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!
Have made this a few times now, and every time I make it I make double what I made the previous time, I cannot get enough of it! Thanks so much for a great, quick and easy meal. I love that it allows you to stretch your meat and not feel a lack at all :)
Wow, your lucky. I would never find chicken breasts for 1.99/lb here in my area of California. I need to move where you live lol.
It was definitely a sale price :) They’re usually around $4/lb. or more.
These were so good! Super easy…will be a go to recipe for sure. Thanks for sharing!!!
I had my husband make this for dinner, it was a recipe I’d been wanting to try. It came out great and he didn’t even complain when I sent him the link. I assume your easy to follow instructions and photos made it seem acheivable to him. He doesn’t like to measure ingredients. Lol. I made it again myself and both times it was excellent. I do think my husband left out the cornstarch though, the juices were thicker when I made. I also made your homemade healthy tortilla recipe to go with. Delicious!! Love the new site!!!
I made these last night and they were a huge hit. Even my 9 year old picky eater gobbled them up. To make them more kid friendly, I replaced the cayenne with extra cumin. I only used 1 large green bell pepper as well and it still made plenty. I had ZERO leftovers, which rarely happens in my house! It also was quick to put together and did not make a mess by using lost of pots and pans. Thanks for the recipe- it will go into regular rotation at our house.
This is a huge favorite in my family! After cooking it once, the ingredients have made their way to the shopping list every week! I usually leave out the meat and sometimes add an extra onion to stretch it further. We don’t even miss the meat. And we always serve it with cilantro lime rice. Yum! Thanks for sharing :)
Best fajitas I have made not to mention the easiest. I have a large family so I doubled the chicken but did not quite double the veggies, was perfect no need to pick out the chicken loved not being told to buy a fajita seasoning packet. Totally awesome thank you for this website its the best.
Wow! Super easy and delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
Our Mexican Village restaurants downtown serve their fajitas with melted mozzarella on top and it’s surprisingly addictive. You might want to give it a try. You can also tenderize cuts of tougher red meat with a little baking soda in a ziplock bag for several hours or overnight. Just rinse the pieces really good before you cook them. Learned that trick from a Chinese restrauant owner. Works good when you don’t want to use expensive tenderloin. Love making these in the oven. Can’t believe it never occurred to me. Genius!
Made this tonight with portobello mushrooms instead of meat. This coupled with homemade flour tortillas was absolutely sublime! My husband and I loved it, although my 2 year old did not try it but she will have plenty of opportunities to eat it in the future :)
This will definitely be in the permanent rotation! Thanks!
Looks like a good way to make a large amount of fajitas to have as leftovers in the future. I’ll just double the amount of chicken to get 4 decent servings out of it.
Mmm! I made this last night with on sale round steak (marinated overnight with the seasonings & some lime juice), and subbed the red bell pepper for 3 sliced carrots. Instead of tortillas I made salsa rice. Wonderful idea Beth! I will forever make faijas in the oven!
Looks like this will be one of my go to recipes. Would you recommend freezing this recipe? Perhaps a person should leave out the sour cream if freezing.
Yes, I think you can freeze the cooked meat & veggies, although the veggies will be softer upon reheating.
We absolutely love these! Will definitely be making them a few times a month!
Beth- Love this recipe! If you were doing beef, what cut would you use? And would you change anything else? I live with four hungry, beef-loving guys!
Hmm, I think I would use a flank or skirt steak and be SURE to slice it across the grain, or else it can be very tough. I’m going to try it with beef someday soon, too!
A favourite of mine. Always turns out amazing.