These easy chicken fajitas with moist and tender chicken and sauteed vegetables make a great weeknight dinner in about 30 minutes. Cook your favorite Mexican at home today.

Introduction
We all love chicken fajitas, and now you can easily make this classic Mexican recipe at home from scratch. And yours will be better than the restaurants. Just follow the simple step-by-step photo instructions. Only a little work and almost no skill, and you have a new house favorite.
The "secret" to this recipe is the marinade. Using a liquid that will penetrate slices of chicken instead of dry spices on a whole chicken breast, you get outstanding flavor quickly.
👨🍳How to make this recipe
- Mix marinade in a 1-gallon zip lock of lime juice, water, olive oil, kosher salt, liquid smoke (optional), cayenne pepper, black pepper, soy sauce, and crushed garlic.
- Clean and trim about 1 ½ pounds of skinless boneless chicken breasts. Cut the chicken into strips about ½ inch thick.
- Add the chicken to the marinade while preparing vegetables. A quick marinade will do, but it can be done overnight.
- Slice onion and one or two bell peppers.
- Heat oil in a large cast-iron pan over medium-high heat.
- Mix 1 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon lime juice, and 1 teaspoon soy sauce in a small bowl.
- When the oil is hot, add the veggies, and after a few minutes, add the water, soy sauce, and lime mixture. When onions are clearing and starting to brown (about 8-9 minutes), remove from pan, set aside, and cover.
- Add a little oil to the pan. When hot, add the drained chicken and brown. Near the end of cooking, break apart the chicken with a wooden spoon into bite-size pieces. Check a few larger pieces with an instant-read thermometer to be sure you are at least 165°.
- When the chicken is done, move the meat to one side and add the veggies to the pan. Cook and stir for a minute or two until the veggies are reheated.
- Serve in the hot skillet with heated tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, and anything else you like. An easy way to heat tortillas is to sprinkle a dish towel with some water, put the tortillas inside, and heat them in a microwave.
🐓The Chicken
Fresh chicken is preferred here. Use skinless boneless breasts or thighs. I don't recommend pre-cooked shredded chicken like rotisserie chicken.
I cut the chicken into strips and then broke them up during cooking. This gives a little of that shredded texture while still having chunks. Cut them into small cubes if you want, but I think the little cubes look like dog food—but they will cook and taste great.
🥣Homemade Marinade
The key to why this recipe is so good is the marinade. Most home recipes are some dry spice mix from the store. It is just not acceptable after you try this.
By slicing the chicken before seasoning, we are opening up a lot more surface area for the liquid to penetrate instead of dry seasoning on the surface of a whole chicken breast.
The marinade will work reasonably quickly. So if the chicken goes in at the beginning, by the time you have prepped and cooked the onion and peppers, it will be excellent.
Like many marinades, longer is better. So 2 hours will get every bit of flavor, and you can leave it longer, like overnight, if that works better for your timing.
The ingredients of the marinade are pretty standard outside of the liquid smoke. Skip it if you want, but it adds a nice touch of smoke. If you do use it, it must be of good quality.
❓FAQs
We are all familiar with the sizzling presentation at the restaurant. Move that skillet to the table and proceed—it will sound and smell familiar.
Generally, fajitas are served on warm tortillas, and toppings are added. Common toppings are cheddar or Mexican cheese, salsa, pico de Gallo, slices of jalapeno, sour cream, or guacamole,
The two common methods to warm tortillas for serving are first in a foil pack warmed in the oven.
The second is in the microwave. Give them a light sprinkle of a few drops of water, wrap them in a thin dish towel, and microwave a stack for 10-20 seconds.
📖Chicken Fajita Recipes
Easy Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
Grilled Chicken Fajitas in 30 Minutes
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Start by mixing a marinade in a 1-gallon zip lock. 2 tablespoon lime juice, 4 tablespoon water, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke (optional), ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/ 4 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1-2 cloves of garlic crushed.
Clean and trim about 1 ½ pounds of skinless boneless chicken breasts. This is about 2 medium-large ones. Don't worry if you're a little over or under that amount. Cut the chicken into strips about ½ inch thick.
Add to the marinade for about 15 minutes, but refrigerated for 2 hours is a bit better. Overnight is fine, also.
Put 1 teaspoon oil in a large cast-iron pan and heat over medium-high heat. While heating, slice up a large onion and one or two peppers. I like medium red and green pepper. If your pepper is large, you only need one. Mix 1 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon lime juice, and 1 teaspoon soy sauce in a small bowl.
When the oil is hot, add the veggies, and after a few minutes, add the water, soy sauce, and lime mixture. When onions are clearing and starting to brown (about 8-9 minutes), remove from pan and set aside and cover.
