Easy chicken fajitas
Easy chicken fajitas with bell peppers and onions are just 5 ingredients and ready in about 20 minutes. These skillet fajitas are great for a quick weeknight dinner the whole family will love!
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons fajita seasoning, divided
- 1 ½ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in ½-inch thick strips
- 1 medium white onion, sliced in ¼-inch thick slices
- 2 medium bell peppers (mixed colors), sliced in ¼-inch thick slices
For serving:
- Warmed tortilla shells
Optional toppings:
- Diced avocado or guacamole, shredded cheese, salsa or pico de gallo, sour cream or Greek yogurt, pickled red onions, pickled jalapeños, fresh chopped cilantro, lime wedges
Other optional fillings or sides:
- Shredded lettuce, steamed brown or white rice, black beans
Instructions
- Heat 1 ½ teaspoons of canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Season the chicken strips with 1 tablespoon of the seasoning mix.
- Add the chicken to the hot skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through, about 7-8 minutes. Remove to a plate or bowl and cover to keep warm.
- Add the remaining oil to the same pan and add the onion and peppers. Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of fajita seasoning over the veggies and stir well to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are tender, about 7-8 minutes. (If your pan is too dry after the first few minutes, and if the veggies have already gotten a bit of char on them, you can add a few splashes of water. You can also cover the pan if you want to steam them a little at the end, especially if you prefer very tender veggies.)
- Once the onions and peppers are finished cooking, return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pan and stir well to combine.
- Turn off heat and serve the chicken fajitas in warmed tortilla shells with desired toppings. Enjoy!
Notes
Be sure to slice your chicken thin enough. (I didn’t in these photos; it’s kind-of a do as I say, not as you see here.) You’ll want them to be small and easy to bite into when you stuff them int your tortillas.
Similarly, make sure your onions and peppers are about the same size so they cook evenly.
Using a variety of different colored bell peppers adds some great flavor and color interest. When possible, it’s nice to have some green, yellow, red and orange in there, but you only need two bell peppers worth for the recipe. So it’s definitely OK to buy one red and one yellow, for instance, and stop there.
We love homemade fajita seasoning, but you can certainly use a store-bought mix.
It’s important to cook the chicken and veggies separately so they all get cooked through, lightly charred, and perfectly delicious. If you cram everything into one pan to try and cook it all together, it will steam and not be nearly as tasty.
But if you're in a hurry, you can use two large sauté pans at once on the stove: one for chicken, one for the onion and peppers. They’ll cook in about the same time and then you can toss them together before serving - or just serve straight from the separate pans.
How to warm tortillas:
- If you have a gas burner, you can place a soft flour tortilla, one at a time, directly over the flame. Leave it for 5-10 seconds, until lightly charred, then flip and do the same on the other side. Again, just 5-10 seconds is all you need to get it browned and bubbled up slightly.
- If you have an electric stove, you can broil your tortillas in the oven as an alternative. Just keep a close eye on them so they don’t burn.
- Or of course, you can wrap the tortillas in some damp paper towels and warm them in the microwave too.
- The leftover fajita chicken and peppers and onions can be stored, once cooled, in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Reheat in the microwave or in a skillet to warm them back up.
- You can make fajitas again or you can use the chicken fajitas for a grain bowl or rice bowl along with some beans, veggies and more of your favorite toppings.
- You can also mix your warmed, leftover fajitas into some hot cooked pasta, mix with some salsa and shredded cheese and you’ve got a fajita pasta dish that tastes delicious!
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 351kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 54g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 145mg | Sodium: 436mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g
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