This easy Chicken Fajitas Marinade Recipe has a wonderful taste and fits nicely in a low-calorie or low-fat, healthy diet. Enjoy some incredible homemade fajitas tonight.
This is a healthy marinade. When used with chicken breast, it is under 300 calories and about 8 grams of fat. Just follow the simple step-by-step photo instructions.
🐓Ingredients
Lime juice
Olive oil
Garlic—crushed or minced
Liquid smoke—optional but recommended
Pantry ingredients—soy sauce, kosher salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper
For severing—chicken, bell peppers, onion, tortillas, shredded cheese, sour cream, or anything else you like
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Featured Comment from Charlene:
"5 stars. We had these tonight for dinner, and WOW fantastic! I was really curious about the lime, liquid smoke, and soy sauce together and these were amazing!"
Great fajitas start with a great fajita marinade that will penetrate the meat. We all love chicken fajitas, and now you can easily make this classic Mexican recipe at home from scratch. And yours will be better than the restaurants.
👨🍳How to Make Marinated Chicken Fajitas
- Mix chicken marinade. Clean and trim chicken breasts, then marinate for 30 minutes to 8 hours.
- Prep the bell peppers and onion. Start to cook in a large skillet, and add soy sauce and lime juice during cooking. Cook until the onion is clearing and browning—8 to 9 minutes. Remove from skillet and cover.
- Add more oil to the pan, drain, and add the marinated chicken. Cook until browning some and 165°.
- Break up the cooked chicken, add the vegetables back into the chicken, and cook for a few minutes to reheat the vegetables.
- Serve hot with tortillas and toppings.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
How long to marinade
The marinade will work reasonably quickly—as little as 10-15 minutes will give lots of good flavor.
Like many marinades, longer is usually better. So, 2 hours will get every bit of flavor, and you can leave it longer, up to 8 hours, but longer can damage the meat due to the acid in the lime juice.
Related Recipes
Don't miss the other chicken fajita recipes, like Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas, Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas, Grilled Chicken Fajitas, and Chicken Fajita Quesadillas.
Check out other easy marinade recipes, like easy chicken marinade, buttermilk marinade for chicken, flank steak marinade, lemon chicken marinade, and easy steak marinade.
❄️Storage of Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days—reheat covered in the oven or on the stovetop. A microwave will change the texture of the chicken.
The chicken will freeze well, but the cooked vegetables will lose texture if frozen.
❓FAQs
We are all familiar with the sizzling presentation at the restaurant. Move that skillet to the table and serve on warm tortillas and toppings. Typical toppings are cheddar or Mexican cheese, salsa, pico de Gallo, slices of jalapeno, sour cream, or guacamole,
Warm tortillas in a foil pack in the oven. Or, in the microwave, give them a light sprinkle of a few drops of water, wrap them in a thin dish towel, and microwave a stack for 10-20 seconds.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Have you tried this recipe, or have a question? Join the community discussion in the comments.
Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Start by mixing a marinade in a 1-gallon zip lock. 2 tablespoons lime juice, 4 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke (optional), ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/ 4 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1-2 cloves of garlic crushed.
Clean and trim about 1 ½ to 2 pounds of skinless boneless chicken breasts. Cut the chicken into strips about ½ inch thick.
Add to the marinade for about 15 minutes, but refrigerated for 2 hours is better. Do not marinade for more than 8 hours.
Put 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a large cast-iron pan and heat over medium-high heat. While heating, slice up a large onion and two peppers. Mix 1 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon lime juice, and 1 teaspoon soy sauce in a small bowl.
When the oil is hot, add the veggies, and after a few minutes, add the water, soy sauce, and lime mixture. When onions are clearing and starting to brown (about 8-9 minutes), remove from pan, set aside, and cover.
Add a little oil to the pan. When hot, add the drained chicken and brown. Near the end of cooking, break apart the chicken with a wooden spoon. This will make much smaller pieces and prove the meat is cooked. Check a few large pieces with an instant-read thermometer to be sure you are at 165°—about 8-9 minutes.
When the chicken is done, add the veggies back to the pan. Cook and stir for a minute or two until the veggies are reheated.
