Chicken Fajitas

Dinner | Mexican

Prep time: 10 min Cook time: 15 min Servings: 4

Chicken fajitas are a great weeknight dinner. The spice mix takes a couple of minutes to put together and doubles as both a marinade and a dry rub, so the chicken picks up a lot of flavour without any overnight sitting time. High heat is the key to this recipe. You want the pan very hot before the vegetables go in so they get colour quickly without steaming and turning soft. The chicken follows separately for the same reason: crowding the pan drops the temperature and you end up with poached chicken rather than seared.

The spice blend here is a Tex-Mex mix with chilli powder, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic and onion powder, Mexican oregano, coriander, salt and pepper. I make a bigger batch and keep it in a jar, and it’s great on fish, beef or lamb just as well as chicken. Serve with warm flour tortillas, salsa verde, lime and coriander, and put everything on the table so people can build their own. It’s on the table in 25 minutes and the whole family will eat it.

Ingredient Notes

Chicken thighs: Thighs are my go-to for fajitas over breast because they have more fat and connective tissue, which means more flavour and they stay juicier when cooked hard over high heat. Slice them thinly, around 5-7mm, so they cook through in the 6-8 minute window without drying out the outside. If you prefer breast, slice it slightly thicker and watch the cook time closely as it dries out faster once past medium.

Mexican oregano: Mexican oregano has a bold, citrusy, slightly floral flavour that is quite different from the Mediterranean oregano most people have in their pantry. It’s worth tracking down at a good spice store or Latin grocery. Regular dried oregano is a perfectly fine substitute, just be aware the flavour is milder and slightly minty rather than citrusy. I use about the same amount and the result is still very good.

Smoked paprika: The smoky depth in this spice mix comes primarily from the smoked paprika. The difference between good quality smoked paprika and generic paprika is significant, so it’s worth buying a decent one. Spanish pimentón de la Vera is the benchmark if you can find it. It comes in sweet, bittersweet and hot varieties. I use the sweet smoked version here so the heat comes only from the chilli powder and jalapeño.

Equipment

Chopping board
Chef’s knife
Large heavy-based frying pan
Medium bowl (for the spice mix)
Large bowl (for marinating the chicken)
Serving tray

Ingredients

Mexican Spice Mix
3 tsp chilli powder
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1.5 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp dried mexican oregano
¼ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
Fajitas
600g chicken thighs, thinly sliced
sea salt
juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp peanut oil (or other neutral oil)
1 white onion, sliced
1 red capsicum (bell pepper), sliced
1 green capsicum (bell pepper), sliced
1 Jalapeno chilli, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
8 flour tortillas, toasted
lime wedges and salsa verde, to serve
coriander leaves, to garnish

Directions

Make the spice mix
Combine all the spices for the Mexican spice mix in a medium bowl and mix well. Set aside.
Marinate the chicken
Place the chicken in a large bowl. Mix in the spice mix, pinch of salt, lime juice and half the oil until well combined. Set aside.
Cook the filling
Heat the remaining oil in a large heavy based frying pan over high heat. Add the capsicums, onion, garlic and chilli and cook, tossing for 3-4 minutes, until starting to soften. Transfer to a bowl.
Add the chicken to the pan and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned and cooked through.
Return the vegetables to the pan and toss together for a minute or until heated through.
Finish and serve
Transfer the chicken filling to a heated serving tray and serve with toasted tortillas, lime wedges, salsa verde and coriander leaves to garnish.

Recipe notes

Chef Tips

Cook the vegetables and chicken separately

Adding everything to the pan at once drops the temperature and releases liquid, which means the chicken steams rather than sears. Cook the capsicum, onion, garlic and chilli first until charred and starting to soften, then remove them before the chicken goes in. Return the veg at the end to heat through. Each component is better for having been cooked on a properly hot surface, and the whole filling comes together in the same total time.

Use a large pan and don’t crowd it

A large heavy-based frying pan is important here. Too small a pan and the chicken releases steam as it cooks, giving you pale, slightly stewed meat instead of browned, charred fajita filling. If your pan isn’t large enough to hold all the chicken in a single layer, cook it in two batches rather than piling it in. The extra few minutes is worth it for the texture difference.

Storage

Store leftover filling in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Keep the tortillas separate in a dry place or a sealed bag. I wouldn’t freeze the cooked chicken filling as the capsicum goes quite watery on defrost, but the dry spice mix keeps well in a sealed jar for months and is worth making a large batch of.

FAQs

Can I make this ahead of time? Yes. The spice mix can be made weeks in advance and stored in a jar. The chicken can be marinated in the spice mix for up to 24 hours in the fridge, which actually deepens the flavour. Cook straight from the fridge, though you may need an extra minute or two as the pan temperature drops a little when cold meat goes in.

Is the spice mix very hot? It has heat from the chilli powder and jalapeño, but it’s not aggressively spicy. To tone it down, reduce the chilli powder to 1 tbsp and de-seed the jalapeño before chopping. To increase the heat, add more chilli powder or a pinch of cayenne. The spice mix is easy to adjust to your preference.

Can I make it gluten free? Yes. Swap the flour tortillas for corn tortillas, which are naturally gluten free. Double-check that your individual spices are certified gluten free if you’re cooking for someone with coeliac disease. Everything else in the recipe, including the salsa verde, is naturally gluten free.