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These BEST Chicken Fajitas are so quick to throw together. Chicken gets marinated in the best juicy lime marinade, then seared for that unmistakeable crisp-charred outer edge!
Serve with onions and colourful bell pepper strips and traditional corn tortillas (or flour tortillas) for the best dinner in minutes. OR wrap them in a lettuce leaf for a low carb option. These are the Best Chicken Fajitas and they are so versatile!
BEST CHICKEN FAJITAS
Chicken Fajitas would have to be one of the easiest recipes out there, BUT people (used to be me) usually opt to buy seasoning in a packet from the supermarket. Well, these chicken fajitas hit those packets over the head a million times over. Why buy it when you can make it SO MUCH BETTER yourself with just a handful of ingredients, and maybe only 3 extra minutes added to your prep time?
CHICKEN FAJITA MARINADE
My marinade base consists of 5 ingredients. ONLY 5.
- Lime juice (freshly squeezed is best)
- Cumin
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Chili (you can use crushed red pepper flakes or ground chili)
From here, you can add as much salt and pepper as you wish, finely chopped cilantro, dried oregano, whatever you have on hand. SO MUCH BETTER than a dry rub! You’re guaranteed tender, juicy chicken just from the addition of tangy lime juice.
CHICKEN BREAST OR THIGHS
This one is personal preference, although my favourite option is chicken thighs. You can’t beat naturally juicy thigh strips in a tortilla wrap. Having said that, my husband is all for chicken breasts and isn’t that the beauty of cooking! There’s no right or wrong. Charred edges can absolutely be achieved with both cuts.
Cast iron skillet or pan
A cast iron skillet is what I use for the best sear. To use cast iron, make sure you’ve seasoned it properly first to avoid the meat sticking on the base. HOWEVER, if you don’t own a cast iron, you can most certainly use a nonstick pan. Just get your pans hot first before adding your chicken.
Add your thighs in whole and cook them until they are completely cooked through. Allow them to rest, then slice. THIS guarantees the juiciest chicken thigh strips EVER. Cooking them as strips won’t give you an incredibly juicy result.
I choose three different coloured red bell peppers (or capsicums) to get the best visual impact of seeing fajitas on a plate. You can also add orange or use whatever colours you can find in your store.
You guys have so far loved my take on some incredibly crispy Pork Carnitas (Mexican Slow Cooked Pulled Pork), not to mention these popular Chili Lime Steak Fajitas. Being a big believer of “if you’re onto something REALLY good, why change it?” I didn’t mess around too much with your much loved chicken fajita marinade found in this amazing grilled chicken fajita salad.
There you have it. The most juiciest, tender chicken strips with charred golden crusts and crunchy outer edges. Perfectly seared. Amazingly juicy.
Since I serve our fajitas straight from the skillet onto the table with a buffet of fajita additions, I add avocado slices to the pan just to slightly heat them up a tiny little bit. You could choose to serve this as a scrumptious Fajita Chicken Burrito Bowl to avoid too many hungry hands!
Best toppings to serve with chicken fajitas
- Sour cream
- Guacamole
- Salsa
- Pico De Gallo
- Cheese (I use a Mexican blend, but you can use Cheddar, Pepper Jack or Monterey Jack
- Black Beans & Rice
MORE RECIPES
Carne Asada
Crispy Pork Carnitas (Mexican Slow Cooked Pulled Pork)
Cilantro Lime Chicken
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Best Chicken fajitas
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons lime juice fresh squeezed
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 clove garlic large, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2-1 teaspoon ground chili adjust to your desired spice preference
- 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro chopped, optional
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs skinless and boneless
- 3 large bell peppers cut into strips, I use green, red and yellow
- 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 2 avocados peeled, seeded and sliced
Instructions
- In a large shallow bowl, combine lime juice, oil, garlic, cumin, salt, chili and cilantro; mix together. Add the chicken thighs and If time allows, let marinate for 30 minutes.
- Heat a large skillet or pan (12-inch | 30cm) on medium-high heat until smoking. Add a drizzle of olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Sear the chicken on both sides until golden, charred and cooked right through (about 8 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of your fillets). Flip them a couple of times while cooking so they get a nice even char.Transfer chicken to a warm plate, loosely tent with foil and let rest.
- Add the peppers and onions to the skillet (drizzle with a little extra oil only if needed), and cook until the onion is soft and the peppers are slightly charred and cooked to your liking. Season with salt and pepper.
- Slice chicken into strips.Serve with warmed tortillas, chopped cilantro and sliced avocado (plus your desired fillings).
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hands down the very best fajitas I have ever made!!! You nailed it with this recipe. Based on this alone I will be subscribing to your posts and exploring your recipes. Thank you so much for elevating my cooking.
This is a tasty recipe, but it takes WAY LONGER than the 15 minutes described to cook. Even your instructions say to sear the chicken 8 mins on both sides… well that’s 16 mins before the peppers and onions get seared. Those veggies take a little while as well. Might want to update the time.
The best chicken fajitas recipe ever!!!!! Thank you!
I made this with chicken breast cutlets, marinated for 2 hours. Delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
This was so bomb! I have made fajitas a lot but these are were the BEST. So simple but so so tasty! I used thighs cuz they have more flavor. Didnt have avocado but didn’t miss em. Will be using this marinade on everything! Thank you! You are are genius!
Absolutely the best chicken fajitas I’ve EVER had!
Soooo good!
Omgosh! This is the 2nd time I have made this recipe and my husband and I absolutely LOVE it! I used chicken thighs and they were moist and juicy! Easy enough to make for a crowd! Easy, Peasy and oh so good!
Delicious! Used a cast iron grill pan and served with charred corn tortillas and a sprinkle of cilantro. I’m sure avocado would be a great addition, but we didn’t have one and it wasn’t missed. Definitely wouldn’t skip marinating – at least let the chicken marinate while cutting up the vegetables. Lastly, the husband is sensitive to hot food so I used Kashmiri chilli powder instead of cayenne powder or pepper flakes as it’s much milder. Regular sweet paprika could be used here too if you don’t like it spicy. Thank you, Karina!
This recipe was AMAZING!!! I used chicken breast instead of thighs, and marinated for 4hrs. then grilled it. Was absolutely ridiculously amazing
HOOOOLLLY SMOKES this recipe was the best!! Thank you!! the chicken thighs turned out juicy after marinating in the fridge for a little over an hour. Stuck these in the air fryer at 360 degrees for ten minutes, then flipped them over for another 5-7 and they turned out PERFECTLY. so tender. saving this recipe <3