Fajita tacos are the best hybrid twist on two Mexican classics. This recipe takes the most delicious parts of fajitas, the seasoned peppers and onions, and combines them with the flavorful components of a warm and comforting chicken taco. In just a few quick and easy steps, you get the best of both in a healthy dinner for your family!
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📋 About the Recipe
The greatest part about this fajita taco recipe is how customizable and healthy it is. Although the ingredients call for chicken, you can easily substitute for other meats, like steak or shrimp, or make it vegetarian by cooking up the peppers and onions and simply just adding your favorite beans for protein. You can also add in extra vegetables, like cauliflower or broccoli for an added nutrient-packed boost.
These chicken fajita tacos, like my shredded chicken taco lettuce wraps, are also great served with nearly any side dish. Serve them alongside this authentic Spanish rice, as part of a Mexican themed dinner or party with these air fryer nachos, or with some spicy Spanish potatoes, like patatas bravas.
🛒 Ingredients
For the Chili Lime Chicken and Fajita Vegetables
For the Toppings
A few notes about the ingredients:
- You can substitute the chicken for ground chicken, turkey, or beef, seasoning it with the spices and lime as it cooks instead of marinating it beforehand. Or, substitute the chicken for steak, shrimp, or tilapia.
- Keep these tacos vegetarian by leaving out the chicken and lightly seasoning the peppers and onion in the marinade before cooking.
- If you like spice, you can add a dash or two of cayenne pepper to the marinade.
📓 Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine all the spices, lime juice, and olive oil. Stir to combine.
Add in the chicken breasts and give them a toss to coat. Allow the chicken to marinate for 10 to 30 minutes.
While the chicken marinates, slice the peppers and onions. Set them aside.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat, then add a slight drizzle of olive oil. Add the chicken to the skillet.
Reserve the marinade and add the peppers and onions to the bowl. Toss them around to coat. Then, set the bowl aside.
Allow the chicken to cook undisturbed for about 5 to 8 minutes per side. Take a slight peek under the chicken to check if it has browned. If it is still pale, cook it a bit longer before flipping.
Once the chicken is golden brown, flip it over and do the same on the other side. The less times you move it around, the more crispy and brown it will get.
Once the chicken is browned and cooked to 165 degrees F in the middle, remove it from the skillet onto a cutting board.
Place the peppers and onions into the skillet, allowing any excess marinade to drip off into the bowl. Stir the veggies around and allow them to cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the onions become soft and translucent.
Remove the peppers and onions from the skillet and place them into a clean bowl.
Cut the chicken into thin slices.
To assemble, warm corn or flour tortillas in the oven or carefully place them over the open flame of your stovetop. Once warmed through, top them with a few slices of chicken, a scoop of peppers and onions, and all of your favorite toppings: jalapeno slices, black beans, chopped lettuce, and mexican cheese are all great options!
If your tacos are overflowing, double up the tortillas to keep them from falling apart and ripping!
Serve with Spanish rice, homemade salsa and tortilla chips, fresh mango salsa, guacamole, or sour cream.
🔍 FAQs
“Tortilla” is the soft flour or corn wrap used to hold the components of the fajita. “Fajita” refers to the seasoned meat and vegetables wrapped inside the tortilla. In other words, tortillas are the main foundation of a fajita, and although they are a part of the big picture, the words cannot be used interchangeably.
Typically, corn tortillas are healthier than flour ones because they offer fiber, whole grains, and other nutrients, whereas flour is more refined. However, in my opinion, it is more important to find freshly made tortillas, or tortillas with as few preservatives and chemically processed ingredients, than it is to scrutinize over whether they’re made from corn or wheat.
Instead, opt for tortillas found in the refrigerated aisle of your grocery store or ones made from a local tortilla shop, as those will include less processed ingredients, allowing you to focus more on the quality of the product, instead of a single ingredient within it.
If you don’t have tortillas on hand or would rather use some other vessel to hold in all the delicious toppings in these fajita tacos, you can use leaf lettuce instead. This provides the perfect layer to sandwich all the meat, veggies, and toppings together, while providing the same hands-on eating experience. You can also turn this recipe into a taco bowl by serving each component in a bowl over a bed of Spanish rice.
💭 One More Tip
Fajita tacos keep well in the refrigerator for about 3 to 5 days. To keep them fresh, store the chicken and pepper/onion mixture in separate air tight containers. If you have extra toppings, store them separately as well.
🍴 Related Recipes
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
📖 Recipe
Fajita Tacos
Equipment
- large skillet or cast iron pan
Ingredients
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- a sprinkle of salt and black pepper
- 1 lime juiced
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 yellow or red onion sliced into strips
- 2 bell peppers (any color) seeded and sliced into strips
- 6 to 12 corn or flour tortillas
Toppings
- black beans drained and rinsed
- Mexican or cheddar cheese
- lettuce chopped
- jalapeño sliced thin
- salsa, sour cream, or guacamole
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine all the spices, lime juice, and olive oil. Stir to combine.
- Add in the chicken breasts and give them a toss to coat. Allow the chicken to marinate for 10 to 30 minutes.
- While the chicken marinates, slice the peppers and onions. Set them aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat, then add a slight drizzle of olive oil. Add the chicken to the skillet.
- Reserve the marinade and add the peppers and onions to the bowl. Toss them around to coat. Then, set the bowl aside.
- Allow the chicken to cook undisturbed for about 5 to 8 minutes per side. Take a slight peek under the chicken to check if it has browned. If it is still pale, cook it a bit longer before flipping.
- Once the chicken is golden brown, flip it over and do the same on the other side. The less times you move it around, the more crispy and brown it will get.
- Once the chicken is browned and cooked to 165 degrees F in the middle, remove it from the skillet onto a cutting board.
- Place the peppers and onions into the skillet, allowing any excess marinade to drip off into the bowl. Stir the veggies around and allow them to cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the onions become soft and translucent.
- Remove the peppers and onions from the skillet and place them into a clean bowl.
- Cut the chicken into thin slices.
- To assemble, warm corn or flour tortillas in the oven or carefully place them over the open flame of your stovetop. Once warmed through, top them with a few slices of chicken, a scoop of peppers and onions, and all of your favorite toppings: jalapeño slices, black beans, chopped lettuce, and mexican cheese are all great options!
- If your tacos are overflowing, double up the tortillas to keep them from falling apart and ripping!
- Serve with Spanish rice, air fryer nachos, homemade salsa and tortilla chips, guacamole, or sour cream.
Notes
- You can substitute the chicken for ground chicken, turkey, or beef, seasoning it with the spices and lime as it cooks instead of marinating it beforehand. Or, substitute the chicken for steak, shrimp, or tilapia.
- Keep these tacos vegetarian by leaving out the chicken and lightly seasoning the peppers and onion in the marinade before cooking.
- If you like spice, you can add a dash or two of cayenne pepper to the marinade.
- Fajita tacos keep well in the refrigerator for about 3 to 5 days. To keep them fresh, store the chicken and pepper/onion mixture in separate air tight containers. If you have extra toppings, store them separately as well.
Nutrition
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