These Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas have been a Budget Bytes staple recipe since I first posted them eight years ago! I love fajitas, but they require a super hot griddle to get that nice smoky flavor, which also means a lot of smoky smell in my house and standing over a super hot stove. Not my favorite way to spend my evening. So I make baked fajitas instead. Is it exactly the same? No, BUT it’s almost completely hands-off (yay) and you get some nice caramelization on the edges of the peppers and onions, which gives you a similar char effect. I’ll save the real deal fajitas for when I’m at a restaurant and not doing the cooking. 😄
What Kind of Sheet Pan to Use
You definitely want the largest sheet pan (or baking dish) you can find for this recipe. It’s imperative that the chicken and vegetables are not too crowded on the baking sheet otherwise the steam will get trapped as they bake and you won’t get that nice caramelization that only happens in a dry heat environment. I’m using a 13×16 inch baking sheet here and in the original version of this recipe I used a 13×15 inch glass baking dish.
Make it Fit in your Budget
Red, yellow, and orange bell peppers are usually significantly more expensive than green bell peppers, but you can use any mix that fits your budget. Despite using a couple of more expensive colored peppers, I used more vegetables than meat to keep costs low. The meat to veggie ratio ended up being perfect once everything had been cooked down. If you want to make these Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas vegetarian, try this Chipotle Portobello Oven Fajita recipe.
Make Your Own Fajita Seasoning or Buy Pre-Made
The ingredient list below might look long, but most of that is the fajita seasoning mix. So if you’re looking for a short cut or your kitchen spice cabinet is not well-stocked, you can simply use a packet of store-bought fajita seasoning.
Toppings for Chicken Fajitas
I like to keep my chicken fajitas really simple with just a squeeze of lime, maybe some fresh cilantro, and a small dollop of sour cream, but there are so many other things you could use to top your chicken fajitas. Try these toppings
- Shredded cheese
- Cotija cheese
- Green onions
- Salsa
- Guacamole or sliced avocado
- Pickled red onion
- Pico de Gallo
Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
Servings 4 (2 fajitas each)Ingredients
FAJITA SEASONING
- 1 Tbsp chili powder ($0.30)
- 1/2 Tbsp paprika ($0.15)
- 1/2 tsp onion powder ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp cumin ($0.03)
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- 1 tsp sugar ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
FAJITAS
- 2 small yellow onions (or one large) ($0.57)
- 3 bell peppers, any color ($3.69)
- 1 lb. chicken breast ($6.24)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.08)
- 1 lime ($0.30)
- 8 6-inch tortillas ($1.28)
- 1/2 cup sour cream (optional) ($0.90)
- 1/4 bunch cilantro (optional) ($0.22)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Mix all of the spices for the fajita seasoning in a small bowl and set aside (chili powder, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, sugar, and salt).
- Cut the onion and bell peppers into 1/4-inch wide strips. Slice the chicken breast into thin strips. Add the chicken and vegetables to a large baking sheet or casserole dish.
- Drizzle the cooking oil over the chicken and vegetables, then sprinkle the fajita seasoning mix over top. Use your hands to toss the ingredients until everything is well coated in oil and seasoning. Spread the chicken and vegetables out over the baking sheet evenly.
- Bake the chicken and vegetables in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, stirring once halfway through. Squeeze the juice from half of the lime over top of the meat and vegetables after they come out of the oven.
- To serve, scoop a small amount of meat and vegetables into the center of each tortilla. Top with a few sprigs of cilantro, a dollop of sour cream, and an extra squeeze of lime if desired.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
Nutrition
Video
What to serve with oven baked fajitas
Need a side dish to go with your Oven Fajitas? Try one of these awesome sides
Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas – Step By Step Photos:
Begin by preheating the oven to 400ºF. In a small bowl, stir together 1 Tbsp chili powder (this is a mild blend, not hot red chiles), 1/2 Tbsp paprika, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/8 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp sugar. The sugar helps the vegetables caramelize and gives the dish a very subtle sweetness.
Slice three bell peppers and two small onions (or one large onion) into thin, 1/4-inch wide strips. Red, yellow, and orange bell peppers are usually more expensive than green, so use a mix of peppers that fits your budget.
Slice 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast into thin strips as well. Place the sliced bell peppers, onion, and chicken on a large sheet pan (13×16-inch). You want to avoid piling the ingredients in so deep that they begin to stew in their juices in the oven, instead of browning, so you’ll need the largest dish available. You can also use an extra large casserole dish, if you don’t have a large sheet pan.
Drizzle 2 Tbsp cooking oil over the meat and vegetables, followed by the fajita spice mix, then toss the ingredients until everything is well coated in oil and spices.
