Fajitas Recipes

CHICKEN FAJITAS

Steps:

• Put a griddle pan on a high heat.
• Halve, deseed and slice the pepper into thin strips, then peel, halve, and finely slice the onion. Slice the chicken lengthways into long strips, roughly the same size as the pepper strips.
• Put the peppers, onion, and chicken into a bowl with the paprika and cumin. Squeeze over the juice of half a lime, drizzle over 1 tablespoon of oil, season with a good pinch of black pepper and mix well. Put aside to marinate for 5 minutes or so while you make your salsa.
• For the salsa, finely chop the chilli, roughly chop the tomatoes and the coriander (stalks and all), then place in a clean bowl with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Squeeze over the juice of 1 lime, and stir in the coriander.
• Using tongs, place the pepper, onion, and chicken onto the griddle and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the chicken is golden and cooked through. As the pan will be really hot, keep turning the pieces of chicken and vegetables over so they don't burn - you just want them to lightly chargrill to give you a lovely flavour.
• To make the guacamole, squeeze the cherry tomatoes onto a board, then finely chop with ½ -1 red chilli and a handful of coriander leaves, including the top part of the stalks.
• Halve and destone the avocado, then squeeze it over a board so the flesh comes out of the skin. Discard the skin. Squeeze over the lime juice and chop everything together until fine. Taste and adjust the flavours, if needed.
• Warm the tortillas in a microwave or warm, dry frying pan, then divide between serving plates. Squeeze the remaining lime juice over the sizzling pan.
• At the table, carefully help yourselves to the chicken and vegetables straight from the hot grill pan. Just be sure to put it down on top of something that won't burn, like a chopping board.
• Serve with bowls of natural yoghurt and guacamole, alongside the Cheddar, a grater, and the lovely fresh salsa.

STEAK FAJITAS

Steps:

• Combine 2 teaspoons ground cumin, the chile powder and 1 teaspoon salt. With a sharp knife, cut shallow crosshatched incisions across top and bottom surfaces of steak. Rub spice mix all over surface of steak. (It's best to wear gloves as the chile powder is hot.) Place steak in a resealable freezer bag.
• In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice and zest, 1/4 cup olive oil, the Worcestershire sauce and half the garlic. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the marinade and pour the rest into the bag with steak. Seal and move steak around in bag to coat thoroughly. Place on a sheet pan and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours. Massage bag periodically to redistribute marinade. Refrigerate reserved marinade if cooking the next day.
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until they soften and begin to color, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in bell peppers and chile. Cook, stirring, until peppers begin to soften, about 3 minutes.
• Lower heat to medium, add remaining garlic and cumin, and salt to taste. Cook, stirring often, until peppers are nicely seared, softened and beginning to caramelize, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Pour in reserved 2 tablespoons marinade and scrape bottom of pan with a wooden spoon to deglaze. Stir in half the cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove from heat but keep warm.
• Wrap tortillas in foil and warm in a low oven, or wrap in a towel and warm in a steamer or in the microwave.
• Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, or prepare a medium-hot grill. Remove meat from marinade and discard marinade. Pat meat dry with paper towels. If using a skillet, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in skillet. (If your skillet is not large enough for the steak, cut it in half and cook in batches.) Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side. Meat should be medium rare. Remove to a cutting board, cover with foil and let sit for 10 minutes. Cut across the grain into 1/2- to 3/4-inch wide strips.
• Arrange lettuce on a platter, then place steak next to lettuce. Tip juices from cutting board over meat and sprinkle with remaining cilantro. Serve vegetables on the same platter or separately, along with warm tortillas, salsa and crumbled queso fresco.

FLAVORFUL CHICKEN FAJITAS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine 2 tablespoons oil, lemon juice and seasonings; add the chicken. Turn to coat; cover. Refrigerate for 1-4 hours. , In a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet, saute peppers and onions in remaining oil until crisp-tender. Remove and keep warm. , Drain chicken, discarding marinade. In the same skillet, cook chicken over medium-high heat until no longer pink, 5-6 minutes. Return pepper mixture to pan; heat through. , Spoon filling down the center of tortillas; fold in half. Serve with toppings as desired.

