Have you ever wondered why homemade chicken fajitas don't taste the same as a restaurant's? It's because you're using an ingredient they don't! This simple recipe will become a mouthwatering go-to of yours - it truly taste like a restaurant's!
“Amazingly delicious! My new go-to fajita recipe! The family LOVED it!”
For years I didn’t “get” fajitas. Go all the way to a restaurant so I can assemble my own food? Nah. Furthermore, they’re filled with bell peppers which, up until my 30s, I couldn’t even look at in the grocery store.
Thankfully, I’ve seen the light (and the fact that you can order your own fajita skillets on Amazon — can you even?) and my restaurant-style, homemade Chicken Fajitas recipe has become one of my favorite things to cook at home.
Impressive yet easy, and just like hearing then smelling those sizzling platters before they hit your table at a restaurant – this easy recipe will make your mouth water!
Watch How to Make Them
Top Tip = Skip the Marinade
The first time I attempted to make Chicken Fajitas at home was a disaster. After mixing up a chili powder-based marinade then searing everything over high heat, the marinade burned and the resulting dish tasted nothing like the fajitas we order from our favorite Mexican restaurant.
Fajitas are simply grilled meat and vegetables, and a marinade covers up the craveable, smoky flavor of seared chicken and caramelized veggies. It’s complicating something that’s inherently simple.
Easy Fajita Seasoning Mix
That said, all you need to achieve chicken fajitas that taste like a restaurant’s is a basic seasoning mix including everyday spices and ingredients:
- Homemade seasoned salt (i.e. salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika)
- Cumin
- Smoked paprika
- Fresh lemon juice
This simple seasoning mix lets you taste the fajita ingredients — chicken, peppers, onions, and mushrooms — and not the marinade. So easy, and so good!
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Pin ItTips for The Best Chicken Fajitas
Fajitas are quick-cooking and straight forward. That said there are a few things to keep in mind when whipping them up:
- Don’t overcrowd the pan. The key to really good, flavorful fajitas is searing the meat and vegetables over high heat so they get a smoky, charred flavor. That said, be certain to not overcrowd the pan so the ingredients sear vs steam. Work in batches and make sure the oil is smoking hot before searing each batch of chicken and vegetables.
- Cast iron is best. A large, 12″+ cast iron pan is preferred for optimal searing and browning. Here’s my favorite enameled cast iron skillet, and a budget-friendly non-enameled cast iron skillet.
- Prep ahead. Because this recipe is so quick-cooking, it’s important to have all the meat and vegetables sliced and ready to go before turning on the heat. Both the chicken and vegetables can be prepped up to 3 days ahead of time.
How to Make Chicken Fajitas
Step 1: Prep the vegetables
Start by thinly slicing bell peppers, a large onion, and mushrooms. My favorite restaurant’s fajitas contain tomatoes, but I swapped them for mushrooms since tomatoes can easily turn to mush when seared over high heat.
Step 2: Slice and season the chicken breasts
Next, thinly slice chicken breasts. The best way to cut chicken breasts for fajitas is to slice each breast in half widthwise to create cutlets, then thinly slice each cutlet into strips. This way, the chicken is the same width and size as the bell peppers and onions which makes for a nice eating experience.
Season the chicken strips with homemade seasoned salt, and a dash each of cumin and smoked paprika then mix to coat.
Step 3: Sear the vegetables
In a large, 12+ cast iron skillet, heat vegetable oil until it begins to smoke — turn on the hood vent!
Add 1/3 of the vegetables then season with homemade seasoned salt, a dash of cumin, and a drizzle of fresh lemon juice. Let the vegetables sit undisturbed in the skillet until the bottoms have seared, then mix with tongs and continue to saute until they’re crisp-tender.
Remove the veggies to a plate then sear the remaining vegetables in two batches, heating the oil first before adding then seasoning with seasoned salt, cumin, and lemon juice.
Step 4: Sear the chicken
Last step is to heat more oil in the skillet then add the seasoned chicken. Add a drizzle of lemon juice then saute until the chicken is cooked through, 3-4 minutes.
Step 5: Mix then serve
Lastly, add the seared vegetables back into the skillet then toss to heat through. That’s all she wrote — so easy, right?
What to Serve With Chicken Fajitas
Like most Tex-Mex meals, what makes fajitas even more satisfying is that they’re surrounded on a platter with goodies. Here are some ideas for garnishes and sides.
- Toppings: Sour cream, shredded lettuce, Pico de Gallo
- Creamy Pinto Beans
- Restaurant Style Salsa
- Mexican Rice
- Cuban-Style Black Beans
- Cilantro-Lime Rice
- Quick Guacamole
Serve the chicken fajitas + fixins with warmed corn tortillas, gluten free flatbreads, or your favorite flour-style tortillas. I like Mission Gluten Free Tortillas.
However you serve them, I hope you love every last drop of this easy chicken fajitas recipe — enjoy!
