Easy Sheet Pan Fajita Recipe (2024)

Here at Our Best bites we specialize in practical, delicious ideas to help you get dinner on the table for your families. We share a LOT of different types of recipes and content around here, but we know you especially love family friendly dinners so I have a REALLY good one for you today. These Sheet Pan Fajitas are ridiculously easy to make. With just a few minutes prep time, you can pop them in the oven and have just enough time to set the table and gather all the fixings, and then they’re ready! Dinner in under 30 minutes. Thousands of you have made these and loved these and ranked them as our top recipe of the year!

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Easy Sheet Pan Fajita Recipe (1)

Types of Fajita Recipes

We’ve got a couple other fajita recipes here on Our Best Bites, and they all have their place. For the grill, you cannot beat our Classic Fajita recipe. It requires a long marinade and its tangy, smoky flavor profile is beloved by readers around the world as one of our all-time most popular recipes! For those times where you need to just dump everything in a slow cooker, we have my easySlow Cooker Steak Fajitas. Super tender steak and so easy and delicious. Set it and forget it.

These days the recipe I tend to make the most are these Sheet Pan Fajitas. You cannot beat the convenience of a one-pan meal and a simple yet flavorful dry rub gives these fajitas out0-of-this-world flavor without drowning everything on a pan like a marinade would.

Making the Dry Rub

I’m using seasonings that most of you probably have in your pantries already: Kosher salt, black pepper, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, garlic powder, and if you have any- True Lime. I buy this crystallized fresh lime in a large shaker bottle on Amazon and use it on evvvverything. If you don’t have it, no worries. We’ll give these a squeeze of fresh lime.

As I mentioned before, we’re using all dry seasonings because there’s plenty of moisture in the chicken and vegetables and we want these to caramelize and roast (not simmer!)

Easy Sheet Pan Fajita Recipe (2)

Chicken Choice

You can certainly try this recipe with boneless skinless chicken breast, but I prefer thighs for some very specific reasons. Aside from the fact that chicken thighs are so much more flavorful in a recipe like this, they are also much easier to cook. Chicken breasts need to be cooked to a certain temperature and as soon as they pass that, they’re suddenly dry and chewy. It’s hard to mess up chicken thighs. You can overcook them and they’re still juicy and tender. On a sheet pan meal, you’re cooking several different things on the same pan and it’s really nice to have some flexibility in case everything isn’t done at the exact same time. Did I mention they taste so much better in this recipe? Buy boneless skinless ones and then use a sharp pair of clean scissors or kitchen shears to trim excess fat if you like.

Add the Seasoning Mix

I slice up my chicken and vegetables and then use plastic gloves so I can just toss everything together with my hands! Drizzle with a few tablespoons oil (our Lime Olive Oil is my personal favorite, here) and that seasoning mix. I use an extra large sheet pan (I get them here, they’re fantastic and so useful. I pretty much use this size for everything!) and this just gets tossed in the oven.

Easy Sheet Pan Fajita Recipe (3)

Cook the Sheet Pan Fajitas

If your oven has a convection setting, use it. Convection will circulate hot air and help get everything kind of toasty brown like a grill would. If not, you can always broil quickly at the end if you like.

Easy Sheet Pan Fajita Recipe (4)

I toss on a handful of chopped cilantro at the end and a big squeeze of fresh lime juice. These are DIVINE.

Easy Sheet Pan Fajita Recipe (5)

Now you can obviously serve these traditionally in tortillas with all the fixings.

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But some other ways we love eating these, depending on nutrition preferences, are:

-Over shredded iceberg or mixed greens
-Over a bed of cauliflower rice
-In a bowl of rice and beans (use the quick steam rice bags and canned beans for a fast meal!)
-Simply in a bowl with avocado and sour cream

Any way you do it, I think you’ll love this one! Let me know what you think!

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Easy Sheet Pan Fajita Recipe (7)

Sheet Pan Fajitas

5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star5 from 27 reviews

  • Author: Sara Wells
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Description

Quick and easy sheet pan dinner featuring juicy flavorful chicken with roasted bell peppers and onions. Perfect week night meal! Served my family of 6 just perfectly.

Ingredients

1.52 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and sliced (see note)
1 large onion, sliced
2 large bell peppers (or 3 small/med ones), sliced
34 tablespoons olive oil (or other oil of your choice) I prefer ourLime Olive Oil
2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
23 teaspoons True Lime, optional
handful of cilantro

1 lime
optional for serving: sour cream, guacamole/avocado, tortillas, rice and beans, etc.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Have a large sheet pan ready (cover with foil or parchment for easy clean-up).