Serve hot in the skillet with heated tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, and anything else you like. An easy way to heat tortillas is to sprinkle a dish towel with some water, put them inside, and heat them in a microwave.
📖 Recipe
Chicken Fajita Marinade Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ to 2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breasts - cut into thin slices or cubes. Thighs are fine.
Marinade
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 4 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke - optional
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper - adjust for heat
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1-2 cloves garlic - crushed
Veggies
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 pepper - large or 2 medium - green or red
- 1 onion - large
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
Serving
- 4-6 flour tortillas
- cheese - usually cheddar
- sour cream
- salsa
- Guacamole
Instructions
- Start by mixing a marinade in a 1-gallon zip lock. 2 tablespoons lime juice, 4 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke (optional), ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/ 4 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1-2 cloves of garlic crushed.
- Clean and trim about 1 ½ to 2 pounds of skinless boneless chicken breasts. Cut the chicken into strips about ½ inch thick.
- Add to the marinade for about 15 minutes, but refrigerated for 2 hours is better. Do not marinade for more than 6 hours.
- Put 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a large cast-iron pan and heat over medium-high heat. While heating, slice up a large onion and two peppers. Mix 1 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon lime juice, and 1 teaspoon soy sauce in a small bowl.
- When the oil is hot, add the veggies, and after a few minutes, add the water, soy sauce, and lime mixture. When onions are clearing and starting to brown (about 8-9 minutes), remove from pan and set aside and cover.
- Add a little oil to the pan. When hot, add the drained chicken and brown. Near the end of cooking, break apart the chicken with a wooden spoon. This will make much smaller pieces and prove the meat is cooked. Check a few large pieces with an instant-read thermometer to be sure you are at 165°—about 8-9 minutes.
- When the chicken is done, add the veggies back to the pan. Cook and stir for a minute or two until the veggies are reheated.
- Serve hot in the skillet with heated tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, and anything else you like. An easy way to heat tortillas is to sprinkle a dish towel with some water, put the tortillas inside, and heat them in a microwave.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Lime juice is important. The liquid smoke is not. If you use liquid smoke (I do suggest it), it must be of good quality.
- This has a touch of heat. Cut down the cayenne if you want.
- You can use chicken breasts or thighs.
- Raw chicken only here. This is not a recipe for pre-cooked chicken.
- Fajitas are good refrigerated and reheated for up to 4 days.
- Nutrition is meat and veggies only. No toppings or tortillas. And ⅓ of the marinade is counted as absorbed, which is probably too high.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Originally Published May 3, 2012. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Gail says
Can I use bottled lime juice?
Fran says
Your new website is almost as good as your recipes......and that means it is great! Thank you for everything.....keep on cooking....for two of course.
Catherine says
Dr Dan, this recipe sounds and looks delicious. I’ve pinned it under my Mexican food pin and will be trying it soon.
I read every word of your text regarding the new website and not sure what you meant as the “reminder”? The site looks great and have no thoughts of unsubscribing.....your recipes are a staple here. Thanks for making them available. Catherine
Darice T says
I always make a mixture of chicken and steak when making Fajitas. It tastes great and there is no deciding between the two.
Ziyi says
I love exploring tortilla with different fillings and this turned out to be so good! Thanks for the great recipe!
Charlene says
We had these tonight for dinner and WOW fantastic! I was really curious about the lime, liquid smoke, and soy sauce together and these were amazing! Highly recommend, nice to have had the meat prepared ahead of time so dinner went together in a snap. Thanks Dr. Dan - another great recipe!
Lara says
Delicious on the grill, too. Having that slightly charred taste ramps up the flavor even more, and no skillet to clean!
DrDan says
Hi Lara,
I agree, the grill does add something special.
Thanks for the note and rating.
DrDan
Marsha says
Does the T stand for teaspoon or table spoon? Thanks
DrDan says
T is tablespoon and t is teaspoon. I just moved the FAQ section onto the main part of the menu bar to help.
DrDan
Chris says
I love fajitas, probably one of my favorite meals from the grill.
I have to have a little cumin in mine, one of the definitive flavors in the profile.