FAJITAS

Steps:

• For the marinade: In a small 2 cup measuring cup, or something similar size and shape, combine all the marinade ingredients. Using an immersion blender, puree the marinade until smooth. Transfer to a re-sealable plastic bag and add the steak, seal and shake to coat. Refrigerate the beef for 2 to 4 hours to tenderize and flavor the beef.
• Preheat a ridged grill pan on high heat.
• Drain the marinade from the beef. Lightly oil the grill or grill pan. Season liberally with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Grill the steak over medium-high heat and cook for 4 minutes on each side and then transfer to a cutting board and let rest. Depending on the size of your grill pan you may need to cook in batches.
• For the fajitas: Once the beef is off the grill pan and resting, add the bell peppers and onions tossed with lime juice and olive oil, if using. Grill the mixture for 7 to 8 minutes until the vegetables are just barely limp.
• While the peppers and onions are cooking, heat up the tortillas. Turn any free burners on a medium low flame. Place a tortilla on each flame and let it char about 30 seconds to 1 minute, flip the tortilla and repeat on the second side. Once heated and charred remove the tortilla to a clean tea towel and wrap to keep warm. Repeat until you have warmed all of your tortillas.
• You can also heat your tortillas in a microwave, lightly dampen a tea towel with some water, wrap the tortillas in the damp towel and heat in the microwave for about 1 minute. Check to see if they are warm, if not repeat the heating at 1 minute intervals until they are warm and pliable.
• Thinly slice the steak against the grain on a diagonal.
• To serve: Spread some guacamole on a tortilla, top with a few slices of steak, peppers and onions, and salsa. Roll up the tortilla to enclose the filling.
• May also be served with sour cream and shredded cheese.
• Halve and pit the avocados. With a tablespoon, scoop out the flesh into a mixing bowl. Mash the avocados with a fork, leaving them still a bit chunky. Add all of the rest of the ingredients, and fold everything together.
• Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole so it doesn't brown and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

STEAK (OR CHICKEN) FAJITAS

Steps:

• Slice steak into thin strips.
• In bowl, mix together 1 tablespoons olive oil, lime juice, garlic, chili powder, cumin, hot pepper flakes, black pepper & salt.
• Add beef strips and stir to coat, set aside.
• Wrap tortillas in foil and place in 350° oven for 5-10 minutes or until heated through.
• Cut onions in half lengthwise and slice into strips, cut your peppers into strips.
• In large non stick skillet over medium high heat, heat remaining tablespoons of olive oil.
• Add onions & peppers stirring for 3-4 minutes, until softened; transfer to a bowl and set aside.
• Add beef to skillet, cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes or until they lose their red color.
• Return onions and peppers to skillet; stir for about one minute.
• To serve, spoon a portion of the beef mixture down the centre of each tortilla, top with your desired toppings , fold bottom of tortilla up over filling, fold the sides in, overlapping.

EASY CHICKEN FAJITAS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and wrap 6 medium tortillas in foil.
• Mix 1 heaped tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tbsp ground coriander, a pinch of ground cumin, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 4 tbsp olive oil, the juice of 1 lime and 4-5 drops Tabasco together in a bowl with a big pinch each of salt and pepper.
• Stir 2 finely sliced chicken breasts, 1 finely sliced red onion, 1 sliced red pepper and 1 finely sliced red chilli, if using, into the marinade.
• Heat a griddle pan until smoking hot and add the chicken and marinade to the pan.
• Keep everything moving over a high heat for about 5 mins using tongs until you get a nice charred effect. If your griddle pan is small you may need to do this in two batches.
• To check the chicken is cooked, find the thickest part and tear in half - if any part is still raw cook until done.
• Put the tortillas in the oven to heat up and serve with the cooked chicken, a bag of mixed salad and one 230g tub of fresh salsa.

