Growing up, fajitas were one of my least favorite meals, so it wasn’t until recently that I finally decided to try making them for myself. One of my sisters-in-law passed on her recipe, but I ended up omitting quite a few ingredients and making other changes. The results were great! I don’t like tortillas, so I eat mine with extra rice, but Mr. Handsome puts everything in a tortilla. This fajita recipe truly is “quick and easy.” Marinade it overnight, or cook it up right away.
Quick and Easy Fajitas
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 lime, juiced
- 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1.5 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1.5 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1.5 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 large chicken breasts (or 3 medium-sized)
- 3 large bell peppers
- olive oil for pan
Instructions
-
Place all ingredients (except chicken and bell peppers) in a bowl, and stir until well mixed. This will be the marinade
-
Cut chicken breasts into even strips. On a separate cutting board, cut bell peppers into even strips.
-
Place chicken strips in a Ziploc bag with 1.5 Tbsp of marinade. Make sure chicken is evenly coated. In a separate Ziploc bag, place pepper strips with 1.5 Tbsp of marinade, and make sure they are evenly coated. Close both bags, and place in refrigerator until ready to cook. You can cook them right away, or you can wait until the next day.
-
Place leftover marinade (make sure it has not touched the raw chicken) in a covered container in the refrigerator.
-
Heat a small amount of olive oil in a cast iron skillet, and add chicken strips. Cook, covered but stirring frequently, over medium heat until chicken is fully cooked.
-
Add peppers, and mix in remaining marinade. (Do not add any marinade that has come in contact with raw chicken.) Cook, covered but stirring frequently, until peppers are tender.
-
Remove from heat, and serve with rice, shredded cheese, and tortillas.
Looks great! I’ve only ever made fajitas with powdered seasonings and didn’t care for them. I have all the ingredients on hand for this recipe so will definitely try it!
I appreciate food safety measures. But, think about it: the marinade that is in the bag with the chicken is being cooked at the end. So is the rest of the marinade. There is no reason to keep it all separate. Just dump it all together and cook it all together. Saves time and dishes/bags. 🙂
The reason for the separation is the peppers do not get cooked to as high of a temperature as chicken. So the marinade that was used on the raw chicken must be heated to 165 degrees Fahrenheit, but the peppers do not get cooked to that temperature. In this case, separation is necessary for safe food handling.
Oh my, I do it together most of the time unless I’m doing a big batch for a crowd. It never occurred to me to have to do it separate because of the higher temp of the chicken. We have never gotten sick and who cares? When you have a family and have to cook all the time you learn to stream line things. Who cares if the peppers are a little over cooked or undercooked. It’s all good.
As long as you bring the marinade back to the boiling point in the pan you should be OK. I don’t see where the peppers cook at (or to) a lower temp than the chicken.
If you want the peppers to remain a bit crunchy, I’d saute them first in the pan, remove them, then cook the chicken, and then add the marinade, getting it bubbly. You can add the peppers back at the end to get them hot again. Problem solved.
Why soy sauce in fajitas? Why Dijon mustard? Seems that’s some sort of international fusion cooking going on there. Were those two things stuff that you substituted or added?
The soy sauce gives it a nice flavor, as does the Dijon. I really enjoy experimenting with different flavors when I’m cooking. That being said, Mr. Handsome and I are not as adventurous as some are with our food, so while this dish has a unique, vibrant flavor, it should also appeal to a wide crowd of folks.
Ellie
I have seen cooking shows and read other recipes for Mexican food and soy sauce is used in the marinade. I tried it and really like the addition of soy sauce. It is not too salty. Just cut down on the added salt for the recipe. ~C
Wow that is a lot of ingredients! I usually make fajitas with skirt steak and chicken breast. For the seasoning all you need is cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, crushed garlic, olive oil, some lime juice and a bit of hot sauce. Marinate for an hour and cook it up. That’s it! I use Paula deans gold medal recipe. Xoxox
You do realize you listed nearly as many ingredients right? There are infinite variations. Both Ellie’s and yours are different but both sound tasty