writers describe the quesadilla tray entree as two chicken or beef quesadillas; a single quesadilla is also picked as one of the two tray sides.

How Many Calories Are in a Cook Out Quesadilla?

A Cook Out cheese quesadilla has 355 calories, a chicken quesadilla 449 calories and a beef quesadilla 514 calories, per the Cook Out official nutrition PDF. None of the three includes a dipping sauce, and none contains trans fat.

The label arithmetic checks out. Using 9 calories per gram of fat and 4 per gram of carbohydrate or protein, the cheese quesadilla works out to 207 + 96 + 52 = 355 calories, exactly the published figure. The chicken version comes to 452 and the beef version to 517, both within a few calories of the official 449 and 514.

How much of your day is that?

Against the FDA Daily Values used on U.S. nutrition labels (78 g fat, 20 g saturated fat, 300 mg cholesterol, 2,300 mg sodium, 275 g carbohydrate, 50 g protein), one quesadilla looks like this:

Saturated fat is the number that stands out. A single cheese quesadilla supplies more than half of the Daily Value for saturated fat (11 g of 20 g), because most of its calories come from melted cheese. Sodium is moderate for one quesadilla, between 28% and 37% of the day, but it doubles quickly on a two-quesadilla tray. Use the Cook Out calorie calculator to add sides and a drink, or the Cook Out nutrition guide to compare the full menu.

Which Cook Out Quesadilla Filling Is Best?

For the fewest calories, pick cheese (355); for the most protein, pick beef (22 g); chicken sits in the middle on almost every measure. The three fillings differ less than you might expect, because cheese makes up much of every version.

Comparing each filled version with the plain cheese quesadilla shows what the meat adds. The chicken quesadilla is 24.8 g heavier than the cheese one and adds 94 calories, 6 g of protein, 7 g of carbohydrate, 144 mg of sodium and 15 mg of cholesterol. The beef quesadilla is 28.3 g heavier and adds 159 calories, 9 g of protein, 18 g of carbohydrate, 201 mg of sodium and 24 mg of cholesterol. The beef version’s extra carbohydrate is notable: it has 42 g against chicken’s 31 g, which suggests the beef filling carries more seasoning or sauce, though Cook Out does not publish an ingredient list to confirm it.

How the math works: the cheese quesadilla has 355 calories in 98.2 g, or 3.62 calories per gram; 13 g of protein in 355 calories is 3.7 g per 100 calories; and 23 g of fat at 9 calories per gram is 207 calories, or 58% of the total. The same formulas give the chicken and beef columns.

• Cheese: the lightest choice and the best fit as a tray side, but also the lowest in protein.
• Chicken: the balanced pick, with 19 g of protein, 94 calories fewer than beef and 6 g more protein than cheese.
• Beef: the most filling and the most protein, but also the most calorie-dense at 4.06 calories per gram.

One caveat: at 3.7 to 4.3 g of protein per 100 calories, all three quesadillas are lower in protein density than Cook Out’s char-grilled chicken sandwich (6.6 g) or chicken nuggets (6.9 g on the tray side). If protein is the goal, a quesadilla works best as a side next to a grilled chicken entree.

Is the Quesadilla a Cook Out Tray Side or a Tray Entree?

It can be both: a quesadilla tray entree is described as two chicken or beef quesadillas, and a single quesadilla can be chosen as one of the two sides on any tray. That flexibility is part of what makes the Cookout Tray unusual among fast-food combos.

A Cookout Tray is one entree, two sides and a drink. Food & Wine, writing about the chain’s tray format, listed “two quesadillas with chicken or beef” among the entree choices, alongside burgers and other mains. The same article quoted the idea behind the format: an entree can also be a side. Consumer-advice site Clark.com likewise lists the quesadilla among Cook Out’s side items, and first-hand reviews back that up: a Lagniappe review in Mobile, Alabama, described a cheese quesadilla “lightly browned with jack cheese” as one of two sides on a Two Hot Dog Tray, and a 2020 newsletter review described a tray with a BBQ sandwich, a corn dog and a beef quesadilla.

