Easy Chicken Fajitas with Simple Marinade

This Easy Chicken Fajitas recipe uses a simple marinade for a wonderful taste and fits nicely in a low-calorie or low-fat, healthy diet. Enjoy some incredible homemade fajitas tonight.

Jump To:

• 👍Why you should try this recipe
• 🐓Ingredients
• 👨‍🍳How to Make Chicken Fajitas
• ✔️Tips
• ❓FAQs
• ❄️Storage of Leftovers
• 📖Chicken Fajita Recipes
• 🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
• Recipe

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.

👍Why you should try this recipe

• 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.
• The "secret" to this recipe is the fajita marinade. Using a liquid that will penetrate slices of chicken instead of dry spices on a whole chicken breast, you get outstanding flavor quickly.
• This is reasonably healthy, with under 300 calories and about 8 grams of fat.
• Just follow the simple step-by-step photo instructions. You have a new house favorite with only a little work and almost no skill.

🐓Ingredients

• Chicken—skinless boneless chicken breasts
• Chicken Marinade Ingredients
  • lime juice
  • olive oil
  • kosher salt
  • liquid smoke—optional
  • cayenne pepper—adjust for heat
  • black pepper
  • soy sauce
  • garlic—crushed
• Bell peppers
• Onion
• To cook vegetables—olive oil, soy sauce, lime juice
• Serving—tortillas, shredded cheese, sour cream, anything else you like

👨‍🍳How to Make Chicken Fajitas

1. Mix chicken marinade. Clean and trim chicken breasts, then marinate for up to 2 hours.
2. Prep the bell peppers and onion. Start to cook in a large skillet, and add soy sauce and lime juice during cooking. Cook until the onion is clearing and browning—8 to 9 minutes. Remove from skillet and cover.
3. Add more oil to the pan, drain, and add the marinated chicken. Cook until browning some and 165°.
4. Break up the cooked chicken,,, add the vegetables back into the chicken,,, and cook for a few minutes to reheat the vegetables.
5. Serve hot with tortillas and toppings.

✔️Tips

• Fresh chicken is preferred here. Use skinless boneless breasts or thighs. I don't recommend pre-cooked shredded chicken like a rotisserie chicken since you won't take advantage of the marinade.
• The chicken is cut into strips before marinating to give more surface area for the marinade to penetrate instead of marinating intact chicken breasts.
• The liquid marinade will penetrate better than dry seasoning on the surface.
• 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

❄️Storage of Leftovers

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat covered in the oven or on the stovetop. A microwave will change the texture of the chicken.

The chicken will freeze well but the cooked vegetables will lose texture if frozen.

📖Chicken Fajita Recipes

Easy Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

Grilled Chicken Fajitas in 30 Minutes

Chicken Quesadillas

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 tablespoons lime juice, 4 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke (optional), ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/ 4 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1-2 cloves of garlic crushed.

Clean and trim about 1 ½ to 2 pounds of skinless boneless chicken breasts. Cut the chicken into strips about ½ inch thick.

Add to the marinade for about 15 minutes, but refrigerated for 2 hours is better. Do not marinade for more than 6 hours.

Put 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a large cast-iron pan and heat over medium-high heat. While heating, slice up a large onion and two peppers. 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. Check a few large pieces with an instant-read thermometer to be sure you are at 165°—about 8-9 minutes.

When the chicken is done, add the veggies back to the pan. Cook and stir for a minute or two until the 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

Originally Published May 3, 2012. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.