BEEF FAJITAS

Steps:

• In a dish, mix together the olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice, garlic, cumin, chili powder, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and sugar until combined. Pour half of the marinade into a separate dish. In one dish, place the flank steak, turning it over to coat. In the second dish, place all the veggies, turning to coat. Cover the dishes with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
• Prepare the tortillas and toppings.
• Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle in some oil. Add the veggies and cook them for a few minutes, until they're cooked but still slightly firm and have nice black/brown pieces. Remove to a plate and set aside.
• Heat the same same skillet (or a grill pan if you have it) over high heat and drizzle in some oil. Cook the meat for about 2 minutes per side until medium rare. Remove and allow to rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes. Slice the meat right before serving and serve with all the fixins. Delicious!

EASY CHICKEN FAJITAS

Steps:

• Cut onion into slivers & slice peppers.
• In a separate bowl, combine 1 tablespoon olive oil, juice of ½ lime, chili powder, paprika, onion powder, pepper, cumin and salt. Cut chicken into strips and toss with the spice mixture.
• Preheat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high. Add ½ of the chicken and cook until just cooked, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. Repeat with remaining chicken.
• Set chicken aside and add 1 tablespoon oil to the pan. Drain onions well (if soaking per note below) and cook 2 minutes. Add in sliced peppers and cook an additional 2 minutes or just until hot. Add chicken back to the pan and stir to combine.
• Squeeze additional lime overtop and serve over tortillas.

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST FAJITAS

Steps:

• Mix the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, and smoked paprika in a small bowl.
• Season the steak, chicken, and shrimp with salt and a generous dusting of fajita seasoning. We use 1/2 teaspoon of salt for the steak, 1/2 teaspoon for the chicken, and 1/4 teaspoon for the shrimp. Set the steak and shrimp aside while you cook the chicken.
• Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a wide skillet (with a lid, or you can use foil) over medium-high heat. As soon as the oil is hot and looks shimmery, add the chicken. Cook until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the chicken so that the seared side is facing up.
• Reduce the heat to low, then cover the skillet with a lid or use foil. Cook 10 to 15 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer reads 165 degrees F when inserted into the thickest part of the breast. Transfer chicken to a plate and cover loosely with aluminum foil.
• Note: Use the time while the chicken is cooking to chop the onions, peppers, and garlic.
• Pour any liquid left in the pan out and use a paper towel to wipe the bottom of the skillet. It is okay if there are bits of chicken or spices stuck to the bottom. (If you want to, you can save the liquid to add back to the pan later.)
• Put the skillet back onto the heat, increase to medium-high heat, and add another two teaspoons of oil. As soon as the oil is hot and looks shimmery, add the steak. Cook 2 to 3 minutes until brown, and then flip to the other side and let cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Check the internal temperature. If it is not ready, turn the heat to low and continue to cook until it reaches your preferred doneness. For medium, cook to 135 degrees F. Transfer steak to the plate with chicken and cover loosely with aluminum foil.
• Put the skillet back onto the heat, increase to medium-high heat, and add another two teaspoons of oil. Add the onions, peppers, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring until they start to soften and brown a bit; about 5 minutes. As the veggies cook, use tongs or a wooden spoon to scrape up bits of chicken, steak, or spices stuck to the bottom of the pan.
• When the peppers and onions are ready, pile them up on one side of the pan. Place the shrimp into the pan and cook, stirring, until the shrimp are firm and opaque throughout; 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer cooked shrimp to a plate.
• To finish, turn the heat down to low, arrange the vegetables on the bottom of the skillet, stir in tequila, beer or stock, and cook for 1 minute. Take the pan off of the heat. Slice the chicken and steak then arrange the chicken, steak, and shrimp on the peppers and onions. Finish with a generous squeeze of lime.
• Serve the fajitas family style with more lime on the side as well as your favorite side dishes.