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. 😄
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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
- Enamelware Sheet Pan
Nutrition
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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!
Would this work as a freezer meal? I am wondering if it would be OK to cook this, then freeze it to reheat later on.
This is just so-so for freezing because the vegetables will get softer after the freeze-thaw cycle and may get a little watery.
I grabbed some clearance bell peppers from the grocery store and needed a way to use them up quickly. I’m not usually a fan of fajitas but my husband is so I thought I would try these. Omg. So good. We fought over the leftovers and ended up making a 2nd batch for dinner that night.
These are great and so easy! I thought they were a bit overdone at 35 minutes so less time next time. You can get more smokiness by using smoked paprika. Yum
Can i pre-mix the seasoning on the chicken and veggies and then place it in the fridge to cook later?
I would not suggest this because the salt in the seasoning will pull water out of the vegetables and make them limp (and water might pool in the dish preventing you from getting that nice charred flavor).
However, you definitely can pre-chop everything, put it in the pan, pre-mix the seasoning in another container, and then do a SUPER quick combo of everything right before you put it in the oven. I pretty much always do it that way and have had no problems other than it takes a bit longer because it’s starting from cold. Also, either let the pan sit out for a bit prior to cooking or put it in while the oven is preheating to avoid anything breaking from heating up too fast. =)
I make this recipe a lot, and sometimes when I’m short on time, I make it on the stove. It’s not as good because the food doesn’t cook as evenly, plus it’s more work because I have to stand over the stove, but it’s a good tactic when I’m in a time crunch.
Once my husband took the leftovers to work and forgot the lime and the sour cream. BIG mistake. The lime and sour cream are a must!
Looks so good! I have a bag of frozen peppers and onions. Think I could use those instead of fresh veggies?
Of course you could…but my experience with watery vegetables that are frozen like peppers and onions is that they really lack the flavor and texture of fresh. Try it, it won’t be inedible…but try it again with fresh, it’s so much better.
To coat each veggie and meat slice evenly, I followed recipe, but put everything in a large bowl in the order specified in recipe. Then I tossed with a wooden spoon in the bowl. Lastly I arranged in the oven dish and placed in oven. Each vegetable was well coated and added immensely to the full flavor of the dish. This is so super easy…. and yes… by all means purchase the spices and make your own fajita seasoning. Yummy!!!!!! Thank you for sharing. Restaurant flavors right at home. Using a large deep iron skillet even makes it better. Keep an eye on the dish because the iron skillet heat ups quickly.
These came out fantastic. Please try with some Chile Lime salt. OMG ups the ante.
Thank you!
These were the easiest and tastiest fajitas I’ve made yet! My 15-year-old granddaughter said they were the best she’s ever eaten and made me promise to always make fajitas with this recipe. We loved them. Thank you! 💕
By the way, I did not use the corn starch. This recipe doesn’t need it.
This was a very good recipe. Hubby and I liked it. Thanks.
After one million years of making recipes from your blog, I am pretty sure that I am trying this piece of history for the first time! Of course its delicious. I followed the recipe exactly except I used boneless skinless chicken thighs. I absolutely love how it barely required any prep or dishes, and it is super filling and delicious. I ate these with some shredded pepper jack, shredded greens, and salsa as toppings. I can see myself making this a lot and switching up the toppings/vegetables. Thanks so much for all that you do!
I made this for dinner. First time i ever made fajitas and they came out perfect! Put spanish rice in them.My husband said this should stay on the list. Picky kids even loved it! Thank you for your wonderful recipes.
DId this recipe have cornstarch in it at one time? Ive made it many times and I feel like the recipe changed? Am I imagining things???
I updated the recipe and didn’t feel that the cornstarch was necessary, but I’ve added it back to the notes on the recipe for those who liked it. :)
I’ve made this recipe a few times now, and I know it used to have corn starch in the fajita seasoning, but now it’s missing from the recipe above. ??
Yeah, after making it a thousand times I’ve updated the recipe and decided that it wasn’t necessary. :)
Ha! So I’m not imagining things! I thought the same thing. And I actually prefer it the old way. What was the measurement 1/2 or 1 T?
I just updated the notes in the recipe to include the cornstarch. :) It was 1/2 Tbsp.
These are so easy and wonderfully tasty! I’m not a huge bell pepper fan, but they are seasoned and cooked well enough that I don’t even think about not liking them when I’m shoving my face haha!