Add a little oil to the pan. When hot, add the drained chicken and brown. Near the end of cooking, break apart the chicken with a wooden spoon. This will make much smaller pieces and prove the meat is cooked. About 8-9 minutes. Please check a few of the large pieces with an instant-read thermometer to be sure you are to 165°.
When the chicken is done, move the meat to one side and add the veggies back to the pan. Cook and stir for a minute or two until veggies are reheated.
Serve hot in the skillet with heated tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, and anything else you like. An easy way to heat tortillas is to sprinkle a dish towel with some water, put the tortillas inside, and heat them in a microwave.
📝Recipe
Easy Chicken Fajitas
Ingredients
- 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts - cut into thin slices or cubes. Thighs are fine.
Marinade
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 4 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke - optional
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper - adjust for heat
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1-2 cloves garlic - crushed
Veggies
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 pepper - large or 2 medium - green or red
- 1 onion - large
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
Serving
- 4-6 flour tortillas
- cheese - usually cheddar
- sour cream
- salsa
- Guacamole
Instructions
- Start by mixing a marinade in a 1-gallon zip lock. 2 tablespoon lime juice, 4 tablespoon water, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke (optional), ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/ 4 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1-2 cloves of garlic crushed.
- Clean and trim about 1 ½ pound of skinless boneless chicken breasts. This is about 2 medium-large ones. Don't worry if you're a little over or under that amount. Cut the chicken into strips about ½ inch thick.
- Add the chicken to the marinade while preparing vegetables. You can marinate for up to 2 hours if refrigerated or even overnight. But the short marinade will do nicely.
- Put 1 teaspoon oil in a large cast-iron pan and heat over medium-high heat. While heating, slice up a large onion and one or two peppers. I like a medium red and green pepper. If your pepper is large, you only need one.
- Mix 1 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon lime juice, and 1 teaspoon soy sauce in a small bowl. When the oil is hot, add the veggies and after a few minutes add the water, soy sauce, and lime mixture. When onions are clearing and starting to brown (about 8-9 minutes), remove from pan and set aside, and cover.
- Add a little oil to the pan. When hot, add the drained chicken and brown. Near the end of cooking, break apart the chicken with a wooden spoon. This will make much smaller pieces and prove the meat is cooked — about 8-9 minutes. Please check a few of the large pieces with an instant-read thermometer to be sure you are to 165°.
- When the chicken is done, move the meat to one side and add the veggies back to the pan. Cook and stir for a minute or two until veggies are reheated.
- Serve in the hot skillet with heated tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, and anything else you like. An easy way to heat tortillas is to sprinkle a dish towel with some water put tortillas inside and heat in a microwave.
Your Own Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- You can use chicken breast or thighs.
- I prefer to use two smaller peppers so I can have a mixture of colors.
- Raw chicken only here. This is not a recipe for precooked chicken.
- Lime juice is important. The liquid smoke is not. If you use liquid smoke (I do suggest it), it must be of good quality.
- This has a touch of heat. Cut down the cayenne if you want.
- I didn't cover how to assemble your fajita. I think you know what you like if you are reading this. I did add a tip for the tortillas.
- Good refrigerated and reheated for up to 4 days.
- Nutrition is meat and veggies only. No toppings or tortillas. And only part of the marinade is included.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Originally Published May 3, 2012. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Gail
Can I use bottled lime juice?
Fran
Your new website is almost as good as your recipes......and that means it is great! Thank you for everything.....keep on cooking....for two of course.
Catherine
Dr Dan, this recipe sounds and looks delicious. I’ve pinned it under my Mexican food pin and will be trying it soon.
I read every word of your text regarding the new website and not sure what you meant as the “reminder”? The site looks great and have no thoughts of unsubscribing.....your recipes are a staple here. Thanks for making them available. Catherine
Darice T
I always make a mixture of chicken and steak when making Fajitas. It tastes great and there is no deciding between the two.
Ziyi
I love exploring tortilla with different fillings and this turned out to be so good! Thanks for the great recipe!
Charlene
We had these tonight for dinner and WOW fantastic! I was really curious about the lime, liquid smoke, and soy sauce together and these were amazing! Highly recommend, nice to have had the meat prepared ahead of time so dinner went together in a snap. Thanks Dr. Dan - another great recipe!
Lara
Delicious on the grill, too. Having that slightly charred taste ramps up the flavor even more, and no skillet to clean!
DrDan
Hi Lara,
I agree, the grill does add something special.
Thanks for the note and rating.
DrDan
Marsha
Does the T stand for teaspoon or table spoon? Thanks
DrDan
T is tablespoon and t is teaspoon. I just moved the FAQ section onto the main part of the menu bar to help.
DrDan
Chris
I love fajitas, probably one of my favorite meals from the grill.
I have to have a little cumin in mine, one of the definitive flavors in the profile.