Super Yummy Chicken Fajita Tacos
Have you ever had a fajita taco? Allow us to present…our fabulously flavorful Chicken Fajita Tacos recipe! These fajita tacos are packed with juicy, perfectly seasoned chicken, and scrumptious peppers and onions. Best part: no long marinating time or complicated process. This recipe is doable in one pan and in 28 minutes or less!
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How can you have something that’s both a fajita and a taco, you say?! Although fajitas and tacos are different beasts (the history of fajitas vs tacos is actually super fascinating), when you put fajita meat into a tortilla, it becomes a taco!
Note: If you love these chicken fajita tacos, be sure to also check out our Southwest Chicken Bowls and Easy Red Chicken Enchiladas! Or if you’re seeking more one-pan recipes, check out our list of lazy Sunday dinner ideas for busy nights!
Why We Love this Recipe
- One-pan meal! Minimal mess, minimal cleanup
- Easy and fast! Simple process with a short cook time
- Flexible, customizable meal! Easy to change it up for kids or different dietary needs
- Moist meat! No marination needed to achieve juicy chicken in this fajita taco recipe
- Fun with toppings! You can put anything you like on your chicken fajita tacos, like sour cream, guacamole or chipotle crema!
🛒 Ingredients
Notes on ingredients:
Garlic – Instead of fresh cloves, you can also use pre-minced garlic or 1 teaspoon garlic powder instead.
Chicken – We used chicken thighs because they’re more flavorful and don’t dry out easily, but chicken breasts are fine too. I used frozen thighs and put them in fridge 2 days in advance to thaw.
Lemon juice – Freshly squeezed lemon juice or (like me) bottled lemon juice both work. Could be swapped with lime juice if that’s what you have.
Tortillas – we used flour tortillas, but corn tortillas and/or gluten-free tortillas would be great too. You could even buy those small street taco tortillas for mini fajita tacos.
👩🏽🍳 How to Make Chicken Fajita Tacos
Prep with Your Kids
The main prep is (1) measuring the spices, and (2) cutting the veggies and chicken.
🥄 Kids Step: (1) Your kiddo can measure the spices- just set them up with a bowl (to catch the measuring overflow) and four measuring spoons (T, 1/2 T, t, 1/2 t). Teach them to wipe the spoons with a clean cloth in between spices. (2) The kiddos can also manage cutting the veggies. FYI, these awesome kids’ knives are great. Fun pro-tip: swimming goggles protect little eyes from tearing up around onions.
Step 1: Combine garlic and seasonings, and coat the chicken.
Step 2: Cook chicken for 5 mins.
🥄 Kids Step: Kids can rock the stirring task!
Step 3: Stir in veggies, lower heat and cover. Cook covered for 3-4 mins.
🥄 Kids Step: This step is easy enough for most kids to manage.
Step 3: Uncover, add in tomato paste and lemon juice, and cook uncovered for 3 mins.
🥄 Kids Step: For uncovering the pan, we love these Curious Chef kids’ size potholders.
Step 4: Scoop fajita mix onto tortillas and add your favorite toppings!
🥄 Kids Step: Set up a chicken fajita taco station for your kiddo and she can put whatever toppings she likes onto her tortilla. This is the fun part!
✏️ Expert Tips & Tricks
✔️ Make sure you’re cooking with a large pan. I made the mistake of cooking with a medium pan the first time. The chicken fit inside just fine, but when I added the veggies and stirred, they overflowed and kept falling all over stovetop.
✔️ Spice up your fajitas! If you and your family prefer more zest, increase the amount of chili pepper, add a little bit of cayenne or top with your fave hot sauce.
✔️ These chicken fajita tacos can be gluten-free if you use corn tortillas, gluten-free tortillas or tortillas made from an alternative flour (like rice, cassava, almond or quinoa).
✔️ You can use frozen chicken. Ya know, those giant Costco bags of frozen chicken are pretty economical. Just pull out the chicken you need, put in sealed Ziplock bag and leave in fridge for 1-2 days to thaw.
❓ FAQs
Yes! The day before cooking, I sliced the onions and peppers and stored them in same container. And then I cut up the chicken thighs and stored them in separate container. All in fridge. This definitely saved time on the day of cooking.
So many things go well with chicken fajita tacos. We served ours with Mexican rice and black beans, but you could also do guacamole, a small salad (like our Three Bean Salad), refried beans, corn or even elote!
Hold on to your hats folks, cause the options are endless. Our toppings were avocado slices, cotija cheese, and cilantro. BUT other excellent toppings are: sour cream, chipotle crema, shredded cheddar, sliced black olives, squeezed lime, salsa, hot sauces, sliced jalapeños, pico de gallo, sliced baby tomatoes, the list goes on…
I would store the leftover chicken fajita mix in airtight container in fridge for maybe 3-4 days. The tortillas should be kept separate so they won’t get soggy.
Tips for Picky Eaters
- ✔️ Kids pick the peppers! All bell peppers are delicious in fajitas! Let kids choose which color of peppers they’d like in this meal.
- ✔️ Turn the fajita taco mix into a quesadilla! Some of my kids didn’t like the peppers, so I scooped some of the chicken onto a tortilla with shredded cheese, folded it over and microwaved it for like 45 seconds. Perfecto!
- ✔️ Use smaller tortillas (like Mission’s street taco tortillas) for kid-sized, mini chicken fajita tacos 🙂
- ✔️ Add a favorite side dish! Some easy winners: Mexican rice, beans, and chips & guac.
- ✔️ Make a chicken fajita taco decorating station! If your kids are anything like ours, they love making choices and deciding how their food should look! We set up a toppings station, with small bowls of our kids’ favorites.
Craft For This Recipe
Pop-Up Paper Peppers
While you make our chicken fajita tacos, your kiddos can make these adorable Pop-up Paper Peppers! This 3-D craft is easy for kids of all ages. And you probably have all the supplies at home already! Also, check out our Color Tortillas with Edible Paint Craft where you get to paint and then eat your food!
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🌮 Yummy Chicken Fajita Tacos
Equipment
- large pan
Ingredients
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1/2 Tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 6 chicken thighs (boneless and skinless, cut into strips or chunks)
- 2 to 3 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 onion (cut into strips or chunks)
- 1 green bell pepper (cut into strips or chunks)
- 1 red bell pepper (cut into strips or chunks)
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 6 tortillas
Optional Toppings
- avocado
- cotija cheese
- cilantro
Optional Sides
- Mexican rice
- black beans
Instructions
- Combine garlic and dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add chicken to bowl and mix together until all sides of chicken are coated with the seasonings. Heat a large pan on medium. Once heated, add oil and chicken. Cook for 5 mins, stirring frequently.
- Add veggies to the chicken, lower heat, stir, and cover. Cook covered for 3-4 mins, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent.
- Uncover and add tomato paste and lemon juice. Cook uncovered for another 3 mins, stirring frequently. Remove pan from heat.
- Scoop fajita mix onto tortillas and decorate with your fave toppings.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Sounds awesome. Can’t wait to try it.
Thanks Jackie! Enjoy! -Julie