A legendary dish straight from a cowboy camp, chicken fajitas with bell peppers and onions are a red hot and feisty treat. Superbly seasoned with spice, they sizzle with excitement before being blanketed safely into a soft, warm tortilla. Make your own back at the ranch with my easy, skillet-free, oven recipe.
For a lower-carb Mexican chicken recipe, this chicken fajita bowl has all the mouthwatering fajita spices and charred veg AND a big bonus fresh salad in one bowl.
Chicken fajitas
Who can lay claim to one of the most iconic Mexican dishes devoured the world over? The humble vaqueros of Texas/ Mexico.
These cattlemen, or cowboys, of days-gone-by lived mostly outdoors and by their wits. The campfire was central to their survival: it kept them warm, warded off coyotes, and was used to cook. Fajitas!
Fajitas (pronounced fa-HEE-tas), translates as ‘little strips’ and is a method of cooking as opposed to a specific recipe. These little strips, what makes a fajita a fajita, were most likely skirt steak and offal that were fried in a pan over the open fire.
An essential element of the fajita was the tortilla wrap. Meat, beans and (maybe) veg, packaged up in a neat and tasty tortilla bundle meant cowboys could eat on the go. Fajita in one hand, reins in the other. Or maybe a coffee. Or a hand of cards.
Anyway, rather than offal, these days we see angry skillets come hissing and spitting to the table loaded with well-seasoned chicken, seafood, beef, pork or vegetables. Anything just as long as it’s cut into a small strip and comes with a pile of soft tortillas.
Recipe tips and notes
- Over time I have perfected a Mexican seasoning mix that suits my family’s taste. It’s heavy on cumin with a smoked paprika sidekick, among other spice friends. If you have a mix that you know and love, feel free to use it as an alternative to mine.
- Instead of using a skillet, I’m using a large sheet pan to cook all the components in the oven. It means I don’t have to stand over a spitting skillet!
- To get the all-important sizzle and char, the oven is on high and hot so the chicken and vegetables get a short furnacy blast. This prevents the succulent chicken drying out.
- Also, cooking at a high heat concentrates the sugar in the bell peppers and onions and results in those sweet-tasting blackened tips.
- The other issue to be wary of is the ingredients becoming too wet. To avoid steaming the peppers, onions and chicken I don’t use a marinade. I just coat all the strips in the dry spice mix.
- Straight out of the oven, squeeze lime juice over the chicken. The juice will give a touch of tang and keep the meat moist (but not soggy!).
- Finally, fill a warm tortilla with the fajitas and load it up with fresh cilantro (coriander UK), salsa, avocado slices or creamy guac.
Serving suggestions
This recipe makes 8 fajitas, which is two each in my family. We are basically all adults now, some with raging appetites, so I’ll always serve something as a side.
Black bean and corn salsa is my go-to. It’s kind of a salsa-cum-salad that can be spooned into your fajita or eaten on the side. The black beans are an extra portion of protein, so a good back up if there are any meat-free diners at your table.
Chips and dip are an absolute must. There’d be a mutiny if a Mexican recipe was brought to the table without them!
You can’t beat a crunchy corn tortilla chip and guacamole, or try something totally different with this smoked cheddar Southwestern dip. A hot smoky, cheesy dip? Yes, yes, yes.
Storage and leftovers
It’s tricky to recreate that sizzley fresh fajita moment. But I don’t believe in wasting good food…
Leftover chicken fajitas can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-4 days. There are two options to reheat.
First, in the oven: pre-heat the oven, spread out on a sheet pan again and cover with foil to avoid too much drying. 15 minutes at 180C/356F should do it, but make sure you check the chicken is piping hot at the centre before serving.
Or in the microwave. This method won’t dry the ingredients but could make it a little on the soft or soggy side. Cook for 45 second bursts, checking until the chicken is hot all the way through.
Other recipes to try:
- Creamy White Chicken Chili
- Chicken Chilaquiles with Warm Corn Salsa
- Fish Tacos with Blackberry Chilli Lime Salsa
- Chile Verde (Green Chili)
Chicken Fajitas
Ingredients
- 1kg/2 lbs chicken breasts cut into strips
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp chilli powder or cayenne powder see notes
- 1 ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp coriander
- ½ tsp oregano
- 1 large onion
- 2 bell peppers red and green
- 1 lime, juice of
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 8 small flour tortillas
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 225C/450F. Mix the salt and spices in a small bowl. Cut each chicken breast in half lengthwise to make them thiner, then cut into strips. Sprinkle the spice mix all over and toss well to coat each chicken strip. Cut the onions and bell peppers into equal sized strips.
- Arrange the spiced chicken and the cut onion and bell peppers on 2 large baking sheets, drizzle with the olive oil and toss to coat, sprinkle the vegetables with a pinch of salt. Cook in the preheated oven for 18 minutes, then on broil for 2-3 minutes. Note: Don’t be tempted to cram it all on one sheet. The chicken and veg need space to char and not steam.
- Take out of the oven and drizzle the juice of one lime over chicken immediately. Serve with warm flour or corn tortillas.
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