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Cast Iron Chicken Fajitas For Two

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Our cast iron chicken fajitas come together with only 20 minutes of hands-on cooking to create the perfect summer dinner on the patio. Pair it with a batch of pineapple coconut water mocktails for a mini celebration for two.

A cast iron skillet serving freshly made fajita chicken, alongside flour tortillas, greek yogurt, guacamole, and shredded cheese.

Even though our fajitas don’t sizzle all throughout the house like a restaurant’s would, we believe the vibrant, smoky, and zesty flavors create a spectacle of their own. We find this easy weeknight meal to be perfect for the warmer summer months when we can enjoy dinner outside. 

While we have many different Mexican recipes, a lot of them take a good deal of work (like our crispy pork belly tacos, even though they are 1000% worth it). And sometimes we just want something simple and easy but still packed with flavor and comfort in every bite. So this recipe relies on real, high quality ingredients perfectly cooked with some of our favorite Mexican seasonings to achieve our high standards of bold flavor.

What To Expect

  • Great for: Easy weeknight dinners, especially on a warm summer night.
  • Ready in: 40 minutes (including the 20 minutes the chicken marinates).
  • Serves: 2 people with a little left over.
  • Flavor profile: Savory, zesty, bright, and smoky.
  • How to make it: Marinate and then pan-sear the chicken in a cast iron skillet, remove it from the pan once cooked. Sauté the peppers and onions until soft and then add in lime juice and salt. Slice the chicken and return it to the pan to serve with warm tortillas and any additional toppings you desire.

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Why We Love This Recipe

I love the zesty and smoky flavor I get in every bite of these fajitas. They’re a classic example of using simple, fresh ingredients, and treating them right to create an easy, flavor-packed meal. Add in all of my favorite Mexican sides and toppings and I could eat these fajitas all week long.

– Alex

Key Ingredients

Ingredients for cast iron fajitas: chicken breast, vegetable oil, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, ground cayenne, salt, paprika, bell pepper, yellow onion, and flour tortillas.
  • Chicken – While we believe freshly pan-seared chicken is the best for fajitas, leftover chicken, pulled chicken, or even a rotisserie chicken can work for an even easier dinner. 
  • Chicken marinade – We like to make a simple, fresh marinade for the chicken before cooking it using oil, lime juice, salt, and a couple of our favorite Mexican seasonings. Alternatively, these fajitas work extremely well with our Mexican fajita freezer chicken marinade. 
  • Pepper and onion – Bell pepper and yellow onion are the traditional fajita veggies and taste wonderful in this recipe. However if you’d like to add some extra heat or flavor, other peppers like jalapenos or fresnos can be added too. 
  • Toppings – This is where fajita night can truly become your own. Everyone has their favorite toppings from homemade guacamole and shredded Mexican cheese to more unique options like fire roasted salsa or Mexican verde sauce.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How To Make Cast Iron Chicken Fajitas

A glass mixing bowl of chicken breast marinating in lime juice, oil, salt, and Mexican seasonings.

Step 1: Combine lime juice, vegetable oil, salt, chili powder, paprika, cayenne, and cumin in a mixing bowl. Add the chicken and marinate for 20 to 30 minutes.

Chicken cooking in a cast iron skillet on the stove.

Step 2: Add the marinated chicken to a preheated cast iron pan over medium-high heat to pan-sear. Cook it for about 9 to 12 minutes, flipping once or twice, and then remove it from the pan and let it rest.

Sliced onion and orange bell pepper cooking in a cast iron skillet on the stove.

Step 3: Add a splash of cooking oil to the pan along with the sliced pepper and onion. Cook for about 5 to 7 minutes until soft, stirring frequently.

A cast iron skillet of freshly cooked peppers and onions after being seasoned with lime juice and salt.

Step 4: Once the veggies are cooked, add fresh lime juice and salt. Stir to combine and cook until the lime juice is absorbed. Remove from heat.

A cast iron skillet serving freshly cooked fajita chicken with peppers, onions, and lime wedges.

Step 5: Slice the chicken and return it to the pan. Serve in the hot cast iron with warm tortillas and any desired toppings.

Expert Tips

  • Use a meat thermometer – Even as experienced cooks, we make sure to use our trusty meat thermometer so that we get the perfect cook every time. We aim to keep our chicken breasts at an internal temp of 155F to 160F for a minute or two and then make sure they have time to rest before serving. To learn more about safe cooking temps for chicken, check out this article. 
  • Add some extra heat – While this recipe just calls for bell pepper and onion, other peppers can be added for some extra flavor and heat. Our favorite additions are jalapenos or fresnos. 
  • Toppings for days – Our Mexican nights always feature a large spread of toppings and sides. Our go-to’s are guacamole, Greek yogurt (sour cream replacement), and of course, Mexican cheese!
  • Storing and reheating leftovers – You can simply toss the sliced chicken and vegetables together in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat quickly in the microwave for a minute or two, or over medium heat on the stove for about 5 minutes. 
Freshly made chicken fajitas in a flour tortilla, with a skillet and bowls of greek yogurt and guacamole.