The two-quesadilla rows simply double Cook Out’s per-quesadilla figures, which assumes each quesadilla on the tray matches the portion in the nutrition PDF. Two chicken quesadillas reach 24 g of saturated fat (120% of the Daily Value) and two beef quesadillas 26 g (130%), before you add sides or a drink.

Which fillings count as a side can vary by store. Reviews mention both cheese and beef quesadillas as sides, but menu boards differ, so ask at the speaker if you want a chicken or beef quesadilla as a side rather than cheese. The Cook Out tray menu guide explains every entree, and the sides menu lists the other side choices.

How Do You Order a Quesadilla at Cook Out?

Say the tray first, then the entree, then the two sides and the drink, and name the quesadilla filling wherever it appears. For example: “Cookout Tray, Big Double Cook Out Style, cheese quesadilla and onion rings, regular Cheerwine.”

Sauces and toppings

Cook Out’s nutrition PDF lists no salsa, sour cream or sauce with the quesadillas, and none of the reviews we checked mention one served by default. Cook Out does sell sauce cups such as ranch, BBQ and honey mustard with other items, so ask at the window whether your store will add one. Remember that sauce calories are extra: secondary nutrition data puts a 1 oz ranch cup at about 140 calories.

Tips for a better quesadilla

• Eat it first. Melted cheese firms up and the tortilla softens as it steams in a closed bag, so the quesadilla is best in the first few minutes.
• Pick a light second side. A quesadilla side is already 355 to 514 calories; onion rings (128) or nuggets (144) keep a tray reasonable.
• Choose the drink carefully. A regular sweet tea adds 236 calories; unsweet tea, Diet Coke and Coke Zero Sugar add none. See the drinks menu.
• Delivery: quesadillas travel better than fried sides, but still lose their crispness; see the Cook Out delivery guide.

What Are the Best Cook Out Trays With a Quesadilla?

The lightest quesadilla tray in this set is a char-grilled chicken sandwich with a cheese quesadilla, onion rings and a Diet Coke at 860 calories; the heaviest is a two-beef-quesadilla tray with fries, hushpuppies and sweet tea at 1,911 calories. Each total adds Cook Out’s official per-item figures.

Side figures use the tray-side portions where Cook Out lists them (onion rings, nuggets, Cook Out Rounds, hushpuppies) and the single-item entries for quesadillas, fries and chili. The Big Double total adds the Cook Out Style toppings (chili, slaw, mustard and onions) at 123 calories. Drinks are regular 16 oz fountain sizes. Sauces are not included.

• The quesadilla tray is heavier than it looks. Two chicken quesadillas alone (898 calories) have more calories than any single sandwich or strip order in the entree comparison below.
• Use a quesadilla as a side, not the entree, if you are counting calories. The three trays with a single cheese quesadilla side all stay under 1,000 calories.
• Sodium adds up fastest with chili and hot dogs. The hot dog tray is the second lightest by calories but the second highest in sodium, because the Cook Out Style hot dog (1,118 mg) and side of chili (917 mg) are salty.
• Drink choice matters. Swapping the sweet tea in the beef tray for unsweet tea cuts 236 calories.

Build your own version in the calorie calculator, which adds one entree, two sides and a drink the same way.

How Does the Quesadilla Compare With Other Cook Out Tray Sides?

As a tray side, a quesadilla is one of the heaviest choices: the cheese version (355 calories) has more calories than a regular order of fries (347), and only the side of slaw (405) is higher among the sides below. In exchange, every quesadilla has more total protein than any other side in the table.

All values come from the Cook Out official nutrition PDF. The side of slaw is shown as published; its 405 calories are unusually high for a coleslaw portion, so treat that row with caution.

