Fajitas: Restaurant Style Secret Recipe

eWe celebrated our sons winning third overtime shot in his basketball game with lunch at our favorite local Mexican restaurant this past Sunday. It was so fun (and delicious!) The entire family was eating off my fajita skillet by the end of the meal, and they all loved the authentic fajita recipe.

This is pretty impressive when you’re trying to appease an 8 year old, 12 year old, 43 year old and 39 year old all at the same time, right?

But, when the $58 lunch bill came I knew I had to figure out how I could replicate the authentic fajita recipe at home, just how the restaurants make them … at home. Like making my very own restaurant-style fajitas …

These “fajitas de Pollo” aren’t really along the same lines of the easy dinners that I usually offer – there’s my disclosure. However, I can promise you that the flavor and labor of love will be worth it.

Fajitas: Restaurant Style – Making the Authentic Fajitas Recipe at Home

For starters: this recipe is not hard per sé.

There are however a lot of tips that I have to offer and as long as you know these, you’re going to kill this recipe. And it’s going to be a hit.

Number one: you absolutely need a cast iron pan to get the restaurant-style fajita seasoning taste. I have the Lodge 12 inch cast iron pan like this one. It’s perfect for about three dinner size orders of fajitas (which is a lot of fajitas by the way!)

Five must-know tips for making authentic Mexican fajitas and Fajita tacos at home:

1. Preparation is important
   1. Cutting chicken – 15 minutes
   2. Cutting onions – 10 minutes
   3. Cutting green peppers – 10 minutes
2. Cast Iron Skillet
   1. You must have a cast iron skillet of atleast this size.
   2. In fact, you’re probably even better off having this size of skillet.
      1. If you’re new to cooking with cast iron, there are some guidelines:
         1. Do not use dish soap on the pan
         2. Wash it with a bristle brush and water as soon as it cools down
         3. Dry the pan right away after washing it
         4. Coat the inside with a light layer of vegetable oil after drying
3. No fancy spices necessary
4. Plan 90 minutes to be near the pan.
   1. <– this is the #1 thing that I never want for the dinners I share on my blog. But, I can’t keep this recipe from you any longer, so I’m going to go outside the box.
      1. Onions – 1 hour ( I KNOW! )
      2. Chicken – 15 minutes
      3. Green peppers – 15 minutes
5. Save $30 vs. ordering takeout
   1. You will save $30 by making these at home vs. doing four orders of authentic restaurant chicken fajitas.

That’s it! Ha! I hope I didn’t just stress you out but these are all pretty important when you’re making authentic fajitas at home.

Cast Iron Chicken Fajita Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp fajita seasoning (I like McCormick’s)
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp peanut oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 small/medium yellow onions
• 2 tbsp salted butter
• 3 bell peppers
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp tomato paste (don’t skip this!)
• For serving fajitas: 
• tortillas
• sour cream (optional)
• cheese/queso (optional) ** If I don’t make my own queso, I buy this queso. It is delicious and perfect for these fajitas!
• guacamole (optional)

Authentic Mexican Restaurant Chicken Fajitas Recipe and Chicken Fajita Marinade Directions:

Cut onions, green peppers and chicken into 1/4 inch slices.

Store onions and green peppers in separate gallon size baggies.

Place chicken, water, fajita seasoning, olive oil and lime juice in a gallon size baggie. Press air out, close baggie and seal for 30 minutes to two hours.

When 90 minutes out from eating: Heat cast iron pan to high, add in peanut oil, coat bottom of pan.

Add onions to cast iron pan, turn heat down to medium. Add 1/2 tsp salt and butter once temp has gone down. I prefer using a really fine Himalayan salt in the kitchen

Stir onions every 5-10 minutes.

Once onions have cooked for one hour, transfer to covered dish to keep warm. They’ll look like this, good luck keeping your fork out of them. 🙂

Get chicken, drain as much of the chicken fajita marinade out of the chicken as you can.

