The Best Chicken Fajita Recipe
Make a little room in your life (and calendar) for a new weeknight staple! Our easy chicken fajita recipe is here to make your life a little easier, and a whole lot tastier. Seasoned with a zingy marinade that makes the chicken oh-so-tender and juicy, these chicken fajitas are truly the best.
If you want a one-pan chicken fajita recipe, try our Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas, or if you’re planning ahead, check out our super-easy Freezer Chicken Fajitas. And if you’re in need of general weeknight dinner ideas, check out our Best Chicken Recipes, and 60 Best Easy Dinners.
Chicken Fajita Ingredients
For the fajitas:
Chicken breast
Bell peppers
Onions
Flour tortillas
Avocado
Queso fresco or cotija cheese
For the chicken fajita seasoning & marinade:
Canned, crushed pineapple
Lime
Garlic
Cider vinegar
Chili powder
Cumin
Salt
Worcestershire
Jalapeño (if you’re worried about feeding this to kids, it’s OK to skip the jalapeño)
Cilantro leaves (if you hate cilantro, just skip it)
How To Make Chicken Fajitas
Prep the chicken for fajitas: Put the chicken breasts into a zip-top bag, squeeze the air out and seal the top. Gather up all of your frustrations and use a meat mallet or rolling pin to pound them out on that chicken breast until it’s about one-inch thick. This is also a very fun job for kids who are old enough to help!
Cut the chicken! With the chicken breast nice and thin, cut it into beautiful little strips. The thinner you slice the chicken, the faster it will cook, and the faster it will take on all the delicious flavors of the chicken fajita marinade you’re about to make.
Marinate the chicken strips. This is the best chicken fajita recipe ever because of the “secret” ingredient we’ve snuck into our marinade—canned, crushed pineapple! Mix the chicken strips with the marinade (tongs are good for this job) and let it sit for a bit in the fridge.
Prep the vegetables. While the chicken marinates, prep the rest of the chicken fajita ingredients. Use your sharpest knife to slice the onion and peppers that’ll go inside your fajitas, and maybe prep all of the fajita toppings—avocado, lime, and queso fresco—while you’re at it.
Toast your little flour tortillas in a skillet until they’ve got just a bit of a blister, but pull them out of the pan before they burn! This happens fast—maybe ten seconds on each side.
Sauté the seasoned chicken in one skillet and the veggies in another skillet if you want to be done cooking the fajita filling in 10 minutes flat. Or you can sauté the chicken first and veggies second and only use one skillet and be done in about 20 minutes.
Serve the fajitas! Lay out a spread of toppings, so that everyone can build their own homemade chicken fajita just how they like it—an extra squeeze of lime juice, or a little avocado for creaminess. There’s no wrong way!
How To Store Leftovers + Tips
Leftover chicken fajita filling will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, and will make for delicious fajita lunches or dinners. Just warm some tortillas and enjoy (again)!
While you could make these easy chicken fajitas using just one skillet, we like to have two going at once to help get dinner on the table that much faster.
Need more quick, easy Mexican dinner ideas? Try our easy Shrimp Fajitas, vegetarian Portobello Mushroom Fajitas, or our Chicken Enchilada Skillet.
Don’t marinate the chicken strips for more than four hours. With all the acidic ingredients in our marinade, you don’t want to let the chicken sit for too long. Also, if you’re opting for the room temperature marinade, do not allow the chicken to sit out at room temp for more than 30 minutes. That is the absolute maximum amount of time that the USDA considers it safe to let chicken marinate at room temperature.
More Quick & Easy Tex-Mex Chicken Recipes
The Easiest, Best Chicken Fajitas Ever—Right?
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