Serving Suggestions

  • Easy weeknight dinner: Keeping dinner quick and easy doesn’t mean you can’t add on some delicious sides. Both our easy cottage cheese queso and our avocado lime crema can be made in under 5 minutes!
  • Cooking for a crowd or leftovers: Scale this recipe up big time by cooking on a cast iron griddle. It’s easy to double, triple, or even quadruple this recipe! But if you are serving a crowd, maybe you should make a pitcher of spicy mezcal margaritas to go with it?
  • Fajita fiesta: Dinner should always be a celebration, so make it one. Fun sides like our crockpot Mexican corn dip or our spicy chorizo nachos can turn any normal dinner into a fun, festive occasion.

Other Mexican Dinners For Two To Try

Love this recipe? You may enjoy these recipes, too:

Tell us what you think!

We hope you enjoy this recipe! When you try it out, please leave a review and a star rating in the comments below. Happy cooking! – Nicole and Alex

A cast iron skillet with freshly cooked fajita chicken, peppers and onions, and lime wedges, served with small bowls of guacamole and greek yogurt.

Cast Iron Chicken Fajitas For Two

Nicole & Alex Langdon
Our cast iron chicken fajitas come together with only 20 minutes of hands-on cooking to create the perfect summer dinner on the patio. Pair it with a batch of pineapple coconut water mocktails for a mini celebration for two.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 2 servings
Calories 793 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • ¾ pound chicken breast see marinade below
  • 1 medium orange bell pepper sliced
  • ½ medium yellow onion sliced
  • ½ medium lime jucied
  • 1 pinch sea salt
  • 4 8-inch flour tortillas

Chicken Marinade

  • ¼ cup lime juice
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon ground red cayenne pepper
  • ½ teaspoon cumin

Instructions
 

  • Combine lime juice, vegetable oil, salt, chili powder, paprika, cayenne, and cumin in a mixing bowl. Add the chicken and marinate for 20 to 30 minutes.
  • Add the marinated chicken to a pre-heated cast iron pan over medium-high heat to pan-sear. Cook it for about 9 to 12 minutes flipping once or twice and then remove it from the pan and let it rest.
  • Add a splash of cooking oil to the pan along with the sliced pepper and onion. Cook for about 5 to 7 minutes until soft, stirring frequently.
  • Once the veggies are cooked, add fresh lime juice and salt. Stir to combine and cook until the lime juice is absorbed. Remove from heat.
  • Slice the chicken and return it to the pan. Serve in the hot cast iron with warm tortillas and any desired toppings.
One last step:Please consider leaving a review to let us know how it was!

Notes

Use a meat thermometer – Even as experienced cooks, we make sure to use our trusty meat thermometer so that we can get a perfect cook every time. We aim to keep our chicken breasts at an internal temp of 155F to 160F for a minute or two and then make sure it has time to rest before serving. To learn more about safe cooking temps for chicken, check out this article. 
Add some extra heat – While this recipe just calls for bell pepper and onion, other peppers can be added for some extra flavor and heat. Our favorite additions are jalapenos or fresnos. 
Toppings for days – Our Mexican nights always feature a large spread of toppings and sides. Our go-tos are guacamole, Greek yogurt (sour cream replacement), and of course, Mexican cheese!
Storing and reheating leftovers – You can simply toss the sliced chicken and vegetables together in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat quickly in the microwave for a minute or two or over medium heat on the stove for about 5 minutes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 793kcalCarbohydrates: 62gProtein: 46gFat: 40gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 19gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 109mgSodium: 2152mgPotassium: 1016mgFiber: 6gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 2488IUVitamin C: 96mgCalcium: 187mgIron: 5mg
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If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.

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As a kid, Alex was deemed the pickiest eater ever. That was at least, until he learned how to cook. While he always enjoyed cooking and eating good food growing up, the definition of good food was just really limited. Alex’s world of food quickly expanded in college as a way to get to know new friends. Now he’s constantly looking forward to finding new recipes and cuisines to try.

Alex is a mechanical engineer by degree, but a food blogger by reality. Even though engineering isn’t his day to day anymore, Alex has carried over many lessons learned from the engineering world to The Candid Cooks. With a very detail oriented, analytical mind, Alex thrives in the amount of data, science, and experimenting that comes with both cooking and running a website.

When Alex isn’t cooking or working on the blog, his favorite hobbies include playing soccer, running, hiking, reading a good book, or getting lost in a video game. Alex loves baking bread of all sorts, which is probably why pizza is one of his favorite foods to both make and eat!

5 from 1 vote

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