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!
I made these for dinner last night. The only thing I did differently was that instead of the chicken, I used shredded Thanksgiving turkey from the freezer that I really wanted to use up. I added it and an extra drizzle of oil when I tossed the veggies halfway through. So easy and SO GOOD. I’m eating leftovers tonight (a benefit of being single?) and I’m already planning to make it again soon, next time with chicken! Thank you for the recipe, Beth!
Made just the veggies tonight for a burrito bowl. PERFECT! The seasoning blend went so well with the dish. I will cook with the chicken next time. 😁
I made this last night, and it was so delicious! I used the original recipe with the cornstarch. The seasoning was perfect, with just a touch of heat from the cayenne pepper. I am downsizing all my cookbooks and recipes, but this dish is a definite keeper! I served it with a can of fat free refried beans that I mixed with a small can of diced green chilies and whole grain fajita tortillas. So, so good and healthy!
This turned out so well. When I served it to my husband he said “ wow this looks like a restaurant meal”. It was quick and easy and came out perfect. I have a tendency to over cook chicken but it was the perfect consistency with the peppers so
Nothing was dry . Perfection .
I’ve made these many times as written but I kind of want to try it out with beef. Any recommendations on what kind? Maybe flank steak?
Generally you want to cook flank steak until it’s only medium-rare to medium, so I definitely wouldn’t put it on the sheet pan the whole time. Maybe toward the end. Or just sear it in a skillet instead because that will only take minutes and will give better results. :)
Making these Friday will let you all know how my family liked them
I make this a lot because we love it! Since we have done Whole30, we serve it over cauliflower rice and I leave the sugar out of the spices. It’s still awesome!
Oh great thinking!
Thank you for this super easy and delicious recipe! My partner and I love it, and we make it all the time—Fajita Fridays! The seasoning blend is perfect! We sub mushrooms for the chicken and guacamole for the sour cream to make vegan.
Okay now that’s a great swap for the normal pizza friday…Fajita Friday! Love it! Happy to hear you are able to make it vegan for you and your partner. Great work Jenny.
Can you please tell me the nutritional value? Thank you
I made it tonight and it was delicious.
Thanks for the request! We do get that request a lot, but unfortunately we don’t have a reliable source for the nutrition information. The calculators and databases that most bloggers and websites use to calculate the info can be extremely inaccurate, and for something that can so severely impact the health of people with health conditions, we just don’t feel comfortable publishing unreliable numbers. We prefer to leave it up to the reader to use the database or calculator they trust. I’m sorry and I wish accuracy were easier than shipping the food off to a lab for analysis!
I’m making these on Thursday today is Tuesday I just worry about the chicken drying out in the oven
You should be okay Chrissie!
I have small toaster oven so I halved the recipie. I used 1/2 green, red, jalopeno & onion & full packet of the fajita seasoning.
Had a bit too much liquid in the pan but was DELICIOUS. Cant wait to make again tomorrow
Happy to hear it Susan.
WOW!!!!! These were AMAZING! My husband said these were the best fajitas he’s ever had!!! I am so happy with this recipe! It will be one of our usual dishes around here now! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Why do you no longer recommend adding in the cornstarch?
Because when I tested it without I didn’t feel like it made a significant enough of a difference to include it.
Amazing!!
Made this last night and it was amazing! There wasn’t anything left! I may have to double it next time! 😊
Can I use frozen veggies in this recipe?
Would come out with too much liquid & different texture