Chicken fajitas are easily one of my favorite foods. They are quick, crowd pleasing, and versatile. I usually serve them the traditional way – scooped onto soft tortillas and finished with complimentary toppings. Today I chose fresh corn salsa, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, and fresh avocado smashed with lime juice, sea salt, and garlic powder. The possibilities are endless though – you can add any kind of salsa, shredded lettuce, sour cream, hot sauce, sliced olives, chopped green onions, diced tomatoes… My toxic trait is piling so many toppings onto my shell, that I can’t even close it. Still delicious though, no matter how messy it gets!
The spices I use are ones commonly found in fajita and taco seasoning mixes, but I add an ingredient that I think gives it that little something extra – coconut aminos. Coconut aminos is a soy and gluten free substitute for soy sauce. I started using it a couple years ago, and really liked it, so I always keep it on hand. You can easily sub low sodium soy sauce, it gives the fajita sauce the same extra flavor that we’re going for here. Alright, let’s make some fajitas!!
Gather your ingredients
We’ll start with sliced onion and bell pepper. You need about the equivalent of half a large onion, I used a sweet onion and a little bit of red onion. You also need one whole bell pepper, I used half a green and half a red because I like how the colors look together. I also wanted the rest of the peppers for a giant salad I was prepping. But, use all one color if that’s easiest for you. The homemade seasoning mix consists of sea salt, black pepper, chili powder, smoked and sweet paprika, crushed red pepper, oregano, cumin, coriander, and onion and garlic powder. You’ll also need two (2) big chicken breasts and a splash of either soy sauce or coconut aminos.
Mix all the dry seasonings together and set aside. Slice the onion and bell pepper into about 1/4 inch wide strips. Thinly slice two (2) large chicken breasts across the grain and season lightly with salt and pepper. Heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a very large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Once hot, carefully add the sliced onion and pepper, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.
Cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring around as needed. Remove from pan and place in a glass bowl to keep warm, you’ll finish cooking these later. Heat 1/2 tablespoon oil in the same skillet and add the sliced chicken strips. Spread around as much as possible in the pan to get the most surface contact on the chicken as possible. Let brown, this should take about 5 minutes or so. Flip the strips over. Add in the all the dry fajita seasonings, including the salt and pepper, but not including the corn starch. Add the peppers and onions back into the skillet. Start stirring everything around.
Add in 1/4 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of coconut aminos. Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 to 2 tablespoons of water in a small dish until completely dissolved. Pour this mixture into the skillet. Stir well, and bring to a simmer. Cover and let the sauce thicken and chicken cook through, about 5 to 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking, adding more water if necessary. I usually end up using about 1/2 cup water total.
Serve on soft tortillas with your favorite toppings. Or, try it over rice or cauliflower-rice as a burrito bowl with all the same toppings. Enjoy!!
Chicken Fajitas
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil divided
- 1/2 large onion sliced
- 1 bell pepper any color
- 2 chicken breasts sliced thin (about 1 to 1-1/4 lbs total)
Fajita Seasoning
- 1/2 tsp sea salt plus more to taste
- 1/4 tsp black pepper plus more to taste
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp coriander
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
Additional ingredients
- 1 tbsp Coconut aminos or low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbsp corn starch or sub arrowroot powder
- 1/2 cup water divided
Instructions
- Mix all the fajita seasoning ingredients together and set aside.
Cook peppers and onions
- Heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the sliced bell pepper and onion. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Let cook down a little, stirring occasionally. Scrape everything into a glass bowl and keep warm. (Note - these ingredients will finish cooking at a later step.)
Cook chicken
- Heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in the same large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add thinly sliced chicken. Spread out as much as possible and season with sea salt and black pepoer. Let cook for a few minutes, until browned on one side.
Cook everthing together
- Flip chicken strips and add in seasoning mix. Add par-cooked pepper and onion back in the skillet and stir thoroughly. Add 1/4 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of coconut aminos (or low sodium sauce). Mix 1 tablespoon of corn starch with 1-2 tablespoons of cold water in a separate small dish until dissolved. Pour cornstarch and water mixture into skillet. MIx well and bring everything to a simmer. Place a lid on the pan and cook 5 to 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and sauce has thickened. Stir a few times during this step to prevent sticking.Stir well and serve on soft tortillas with your favorite toppings.
Notes
- One tablespoon of arrowroot powder can be subbed for corn starch, if needed. Follow the same instructions.
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