More Tex-Mex Favorites
- Beef Enchiladas
- Gluten Free Enchilada Sauce
- Steak Fajitas
- Cheese Enchiladas with Red Sauce
- Large Batch Homemade Taco Seasoning
- Crock Pot Salsa Chicken
- How to Cook Ground Beef Like a Restaurant
- Cheesy Chicken Burrito Skillet
- Crunchy Taco Hamburger Helper
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breasts, sliced into cutlets then into thin strips
- 2 bell peppers, any color, seeded then thinly sliced
- 1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
- 8 oz mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 1 lemon, sliced in half
- homemade seasoned salt, see notes
- cumin
- smoked paprika, optional
- Toppings: sour cream, shredded lettuce, Pico de Gallo, guacamole
Directions
- Season the chicken strips with seasoned salt and a pinch of both cumin and smoked paprika then mix to coat and set aside. Add the vegetables to a large bowl then toss with your hands to combine.
- Add 1-1/2 Tablespoons oil to a large, 12"+ heavy-bottomed skillet — preferably cast iron — over high heat. When the oil begins to smoke, add 1/3 of the vegetables in an even layer in the bottom. Season with seasoned salt, a pinch of cumin, and a drizzle of fresh lemon juice (~1/2 teaspoon — not too much!) then let the vegetables sit undisturbed until seared on the bottom. Toss with tongs then continue to saute, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are crisp-tender, 3-4 minutes, turning the heat down slightly if they begin to burn. Remove the vegetables to a plate then repeat the process of heating 1-1/2 Tablespoons oil then searing and seasoning the vegetables with seasoned salt, cumin, and lemon juice in two more batches.
- Heat the remaining 1-1/2 Tablespoons oil in the skillet then add the chicken, drizzle over a little lemon juice, and then saute until the chicken is cooked through, 2-3 minutes. Add the seared vegetables back into the skillet then toss to heat everything through. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Click here for my Homemade Seasoned Salt recipe >
- Meal prep: feel free to slice the chicken and vegetables up to 3 days ahead of time. Store the vegetables and chicken separately.
- What to serve with Chicken Fajitas:
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Made this for dinner tonight – it was delicious. Thanks for another great recipe!
So glad to hear, Nora, thanks for the feedback!
I may try these soon. I just got a package of yellow/orange/red bell peppers (love the colors :))on a great sale at Aldi, have mushrooms *also from an Aldi sale :), and am about to pick up chicken. I may also try your chicken and rice soup recipe soon. I enjoy your blog. :)
Looks SO good! :)
I love making fajitas. I like assemble-your-own kinds of meals and adore Mexican food. It’s strange to think I’ve only ever made steak ones (marinated in garlic and lime juice – yum!), but these look fantastic and so easy! Totally giving them a try :)
I LOVE fajitas. The cook in my house (my husband) makes them frequently, but always marinades the chicken first. I’ll see if he wants to try your recipe. Thanks!
I’m sad that you aren’t doing your Friday Favorites posts as frequently. You have such a great style, along with your talent with food, that I nearly always found myself pinning an item you recommended in Friday Favorites.
Thank you so much, Devin! Friday Favorites go up every other week so be on the look out for the next one next Friday!
Yum! I love mexican food!! My husband asks me to make him homemade guacamole a few times a week!!
Can ummm I just come over for dinner? I could pretty much smell them through the screen. Sorry, not sorry. And on Sunday when Iowa punches us all in the kisser with the tropical temperature of 1, I’ll be sizzling these babies up in Urbandale :)
So excited about this! We rarely make fajitas at home because they never live up to the restaurant deliciousness. Excited to try this!
I am just now looking at the blog on the computer instead of off bloglovin on the app and WOW! Looks fantastic!
I’ve never understood fajitas, either. It’s not so much the DIY part of it, but I’ve never understood why/how they are different from tacos. Maybe I’ll have to give them a try, though.
This looks so good! I love all the ingredients. Hey, Mission has GF tortillas. So good you cant even tell. Have wonderful weekend. Xo
I actually bake them in the oven – mix a little cornstarch or arrowroot into the spice blend, toss everything in a 9×13 pyrex pan with a little olive or avocado oil, mix well and bake! Then I can be making and prepping all the toppings while it’s baking. SO much easier!
I sear them quickly and finish them in the oven too. It’s changed my life, it makes really really good satisfying and easy dinners in a pinch.
how do you bake these? TY
Hi Deanna! I’ve never baked these so I can’t say for sure.
I’ve just bookmarked this page I love it so much! Fajitas are my go-to when eating out, mainly because I don’t eat a lot of carbs. Mom (thanks mom!!!!) too me to Chili’s for fajitas and yes, they were delicious, but the oil they added was over-the-top. Food was VERY oily which I try to avoid. Who need extra calories? Ok, I have a favor to ask now. Is there any way you could look into at some point a replica of their Chicken Enchilada soup? Something with a few less calories in it? The flavor is wonderful and I wish I could make something like that at home =) Have a great weekend.