Place sliced chicken, onions, and peppers in an extra large mixing bowl. Drizzle on oil and all seasonings. Toss to coat. (Tip: I keep Nitrile gloves in my kitchen and use them for things like this- tossing with your hands is much easier!)

Spread chicken and pepper mixture out evenly on baking sheet and place in oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes (closer to 20 with convection) until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender. If desired, place under broiler for a quick minute to brown.

Remove from oven and if desired, sprinkle cilantro over everything and give it a big squeeze of fresh lime juice (you might not need fresh lime if you used True Lime, but I say never enough lime.)

Serve with tortillas and traditional fixings, or over a bed of salad or veggies or rice and beans, etc.

Notes

I like using extra large sheet pans for most of my cooking, and they’re the perfect size for this recipe. If you are using a standard sheet pan, you will have to let me know if it all fits- if you’re worried there’s too much, just split between 2 pans and pop both in the oven!

*I use a full 2lbs and it’s generously seasoned.

Easy Sheet Pan Fajita Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How much meat do you need for fajitas per person? ›

Fajitas start with the meat: You'll need 1/4 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast, chicken cutlets or skirt steak for each person. If you're using chicken breasts, pound them until they're about 1/2 inch thick; if you're using skirt steak, cut each steak in half so that it fits easily in your skillet.

When cooking fajitas do you cook meat or veggies first? ›

This recipe promises to be a one-pan dinner, but to ensure that the chicken's juices don't steam the vegetables — making them soggy — cook the vegetables first. Transfer them to a plate or cutting board, then cook the chicken in the same pan before bringing things together.

Can I substitute taco seasoning for fajita seasoning? ›

Fajita seasoning and taco seasoning are very similar, but they are not the same. Taco seasoning typically has more oregano and chili powder than fajita seasoning. With that being said, however, you can use fajita seasoning and taco seasoning interchangeably in recipes, it may just warrant a slightly different flavor.

How many people does 1 pound of fajita feed? ›

I like to always say it's about one pound per three people...but let's be honest, I can almost eat a whole pound by myself lol.

What is the best meat for fajitas? ›

Skirt steak is the traditional cut used for fajitas. It used to be inexpensive, but now it's not so cheap; oftentimes flank steak costs less. Either will be a good choice.

What is the most tender meat for fajitas? ›

Flank steak is one of the most well-known kinds for anything that requires thin steaks. This thin cut works well for slicing, as required for tacos and fajitas.

What makes restaurant fajitas so good? ›

The key to really good, flavorful fajitas is searing the meat and vegetables over high heat so they get a smoky, charred flavor. That said, be certain to not overcrowd the pan so the ingredients sear vs steam. Work in batches and make sure the oil is smoking hot before searing each batch of chicken and vegetables.

What liquid makes fajitas sizzle? ›

Sorry, but fajita sizzle isn't real. TikTokers have discovered restaurants just add water or a sauce to make it appear like the dish is cooking. A viral TikTok showed a restaurant worker pouring water onto a dish to make it steam and sizzle.

Do onions go on fajitas? ›

Onions are an essential ingredient in many Mexican dishes, and when it comes to making mouthwatering fajitas, they play a starring role.

Can you use McCormick fajita seasoning as a marinade? ›

McCormick Culinary Fajita Marinade & Seasoning Mix's uniform texture is perfect for marinating protein and infusing signature flavor before grilling, broiling or roasting.

What is in Old El Paso fajita seasoning? ›

Ingredients: Corn Starch, Salt, Sugar, Sea Salt (potassium magnesium chloride, salt), Spice, Chili Pepper.

How many pounds of fajita meat for 30 people? ›

For 30 people that means about 10-15 lbs of cooked meat. For flank steak and chicken breasts you can count on about 30% cooking shrinkage, so you are going to need about 14-21 lbs of raw meat to start with.

How many pounds of taco meat do I need for 20 people? ›

Most people will eat about 1 to 2 ounces of meat per taco. For 20 people figure at least 70 to 80 tacos. That's about 10 pounds of meat roughly. People tend to fill tacos with solid meats like not ground beef or chicken with less meat fillings than ground meats.

How many pounds of beef do you need for fajitas? ›

1 ½ - 2 pounds skirt or flank steak. 1 tablespoon oil (high heat) 2 medium white onions, sliced.

How much skirt steak for 6 adults? ›

It cooks up easily, quickly, and can be sliced to feed four to six people—or more if you use the meat in fajitas, sandwiches, or as part of a summer dinner salad. They run anywhere from 12 to 24 ounces, so they easily feed from two to six people.

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