• Quesadilla vs cheese bites: both are cheese-forward, but a cheese quesadilla has 355 calories to the cheese bites’ 150 and more than twice the saturated fat (11 g vs 5 g). Per 100 calories the cheese bites actually have more protein (5.3 g vs 3.7 g).
• Quesadilla vs fries: a cheese quesadilla and a regular fries order are nearly tied on calories (355 vs 347), but the quesadilla has more than three times the protein (13 g vs 4 g) and slightly less sodium (644 mg vs 687 mg). See the Cook Out fries guide.
• Quesadilla vs hushpuppies: hushpuppies have 300 calories and just 2 g of protein; the cheese quesadilla adds 55 calories and 11 g more protein. Compare in the hush puppies guide.
• Quesadilla vs onion rings: onion rings are the lightest side at 128 calories, less than half a cheese quesadilla. Pairing the two is the easiest way to keep a quesadilla tray in check; see the onion rings guide.

How Does the Quesadilla Compare With Other Cook Out Entrees?

One chicken quesadilla (449 calories) is in the same range as Cook Out’s spicy chicken sandwich (446) and Big Double Cook Out Style (434), but it has less protein per calorie than any of the chicken sandwiches. A full two-quesadilla tray entree is heavier than every sandwich in the table.

The Big Double row adds the base burger (311 calories) and the Cook Out Style toppings (123 calories) from the nutrition PDF; its sodium uses the corrected 334 mg burger value, because the PDF’s 126 mg figure for the Big Double appears to be a typo.

• Quesadillas are lower in sodium per item than most sandwiches. A single chicken quesadilla has 788 mg, less than the spicy chicken sandwich (1,158 mg), the BBQ sandwich (1,103 mg) or the ranch wrap (1,273 mg).
• They are much higher in saturated fat. One chicken quesadilla has 12 g, four times the char-grilled or spicy chicken sandwich (3 g each), because cheese is the main ingredient.
• The BBQ sandwich is the protein bargain. Chopped pork with slaw and Texas Pete delivers 29 g of protein in 368 calories, almost twice the quesadillas’ protein density.
• The ranch wrap is the closest relative. Both are tortilla-based; the wrap has 73 more calories than a chicken quesadilla, 6 g more protein and 485 mg more sodium.

For the burger side of the menu, see the Cook Out burger menu; for every item’s calories in one list, see Cook Out calories.

Is the Cook Out Quesadilla Vegetarian, Gluten-Free or Low-Carb?

The cheese quesadilla has no meat, but it is not gluten-free or dairy-free: quesadilla tortillas are normally made with wheat flour and the filling is cheese, a milk ingredient. Cook Out’s nutrition PDF contains no ingredient list and no allergen statement, so confirm details at your store.

• Wheat and gluten: Cook Out does not say what tortilla it uses, but standard flour tortillas contain wheat. Cook Out does not publish a gluten-free claim for any quesadilla, so anyone with celiac disease or a wheat allergy should avoid it or ask the manager. See our Cook Out allergen guide.
• Milk: all three quesadillas are built on melted cheese, so they are not suitable for a milk allergy or a dairy-free diet. One Mobile, Alabama, review described the cheese as jack cheese; Cook Out does not name the cheese type in its nutrition PDF.
• Vegetarian: the cheese quesadilla contains no meat, but Cook Out does not say whether its cheese uses animal rennet or whether quesadillas share a grill with meat. Strict vegetarians should ask.
• Vegan: not suitable, because of the cheese. See the vegan menu guide.
• Low-carb and keto: 24 to 42 g of carbohydrate per quesadilla, mostly from the tortilla, puts all three outside a strict keto meal. The cheese version (24 g) is the lowest.
• Low-sugar: sugar is low across the board, at 1 g (cheese), 2 g (chicken) and 3 g (beef).
• Heart-health: saturated fat is the main concern, at 55% to 65% of the Daily Value per quesadilla.

If you are watching both sodium and saturated fat, the best single choice is one cheese quesadilla as a side with a char-grilled chicken sandwich and a zero-calorie drink, as in the lightest tray above.

Where Can You Find More Cook Out Menu and Nutrition Guides?

Start with the calorie calculator to build a quesadilla tray, then use the sides and nutrition guides to compare everything else. These pages cover the items most often ordered with a quesadilla.

To find a store open late near you, use the Cook Out locations finder, and for dessert after a quesadilla tray, browse the milkshake menu or the full Cook Out menu.

Cook Out Quesadilla FAQs

Answers to the questions people ask most.