I know you’ve all been posed the question (and I have no idea where or when, but somehow I have had to answer it many times thus far in my relatively short life): “If you had to pick one thing to eat every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?” And while I would hate to be required to pick just one thing, this meal would be one of my top contenders. I love fajitas that much. But not just any fajitas- they have to be good. Really good. So toss out the store-bought seasoning packet and the 50 for $1 bag of tortillas. I’m going to show you a flavor-packed marinade that you can whip up in a flash. And when you combine it with homemade tortillas and all the fixins, these will be the best chicken or steak fajitas you’ve ever eaten!
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken or Steak – You can use your choice of meat; boneless chicken breasts work great, as do chicken thighs or tenders. Steak is also awesome–flank steak and sirloin are both fantastic cuts for this recipe. We often do both chicken and steak.
- Peppers and Onions – No rules here- grab whatever colors of peppers and onions you have around and grill them up.
- Liquid Smoke – If you’re not familiar with liquid smoke, you can find it near the BBQ sauces. Don’t make these fajitas without it! It’s definitely one of the key components. It makes things yummy and smoky and super flavorful. And if you’re wondering, it actually is real smoke in liquid form. Interesting, eh? Start with 1 teaspoon and add more if you’d like a smokier flavor.
How to Make The BEST Chicken or Steak Fajitas
- Start with the marinade: mix up some lime juice, water, oil, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, liquid smoke. We’re then going to add some salt, chili powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and onion powder. My trick is to set 3-4 tablespoons of the finished marinade aside to drizzle over the platter when finished.
- Next, separate your meat and veggies in plastic zip-top bags or shallow dishes. Splash a bit of the marinade on the veggies, just enough to coat them, and add the rest to the meat. Make sure everything is coated well, and then marinate in the fridge for 4-6 hours.
- Everything then gets tossed on the grill and is grilled to perfection. The vegetables may cook faster than the meat, so have a plate ready to remove them when done and cover loosely with foil. If you’d like to use a grill pan inside you can, I just recommend using thinner cutes of meat, like butterflied chicken breasts or flank steak.
- When the meat is done, let it rest for a few minutes, tented with foil, before slicing.
When everything is sliced up, drizzle the meat and veggies with the remaining marinade and serve. I like to serve it on a big platter and let everyone serve themselves, but if you want to make sure everything is distributed evenly, you could also mix everything up on the platter.
Serving Suggestions
Serve along side any or all of the following:
Flour Tortillas
Black Beans
Lime-Cilantro Rice
Pico de Gallo
Salsa
Diced avocado
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Shredded cheese or crumbled cotija cheese
If it’s not really grill season at your house, consider my Sheet Pan Fajitas or Easy Slowcooker Fajitas with Chili-Lime Cream as well!
FAQs
- I’m making these for a crowd. Can I cook them ahead of time? My recommendation for serving a crowd is to prep all of your side dishes and toppings ahead of time and store in their serving dishes, covered in plastic in the fridge. See my hack for warming lots of fresh tortillas at once here: Fresh Tortilla Hack. Stick with the recommended marinating time and cook the meat and veggies right before serving. Definitely use your outdoor grill for cooking a large quantity of meat and veggies. Lastly, take a look at my popular Sheet Pan Fajitas or Easy Slowcooker Fajitas with Chili-Lime Cream to see if one of those recipes might work better for your needs!
Did You Make This?
I’d love to hear from you! Snap a picture and tag me on Instagram, and then come back and give this recipe a rating!
The BEST Chicken or Steak Fajitas
- Total Time: 4-6 hours
Description
If you’ve only ever made fajitas with the store-bought seasoning packet, this homemade fajita marinade will knock your socks off. This is truly one of our favorite meals!
Ingredients
filling
1–1 1/2 pounds chicken (boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs) or steak (sirloin or flank steak)
2–3 red, orange, and/or yellow bell peppers, halved (or use a few handfuls of baby peppers)
1 large onion, sliced into 1/2” thick slices
marinade
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1–2 teaspoons liquid smoke (see note)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder or chipotle chili powder (chipotle chili powder will have heat and smoke)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Suggestions FOR SERVING
tortillas
sour cream
green onions
cilantro
diced tomatoes, salsa, or pico de gallo
diced avocados or guacamole
black beans
shredded cheese
Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine all marinade ingredients and whisk well. Reserve 3-4 tablespoons of marinade for later use.
Place meat in a Ziploc bag or shallow dish. Place vegetables in another.
With remaining marinade, add a splash to the vegetables (enough for a light coating) and the remaining to the meat. Marinate for 4-6 hours and up to overnight.
grill instructions
Preheat outdoor grill (our preference) to medium heat. When the grill is hot, place everything on at the same time in a single layer. Cook until desired doneness is reached, flipping once (about 7 minutes per side for chicken breasts, 3-4 minutes per side for chicken thighs, or see this tutorial for How to Grill the Perfect Steak.) You may need to remove the vegetables before the meat is done- just transfer to a plate and cover loosely with foil. When the meat is done, transfer to a plate and allow to stand for a few minutes, tented with foil, then slice the meat. Drizzle reserved marinade over finished meat and veggies and serve.
indoor instructions
Heat a large skillet or grill pan to medium heat. Cook the peppers and onions first and then remove from pan, covering loosely with foil. Cook chicken or steak on each side until cooked through and remove from pan and allow to rest, tented with foil, for a few minutes before slicing. Drizzle reserved marinade over finished meat and veggies and serve.
