Chicken Fajitas Recipe | Grilling

By
Joshua Bousel
a photo of Joshua Bousel, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Joshua Bousel
Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.
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Updated May 06, 2019
Sliced peppers and onions cooking in a cast iron skillet and a piece of grilled skinless chicken.

Serious Eats / Joshua Bousel

I can't even count how many times I've made my all-time favorite grilling dish—skirt steak fajitas. It's such a quick and easy meal that packs an insanely good combination of flavors that it's in my regular rotation. Although I contend that skirt steak = fajitas, I'm evolving to the next generation in my fajita diet—chicken.

Keeping with the quick and easy part, I threw together a marinade with some standard standard Tex-Mex ingredients I had on hand and tossed in a few chicken breasts pounded to a half-inch thick. Being heavy on lime juice, this had to be a fast marinade, so as soon as I had a fire going, I took the chicken to the grill over high heat until browned and cooked through. Sliced up and piled in a flour tortilla with sauteed peppers, onions, and a little sour cream, it was time to dive in.

A short half hour marinade packed the breasts with the unmistakable flavors of lime and cilantro, and the grill gave it a nice slight-crisp crust that held the sugar and cumin portion. Quick, easy, and full of flavor, these fajitas were delivering—to the full extent of skirt steak, not totally, but enough to take a high position on any Cinco de Mayo menu.

Recipe Details

Chicken Fajitas Recipe | Grilling

Prep 10 mins
Cook 25 mins
Marinate 30 mins
Total 65 mins
Serves 4 servings

Ingredients

For the marinade:

  • 1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

  • 1/4 cup lime juice

  • 3 cloves minced garlic

  • 5 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin

  • 1 teaspoon dark brown sugar

  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2-inch thick

For the vegetables:

  • 1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips

  • 1 large green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips

  • 1 large white onion, cut into 1/4-inch strips

  • Olive oil

  • Kosher salt

  • Sour cream

  • Flour tortillas

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, mix together all of the ingredients for the marinade. Place the chicken breasts in a large Ziplock bag and pour marinade all over. Seal the bag, removing as much air as possible and allow to marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

  2. Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread the coals evenly over the charcoal grate. Remove the chicken from the marinade and cook over high heat until browned on both sides and cooked through, about three to five minutes per side. Remove the from the grill and allow to rest five to ten minutes. Slice into 1/2 inch strips.

  3. While the chicken is resting, toss the peppers and onion with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt. Place a cast iron skillet directly on the hot coals in the grill, and when heated, add in the peppers and onions. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until they are soft and nicely browned, about 5 to 10 minutes.

  4. Heat the tortillas on the grill or in the oven until soft. Assemble fajitas with the vegetables, chicken, and a dollop of sour cream.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
945Calories
30gFat
119gCarbs
47gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories945
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 30g39%
Saturated Fat 7g35%
Cholesterol 84mg28%
Sodium 1207mg52%
Total Carbohydrate 119g43%
Dietary Fiber 8g28%
Total Sugars 5g
Protein 47g
Vitamin C 75mg376%
Calcium 126mg10%
Iron 8mg46%
Potassium 685mg15%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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