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!
I always felt that fajitas were such a hassle…well, no longer!
Last night, I decided to make these. While I needed to cook the chicken separate (hubby was picking some up on the way home from work), I doubled the veggies and made this on 2 foil lined baking sheets.
It was easy, it wasn’t messy, and it was DELICIOUS. I don’t feel the need to go out for fajitas ever again, if I’m fully honest. I plan on making this once every 10-15 days.I love it, and hubby (who adores fajitas) was very happy with this recipe. 100% making this again soon!
This is definitely our favourite fajitas recipe and we make it at least twice a month!! We follow the recipe exactly (sometimes add in more chicken) but it ALWAYS turns out delicious… and so simple too!! Thank you!!
Thank you for this recipe. I made these yesterday, one dish with chicken thighs strips and the other dish
with sirloin steak strips. Both were delicious. I was told this was a keeper by all. Such an easy dish for a crowd. Look forward to trying more of your recipes.
So delish! Followed the recipe exactly.
It was really good. Didn’t have any vegetable oil so used some bacon grease I saved from previous meal and it turn out good.
I’ve made these many times and my family loves them! Have you ever made this as a freezer meal?
No, I don’t think you’d want to freeze the vegetables because they’ll get too wet and limp.
I know it’s not fajitas-y, but my family loves this with ground beef! It gives it that oily quality like a restaurant dish.
Hi , just made this recipe as part of a meal plan for my lunch and dinner before the gym and must say it’s so good . Do you know the macros for this recipe ? Thanks scott
No, I’m sorry, I don’t have nutritional info.
Beth-
I used your recipe tonight but i tried it with ribeye steaks and it came out amazing. I’d like to thank you for the seasoning blend. I’ve been looking for something other than the pre-packaged stuff for a long time. While thats ok in a pinch, Ive decided that im going to make a jar of the seasoning in advance so ill have it on hand. No more pre-packaged seasoning for this girl.
Beth, I had to make dinner for nearly 15 familymembers the other night and I’ve never cooked for more than 5 at a time! I was pretty nervous about doing it so I came to your site for help and found this DELICOUS recipe! Seriously, everyone was raving about it and I am so happy it turned out well! The chicken was so tender and delicious and the spices were perfect. I left out the cayenne but it was still amazing and EASY! And yes, I basically quadrupled the recipe to make enough food and served with rice, beans etc. I have been using your recipes for years now and I have never been disappointed. Thank you so much for making an intimidating experience worthwhile! I’m so happy I can count on your help 😊
Wow! I’m impressed! I’ve never cooked for more than a few people at a time, either. I’m so happy this recipe worked so well when quadrupled! Thank you so much for the kind words. :)
Great recipe! I use it for entertaining a lot. Everyone always loves it. I paired it with your cilantro lime rice this last time. So good!
I’ve made this recipe a number of times and it’s always been a hit… I would like to try it with beef steak though… Can you recommend what kind of steak (flank or skirt) I would use and would I have to adjust the cooking time?
Also, if I use either kind of steak, would I need to marinade it overnight in order to tenderize it?
I haven’t tried cooking steak in this manner, so I’m not sure what cut would work best. I do know that flank steak is usually best when cooked briefly and left slightly rare, like on a grill or griddle, so it would probably get overcooked if used in this recipe.
This is the best way to make fajitas at home. The preparation makes for easy clean-up, which is important in our house. The seasoning was quite nice, and my husband liked it better than what we had been using. This will likely become a common meal for our household.
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.