Chicken Fajitas
These Chicken Fajitas are so easy and flavorful made with homemade fajita marinade, peppers, and onions. This marinade is what makes the vegetables and chicken mouthwatering with flavors of fresh lime juice, fresh garlic, chili powder, and an array of other bold seasonings.
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There is nothing like hearing that sizzle of the fajita marinade and smelling that aroma as soon as the marinade hits the hot cast iron pan! Every time I hear and smell that fantastic aroma in a restaurant, I hope that the plate is coming my way. It’s a feeling I’m sure we’re all too familiar with!
Well, guess what? You can make your own chicken fajitas at home… and they will taste even better. The secret is the marinade! The marinade is used for two reasons – to marinate the chicken and to separately cook the vegetables. The irresistible flavor of the savory marinade will carry throughout the whole dish, and it’s bursting with fresh citrus and spices.
If there’s one big thing that 2020 taught us in regard to food, it’s that learning how to make restaurant-worthy food at home is of the utmost importance. Now that we’ve all had to go without our favorite restaurant staples for an extended period of time, we know how vital it is to be our own home chef and whip up truly delicious meals that are even better than the overpriced restaurants – like these simple chicken fajitas!
Ingredient Notes
Chicken Breasts – When selecting the boneless, skinless breasts, double check the expiration date and make sure they’re fresh and use the brand you love. Also, if there’s any white fat, be sure to cut it off before cooking. If you wish, feel free to use chicken thigh meat in addition or instead of breast meat.
Bell Peppers – While I love using red and green bell peppers, really any colors will be delicious!
White Onion – In a pinch, a yellow onion will work as well.
Tortillas – Corn or flour tortillas will both be perfect for these chicken fajitas. Just pick your favorite! And if you need gluten free, make sure to use corn tortillas that are labeled “gluten free.”
Ingredients for Fajitas Marinade:
Oil – It can be any neutral flavored oil with high burn point, like canola, avocado, or vegetable oil.
Limes – You only need the juice but remember, it’s always best to use fresh lime juice. Make sure to use a ripe lime. A ripe lime is soft but it does have resistance. If the lime is too soft and the skin starts to wrinkle, the lime is over-ripe. If you plan on serving these fajitas alongside a Margarita, make sure to stock up on plenty of them!
Garlic Cloves – it’s always best to use fresh garlic cloves.
Seasonings – chili powder, ground cumin, garlic powder, paprika, dried oregano, salt, black pepper
How to Make Chicken Fajitas
Start by combining all of the ingredients for the marinade in a small bowl. Whisk it well! (Or, save yourself some dish-washing and combine them all carefully in the zip-top bag.)
PRO TIP: Reserve about 1/3 cup of marinade to use for the vegetables.
Place the uncooked chicken in a durable zip-top bag and top it with the fajita marinade. Shake it gently, ensuring that all of the chicken is evenly covered. Seal the bag, getting out as much air as you can, then place it in the refrigerator to marinate. (Place it in a bowl or on a plate for extra leak protection.)
Allow the chicken to marinate for 2-4 hours.
For vegetables: Slice the veggies, then place them in a warm skillet that’s been prepared with oil. Stir and cook the vegetables for just a few minutes with the oil.
Once the vegetables have softened, pour in most of the reserved marinade (not all) and mix well. Finish cooking the vegetables, take them out, and set them aside.
In the same skillet, add the marinated chicken and add a some marinade from the bag to the cooking chicken. (Discard the rest of the marinade.)
Cook the chicken for 6-8 minutes on each side. You’ll know the chicken is fully cooked and safe to eat once a meat thermometer is inserted into the chicken and reads 165°F.
Thinly slice the chicken. Place the pan back on the heat and mix together the veggies and sliced chicken. Add the remaining reserved marinade (not one from the bag with chicken!)
Cook for just a few more minutes, take the chicken out and slice it when safe to handle. Serve on warm tortillas and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
It’s the base set of spices for a lot of Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes and includes garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cumin, paprika, and oregano. After that, all you need is to add salt and pepper. Adjust the spice level by adding more or less chili powder. If you really want to heat things up, add a touch of cayenne powder!
All these spices included in the marinade for the best tasting chicken.
Any toppings that you love on your tacos would be delicious on fajitas as well. Try some fresh avocados, jalapeño peppers, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, corn salsa, cheese, and so much more.
Absolutely, grilled chicken fajitas would be amazing!
Marinate the chicken the same way as the recipe instructs. You’ll want to create a two temperature zones on your grill, that way there is a hot side and a cooler side. Grill it on the hot side for about 4 minutes per side.
Then, move it over to the cooler side of the grill to finish cooking until the internal temperature of the chicken is 165°F. You can grill the onions and peppers in a cast iron skillet right on the grill while chicken is cooking as well. (Make sure to reserve some marinade to cook with the vegetables before adding it to the chicken.)
More Mexican Inspired Recipes
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Chicken Fajita Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts 6-8 oz each
- 2 bell peppers
- 1 white onion
- 4-6 corn or flour tortillas*
Marinade:
- 3/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
- 3 limes – juice only
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/2-1 tsp chili powder to taste
- 2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt more or less to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
Marinating the chicken:
- Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a small mixing bowl and whisk well.
- Take out about 1/3 cup of the marinade and set it aside to cook vegetables.
- Place chicken breasts into a zip-top bag and add the marinade. Get as much air out of the bag as you can, seal well, and gently shake it up to coat the chicken. Place the bag in a bowl or on a plate and into the refrigerator to marinate.
- Marinate it for 2-4 hours.
Cooking Chicken Fajitas:
- Slice onions and peppers and preheat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat.
- Add a couple tablespoons of oil to the pan and add the vegetables. Stir vegetables well and season with a little bit of salt and pepper. Cook them until softened.
- When vegetables are softened, pour in most of the reserved marinade all over the vegetables and mix well. Leave a couple of tablespoons of the marinade to finish the dish.
- Finish cooking the vegetables until completely soft and start to golden. Take everything out of the pan and set it aside.
- Take the chicken out of the marinade and into the same skillet. Add a little bit of the marinade from the bag to the chicken and discard the rest. Cook chicken for 6-8 minutes on each side, until internal temperature reaches 165°.
- Take chicken out of the pan and take the pan off heat until ready to return sliced chicken to it.
- Slice chicken thinly. Place the pan back on the heat and add sliced chicken and vegetables. Mix everything well and pour in remaining reserved marinade.
- Cook for just a couple more minutes and serve on warm tortillas. Note: you can warm up the tortillas in another pan while chicken is cooking!
Notes
- *Gluten free note: If y0u need to keep these fajitas gluten free, use corn tortillas and double check the packaging for the gluten free notice.
- Additional toppings: Any toppings that you love on your tacos would be delicious on fajitas as well. Try some fresh avocados, jalapeño peppers, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, corn salsa, cheese, and so much more.
Nutrition
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
This is a favorite recipe!