Add chicken to (with onion remnants!) cast iron pan.

Turn up the heat on the oven to medium high heat to cook chicken until desired color, 15 minutes or so.

Add chicken to onions.

Add green peppers to hot skillet, stirring constantly.

Add 1/2 tsp salt to green peppers, turn heat down to medium.

Add garlic to green peppers, cook to desired doneness.

Add chicken, onions and tomato paste to cast iron skillet, give it a good, gentle stir.

Enjoy!

Don’t get scared off from this recipe because of all of the chicken fajita seasoning and cooking steps… it is worth it and it becomes second nature once you’ve made it a time or two – I can guarantee that this will become a go-to recipe for you!

Plus, you’re likely to have leftovers, which are awesome for making quesadillas later!

Enjoy!

Frequently asked questions about an authentic fajita recipe:

What is a real fajita?

A real fajita is any stripped grilled meat with stripped peppers and onions that are usually served on a flour or corn tortilla.

The question of “what is a fajita” would usually be referred to as sliced skirt steak, the cut of beef first used in the dish. In restaurants, the meat is usually cooked with onions and bell peppers and toppings that are served on the side.

How are fajitas made in Mexico?

Fajitas are made in Mexica the same way that they’re made by me in Iowa 🙂

A little back story: Fajitas were created by Mexican ranch workers who received skirt stake as part of their pay. They would cook the skirt steak on a fire or grill, then wrap it in a flour tortilla. Easy meal!

What is traditional fajita meat?

Skirt steak is the traditional cut used for fajitas. It used to be inexpensive, but now it’s not so cheap; oftentimes flank steak costs less. Or, like we enjoy and costs much less to make at home, is chicken.

Chicken is also a great meat for mexican restaurant fajitas at home, too! Or shrimp can be substituted easily in this authentic fajita recipe.

What is fajita sauce made of?

I don’t mind a fajita seasoning, but you certainly can make your own fajita seasoning by combining cornstarch, chili powder, salt, paprika, sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and cumin to taste.

Print Pin

Cast Iron Chicken Fajitas

Rather than getting authentic Mexican restaurant fajitas and spending loads of money, I make them at home. My entire family loves the way these cast iron fajitas taste and we never have and leftovers go to waste. Try authentic Mexican fajitas at home, you'll never go back to regular again and you'll save mad money by making them yourself!

Equipment

• 12-15 inch Cast Iron Pan

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp fajita seasoning I like McCormick's
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp peanut oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 small/medium yellow onions
• 2 tbsp salted butter
• 3 bell peppers
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tbsp tomato paste don't skip this!

For serving fajitas:

• tortillas
• sour cream optional
• cheese/queso optional
• guacamole optional

Instructions

• Cut onions, green peppers and chicken into 1/4 inch slices.
• Store onions and green peppers in separate gallon size baggies.
• Place chicken, water, fajita seasoning, olive oil and lime juice in a gallon size baggie. Press air out, close baggie and seal for 30 minutes to two hours.
• When 90 minutes out from eating: Heat cast iron pan to high, add in peanut oil, coat bottom of pan.
• Add onions to cast iron pan, turn heat down to medium. Add 1/2 tsp salt and butter once temp has gone down. I prefer using a really fine Himalayan salt in the kitchen
• Stir onions every 5-10 minutes.
• Once onions have cooked for one hour, transfer to covered dish to keep warm.
• Get chicken, drain as much of the marinade out of the chicken as you can.
• Add chicken to (dirty with onion remnants!) cast iron pan.
• Turn up the heat on the oven to medium high heat to cook chicken until desired color, 15 minutes or so.
• Add chicken to onions.
• Add green peppers to hot skillet, stirring constantly.
• Add 1/2 tsp salt to green peppers, turn heat down to medium.
• Add garlic to green peppers, cook to desired doneness.
• Add chicken, onions and tomato paste to cast iron skillet, give it a good, gentle stir.