serving instructions
After you’ve sliced the meat, toss the meat and vegetables with reserved marinade and serve along side any or all of the following:
Flour Tortillas
Black Beans
Lime-Cilantro Rice
Pico de Gallo
Salsa
Diced avocado
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Shredded cheese or crumbled cotija cheese
Notes
*If you’re not familiar with liquid smoke, you can find it near the BBQ sauces. Don’t make this without it! It’s definitely one of the key components. It makes things yummy and smoky and super flavorful. And if you’re wondering, it actually is real smoke in liquid form. Interesting, eh? Start with 1 teaspoon and add more if you’d like a smokier flavor.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Refrigerator Time: 4-6 hours
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
Questions & Reviews
These were DELISH and easy, my hubs threw them on the green egg. The whole fam bam ate them. Thanks for spreading the fajita love
I need these in my life! I’ve definitely been whelmed by store bought mixes — can’t wait to try this marinade!
Can’t WAIT to try these!!! We like to add shrimp to our platter also. . .
The homemade tortillas seem like they would put this over the top! Curious what brand or tortillas you go for if homemade isn’t happening though? I always love to hear what people’s *preferred* brand of things is… Every time I buy tortillas I wonder if there’s a better tasting version! I do love the raw tortilla land ones from costco though. So good!
pre-made raw tortillas are definitely my favorite, but if those aren’t happening, my favorite brand is La Tortilla Factory. Hope that helps!
This was awesome. Couldn’t find my liquid smoke but it was still oh-so-good.
I made these this weekend, they are so good! I need to marinate longer next time because I didn’t start prepping until an hour before but even with just that the flavor was good-I can’t wait to see how much better they are with longer! The leftover chicken has been great on salads for quick lunches.
simply delicious
So these are a staple now in meal planning. I actually crockpot the recipe with chicken breasts while at church and come home to a quick meal. We sauté the veggies and make guacamole and eat in about 20 minutes. Thanks for the awesome recipe.
As usual,your recipes are amazing and a hit with the family! Love it!
Oh my gosh,these make the best Fajitas. I made them the other night for dinner and my husband and son in law loved them. They requested them for their fathers day meal this Sunday. YUMMY! You have the best recipes, thanks for sharing!
I have been making these for a while and I LOVE and crave them. Chicken is yummy, but recently I made them with some carne asada steak . . . hello. Barely legal. But now I have a question. For years I have been using liquid smoke to make bbq sauces, and have always bought Wrights. The ingredients there are water and hickory smoke concentrate. However, last time I went to the store all they had was Colgin liquid smoke, ingredients there are water, natural smoke flavor, vinegar, molasses, caramel color, and salt. Which sounds closer to what you use? I have loved Wrights and am skeptical of this new one, but if you’ve been using something like Colgins all along, I’m sure I can’t kill the recipe . . . Probably can’t anyway, just wondering.
These were great! we made them a year ago and didn’t really love them (not sure how I messed that up…) so we tried them again and they were fabulous! I think I added double the garlic, and was more liberal with the chipotle and cayenne-so yes, they were spicy. Fabulous!!! Thanks!
This is my favorite fajita recipe of all time. It THRILLS company. Thanks, ladies!
I am glad you ladies have started giving credit to the source, even when you adapt a recipe. This recipe, with a couple of minor changes, is one I have found on another site and it was posted 8 months before yours. Would you consider going back to older recipes and adding sources? I have found that as being a great way of finding new recipe sites….when I find a recipe I like and can go back to the source.
Meg, we have both been using this recipe for years before we posted it here on our blog. It’s a well known recipe that has since been found in many, many places. I originally got this recipe from a family member, and Kate got it from a friend and we both have adapted it over the years to suit our tastes, as written here. We’ve shared it with lots of people before it was ever on our blog so I’m sure in many cases, people have found it through us! We are always very considerate to post sources when they apply and to properly credit others.
This is probably the recipe that I have made the most from this blog. We love them! I have only made them with chicken and wanted to try it with steak but I was wondering what kind you would use? Flank?
So glad you like them! You can use any good grilling steak; flank works great!
I made the homemade tortillas and all I can say is there’s no going back!! They were fantastic!
Hey do you need to refrigerate the liquid smoke? I did not see on it anywhere that you do but just wanted to double check with someone who uses it. Thanks
I just used this marinade to simmer my chicken in for enchiladas tonight. That marinade is to die for and I will be making fajitas with it very soon!
I made these last night!!! I left out the soy sauce because I didn’t have any, but they were absolutely delicious!!!
These had an amazing smokey flavor. They were liked by all. Yum!
I’m making these for company tonight. It’s all currently marinating in the fridge. That marinade smells SOOO good! I’m using red and yellow bell peppers, anaheim and banana peppers and onions. I’m doing both steak and chicken. I can’t wait!!!
Oh wow, this marinade makes me love fajitas even more. We tried it last night, and it was oh so good. Thanks so much.
I just have to say, this is a fantastic recipe. I’ve made it several times just for my family. I’m making it tomorrow for dinner guests and can’t wait to see what they think too (I’m sure they’ll think it’s fantastic also!). Every recipe I’ve made from this blog has turned out wonderfully.
Made this last night on the stovetop in a grill pan. MY MY! It was delicious! I added a bit of cumin.