Sheet Pan Fajitas

These sheet pan fajitas require minimal prep and produce an amazingly flavorful pan full of tender chicken and roasted veggies. The easy spice blend is perfection and you can serve these in a variety of ways! Obviously the mixture can be tucked into tortillas, but we also love these over rice bowls (extra great with some black beans, too) and they reheat really well for an excellent meal prep option. Thousands of you have made these and loved these and ranked them as our top recipe of the year!

chicken peppers and onion on a sheet pan

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 easy Slow 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.

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!)

spice mix in a bowl

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 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.

chicken fajita mix on baking sheet

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.

pan with chicken fajitas

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

fajitas on sheet pan

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

Fajitas on sheet pan

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!

Sheet Pan Fajitas

5 from 30 votes
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.
Servings0

Ingredients

  • 1.5 – 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and sliced (see note)
  • 1 large onion sliced
  • 2 large bell peppers or 3 small/med ones, sliced
  • 3-4 tablespoons olive oil or other oil of your choice I prefer our Lime 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
  • 2-3 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.
Author: Sara Wells
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Meet The Author

Sara Wells

Sara Wells co-founded Our Best Bites in 2008. She is the author of three Bestselling Cook Books, Best Bites: 150 Family Favorite RecipesSavoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites, and 400 Calories or Less from Our Best Bites. Sara’s work has been featured in many local and national news outlets and publications such as Parenting MagazineBetter Homes & GardensFine CookingThe Rachel Ray Show and the New York Times.

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Questions & Reviews

  1. 5 stars
    This has become a staple at our house. Quick, easy and yummy!
    Funny story: Recently, I got out all the spices and asked my 10-year old son to measure them out for the rub. When we sat down to dinner, they had kind of a weird flavor. Unbeknownst to me, my husband had bought some True Lime Watermelon Lemonade mix and that’s what I had handed to my son! We still ate them, but wouldn’t recommend that. 🙂

  2. 5 stars
    So glad I used the chicken thighs instead of breasts. Used convection for 20 min and it was perfect.

  3. I have made a lot of OBB recipes but this may be my all time favorite! It’s so quick and easy, and SO delicious. I have made it at least a dozen times and we are still not over it. Chicken breast will never be as good as thighs, the thighs make this recipe!!!!

  4. 5 stars
    Love this recipe. So easy and delicious. Perfect for a weeknight family meal

  5. Made this tonight and it was delicious. The seasonings were spot on. I did 20 minutes with convection – I did use chicken tenders instead of chicken thighs – and it turned out moist and delicious.
    Again, the seasonings are what make this taste so awesome! Good job, ladies!

    1. I wouldn’t—the chicken will be overdone by the time the veggies are done. It’s so fast that it’s not really much of a time saver. Hope that helps! ?

  6. My friend served this last night for dinner and it was TO DIE FOR! Super tasty and easy!

  7. 5 stars
    This was delicious! I’ve already made it twice. Chicken thighs will find their way into my grocery list regularly now. It was delicious both in tortillas and over cauliflower rice with salsa and guacamole.

  8. 5 stars
    Made this last night! Moved it into our family favorites list! Easy and very yummy! Kids loved it too. Then again we love everything Our best bites!!

  9. My convection oven automatically subtracts 25 degrees when convection is selected..do you think I should up the temp or have it at the lower convection temp?

  10. Loved this! I did cut down on the salt and still found it really salty…I would use 1 tsp. next time. Otherwise, it was fantastic! I added fresh pineapple chunks with the veggies and chicken and it took it over the top. Thanks for the amazing recipe!

  11. 5 stars
    Made this recipe and it was TASTY!!! Fajitas are a favorite of mine and this recipe will easily be added to my menu rotation. The spice rub was flavorful without being spicey so all of my kids were happy. I did not have Tru Lime, so I zested my lime over the top when the meat/veggies came out of the oven and then juiced the lime too. Tons of flavor! Excellent left overs!

  12. I made this in a regular sized sheet pan and there was a lot of liquid. I soaked the liquid up with paper towels and baked another 10 minutes. The results were great! I doubled the recipe and baked two sheet pans with convection heat for 30 min.

  13. 5 stars
    Made these tonight and they’re so so good! Your original fajita recipe is my favorite meal ever, but this was quick and easy! Thanks for a great recipe! Will definitely make again!

  14. 5 stars
    This was a hit in our house! Loved that I could keep it low carb and put it over cilantro lime cauliflower rice. But the kids could make their own in tortillas.

  15. 5 stars
    We made this for dinner tonight and it was DELISH!! A true winner and will go on our regular rotation. I’ll never make fajitas another way again. Thanks so much for a great recipe!

  16. Yum, I’ve made a similar sheetpan often, and it’s delicious and oh-so-easy. One of my favorite shortcuts this past year has been frozen muti-colored pepper strips (from my regular grovery or Trader Joes’s). I wouldn’t use them in a fresh salad obviously, but they can’t be beat for soups, fajitas, casseroles, etc. They are much cheaper, quicker and simpler — I truly can’t tell a difference once they’re cooked. Just last night, I made a pot of chiii starting with sauteing chopped onions, then adding the frozen peppers and fresh chopped garlic before adding ground meat then the crushed tomatoes and beans. So easy!

    1. I like this idea, especially since the price of peppers seems to have skyrocketed near us lately! Do you thaw them before you use them for something like this? Thanks for sharing!

  17. This looks like something I need to make next week! About how many servings do you think this recipe would have?

  18. Can’t wait to try it! I love everything you share! What tortillas do you like to use? Of course fresh tortillas are the best, but sometimes you just need something easier. Recommendations???

    1. Honestly I usually just use mission brand from the grocery store. Although at some stores I can find some locally-made fresh tortillas (that are in bags) that are really great.

      1. 5 stars
        I’m not a huge fan of meat, so rather than mix the chicken in, I have a section for chicken and a section for chick peas. My husband has the chicken and I have vegetarian chick pea fajitas. That seasoning with the Hint of Lime, was just what our fajitas were missing! So yummy! Thank you!

  19. When you use your convection oven, do you still use he same temperature or do you lower it?

  20. These look amazing!! Definitely trying them this week.

    I’ve never used gloves for tossing. Why do you recommend using them?

    1. You are welcome to use your bare hands. I just prefer to toss raw meat with gloves because it’s not as gross, haha.

  21. This sounds delicious! Do you think steak could be substituted for the chicken? Would you add it later so it doesn’t overcook? Thanks for the great recipe!

    1. You could certainly experiment, I’m just not sure about the timing since I designed this recipe with chicken!

    2. 5 stars
      I made it last night with thinly sliced sirloin steak, and it turned out great! It was cooked for the same length of time suggested for the chicken, and it was tender. Yummy served with guacamole, salsa, lime and cilantro!

    3. 5 stars
      I made these with venison instead of chicken! They turned out absolutely perfect, and homemade guac pairs great with them!