Now that everything is coated in oil and spices, it’s ready to go into the oven.
Roast the chicken and vegetables for 35-40 minutes at 400ºF, stirring once halfway through, or until the fajita veggies have softened slightly and are a bit brown on the edges.
Squeeze the fresh lime juice over the chicken and fajita veggies.
Serve hot with tortillas, extra lime wedges, sour cream, cilantro, or whatever other fajita toppings you like!
Hi Beth, I just made your ‘easy oven fajitas’ and they were great. I did make some changes, mainly because we live 20 minutes from a grocery store. I used a beef roast and substituted jalapenos for the green pepper. I also loved the seasoning, and now we don’t have to buy seasoning packets. They are not that great anyway. This was great and easy, so was the cleanup. Thanks for a great recipe.
Have made this multiple times and it’s top 3 one of the tastiest things I’ve ever cooked! Added a version of your fire roasted salsa and it’s absolutely amazing!
I love how your blog is set up with the recipe first, then the step by step photos. Thank you!
This is really tasty. I kinda like it better than a traditional stovetop fajita because you get a little bit of sauce. All we add to these are some sour cream and they’re perfect.
I am so happy I gave these a try. My husband and I both really liked them so I will definitely be making these again. I typically use the fajita seasoning packs, but not anymore. :) These are so much better and just as easy to make as using a seasoning pack. I also compared the sodium from this recipe to the sodium in the packets and this recipe is so much better on the salt content, which I feel most people can benefit from. Thank you for this fabulous recipe.
Also, I just want to say that I was a bit skeptical on the chicken breast and the cook time and temperature. I felt the chicken was going to dry out. I was wrong! The chicken was perfect and the vegetables were cooked with a little bite, not soggy or too crunchy. If you are thinking the same thing I was, just do the recipe as posted. She’s right and you shouldn’t be disappointed.
Has anyone tried this with beef? I bought some “stir-fry” strips on sale and really want fajitas tonight not stir fry. What do you think?
I’m going to try this method for making enchiladas. After everything cooks, I’ll toss the mixture with a bit of trader Joe’s enchilada sauce before adding to my tortilla. I will then add black beans and cheese and will roll up the tortilla and top with more enchilada sauce and cheese and will bake until warm and cheese is melted. I’ll let you all know how it turns out! Love how everything bakes in one dish!!!
I would like to make these for 150 active duty military to whom we serve lunch every 2 weeks through our nonprofit organization. Would you be able to tell me how to adapt this recipe to be able to make this for that many individuals? Thanks so much.
Unfortunately I don’t have any experience cooking for such large groups, so I’m not sure what changes you might need to make.
This recipe serves 4…multiply each ingredient amount by 50, giving you 200 servings. The troops can enjoy and it should be enough for some seconds…50 servings of seconds…and even some for you too…hope this helps…NAVY…HOORAH!!
Sooooo good. Love the original recipe, but I’ve also subbed strips of sweet potato for the chicken when my budget is really tight. Still amazing, especially with smoke paprika!!!!
It was good but way to spicey I think 8 tsp of cayenne is way to much
The recipe calls for 1/8 tsp, not 8 tsp. Never trust the ingredients you see in Pinterest. Pinterest auto pulls the information from the websites and it often gets them wrong (especially when dealing with fractions). I’ve emailed them about it, but they’ve yet to improve the system. :(
Do you think this recipe would do well in a Aluminum baking 9×13 pan? Trying to use this recipe to take dinner to a friend who just had a baby! Wanting to take to her in something she can throw away instead of a glass 9×13 pan!
Yes, I think it would still work fine in an aluminum pan. :)
I loved this! I only did two things differently: I added some chopped broccoli and, since I didn’t have a casserole dish big enough, I just loaded it all up in my cast iron skillet and stuck it in the oven. Perfect! Will make again.
Do we need to cover this with foil before we pop it in the oven?
Nope, leave it uncovered so the moisture evaporate away. If you cover it the steam will be trapped and you won’t get those nice browned edges. :)
Hi Beth, a question about the casserole dish – where did you get it and what brand is it?
I used to make this all the time with my roommate but they took the casserole dish with them when they moved out.
Thank you!
Nicole
I believe this is just a basic Pyrex or Anchor glass casserole dish that you can get at just about any home goods store (like Target or Walmart). Anchor is usually a little less expensive than Pyrex and both hold up for generations. :) I actually left mine at someone’s house a year or so ago, so I don’t know which exact brand it was. :P I might pick up a replacement today. Thanks for reminding me! :D
This is the best Fajita recipe ever! My family love it when I make it. It is easy and delicious. Thanks so much!