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!
Made this the other night – super tasty! I just used fajita seasoning out of a packet because in my household, food needs to be FAST. I’ll make this recipe again and again.
Just made these, amazing! And sooo easy! Definitely going into the dinner rotation.
I tried this last night. Loved it! Thanks for the recipe.
I prepared this into a freezer-meal as all the ingredients were adaptable. Made it last night and was excellent! The only discernible difference to the traditional method is the lack of smokiness and caramelizing of the food cooked in a cast iron pan. Tasty, no less.
Great spice blend and way too easy! Thanks for sharing!
Did you cook first or freeze before cooking. I was thinking of this for a swap as well.
I made this a few days ago and just… wow. This dish was amazing. The funky taste I get with store-bought packets isn’t there, and the oven roasting really does add beautiful flavor. I took leftovers and made a “chicken fajita calzone” by using “abin5” bread dough. I gave some to friends, and the rest is for tomorrow. I rarely finish leftovers, so that’s a testament to just how amazing this recipe is. Thank you!
Made this, yet again, for dinner tonight. Such a winner, Beth! I bulk mine out with mushrooms and sometimes zucchini, if I have them. Sometimes I play it crazy and put in a drop or two of liquid smoke. Can’t wait for your book!
Making these tonight for the third time, but I’m putting the filling on a toasted roll to make a sandwich! I’m very excited about dinner. And lunch tomorrow!
I had these last night for dinner and they were delicious!
I have wanted to make these since you first posted the recipe, and I finally got a chance last Saturday for girl’s night at my house. Oh My Gosh! They were so yummy. We stuffed our selves silly eating these. I subbed portabella mushrooms for the chicken, and forgot to add the onions. Even with my changes, whether they were intentional or not, these were the best fajitas I have ever made. I can’t wait to try it with steak to see if they can compete with my favorite fajitas at Chili’s. Thanks for posting another great recipe!
I made these last night & didn’t miss going out to eat on a Saturday night. Foolproof recipe & so good. Needless to say, I could not convince my husband to save any for leftovers…
So so so good! The first time I made it, I only had about 1/2 lb chicken at home (all other ingredient amounts were the same as the recipe), and having all that spice with the little amount of chicken made it taste SO amazing! I only got 3 servings out of that batch.
I’ve made it a second time since with the full 1 lb of chicken (for 4 servings) and it was still really good, but I think I may up the spice amount next time to get that kick that I got in my first batch.
Awesome recipe! You rock!
Beth, this is delicious! I just made it for the second time this week. The only thing is, both times, there’s been about a cup of liquid left in the dish. It’s not a huge issue, but it makes for pretty drippy fajitas. I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. I did use pre-mixed seasoning packets, because I already had them. Surely it’s not the 1/2 Tbsp corn starch?
Well, I’ve made it a bunch of times since posting this and I don’t even bother with the cornstarch anymore :) To get less liquid, you can try spreading the ingredients out over two rimmed baking sheets. Spreading them out more instead of having them piled on top of each other like they are in the casserole dish will help the moisture evaporate away as it cooks instead of getting trapped. But keep an eye on them, you may need to reduce the cooking time a little bit so they don’t dry out!
I made this two nights ago. It was fantastic! This will definitely go into the rotation.
Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe! Do you think I’d be able to use olive oil instead of vegetable? Or would that be gross?
Yep, I think olive oil would work just fine here. I just used vegetable oil to keep the price down a bit.
I made this last night for the family and it was amazing! Just letting you know I am logging in now to print out recipes for no less than 3 of the guys at work who were quite jealous of my lunch today!
Thanks for such a great blog.