Healthy Chicken Fajita Bowl

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This healthy chicken fajita bowl is the best weeknight dinner if you’re craving something satisfying and full of protein! It’s also easy to meal prep for the week ahead.

We love chicken fajitas (and all kinds of Mexican food), so of course we had to come up with another way to enjoy them! Made with flavorful Mexican rice, grilled chicken, veggies, and beans, and topped with our homemade guac and pico, these healthy chicken fajita bowls hit the spot when you’re craving fajitas without the tortillas.

What This Recipe Entails

To make chicken fajita bowls, you’ll need to prep all the separate components – rice, chicken, veggies, beans, and toppings – before combining them.

• Marinating time: 20 minutes
• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 25 minutes

Make sure to get the rice on the stove first, and then cook the chicken and vegetables while the rice steams. This will help you save time and ensure everything is hot and ready to eat at the same time!

What’s The Difference Between A Fajita Bowl And A Burrito Bowl?

Fajitas are traditionally made with grilled meat, peppers, and onions. Burritos are usually made with meat and/or beans, rice, and other fillings like vegetables, sauces, and cheese. So the difference between our fajita bowl and a burrito bowl is that it heavily features grilled chicken, peppers, and onions! Our bowl also uses toppings you would traditionally be served alongside fajitas, like pico de gallo and guacamole.

Healthy Chicken Fajita Bowl Ingredients

Chicken fajita bowls are made up of all the components you would normally put in fajitas, minus the tortillas! Here’s what you’ll need for this healthy dinner recipe:

• Fajita marinated chicken breast
• Mexican rice
• Vegetable oil
• Bell pepper (any color)
• Red onion
• Salt
• Black beans
• Lime
• Guacamole
• Pico de gallo
• Shredded Mexican cheese

For the fajita chicken, we like to make a simple marinade with vegetable oil, lime juice, salt, and a few seasonings. Check out our freezer friendly chicken marinades here to make the marinade ahead of time. Then, simply defrost in the fridge for 24 to 36 hours to marinate the chicken and have it ready to go for this recipe!

We also love to make a flavorful Mexican rice with chicken broth and spices as a base for our healthy chicken fajita bowls. If you want to simplify this dinner, you can make this cilantro lime rice instead, or use your favorite store-bought Mexican rice.

Finally, the toppings are what make these chicken fajita bowls so delicious! We recommend making homemade guacamole and fresh pico de gallo. You can also top these bowls with shredded cheese, queso fresco, or cotija cheese for a little something extra.

How To Make Chicken Fajita Bowls

You can make healthy chicken fajita bowls in just over an hour starting from scratch. Or, you can save 20 minutes if you’ve already prepared our frozen fajita chicken marinade and defrosted it in the fridge!

Here’s how to make our chicken fajita bowl recipe:

1. First, marinate the chicken. Combine the ingredients in a bowl and marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes.
2. Next, start making the rice. Click here for detailed instructions if you’re making our Mexican style rice. If you’re using a store-bought microwave rice packet, skip this step and heat it up right before serving.
3. If you’re making homemade guacamole and pico de gallo, prepare those now and set aside.
4. Now, cook the chicken. Preheat a large cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Once it’s hot, add the chicken and cook until done, flipping every 3 minutes. Depending on how thick the chicken is, this should take about 9 to 15 minutes.
5. Then, transfer the cooked chicken to a cutting board and let it rest. Lower the heat to medium and add the vegetable oil to the pan, then add the peppers and onions. Season with a pinch of salt and sauté until soft.
6. Next, add the black beans to the pan and stir to combine. Season with fresh lime juice, stir to coat, and cook for just a minute or two to warm the beans through.
7. Transfer the cooked veggies and beans to a serving dish. Slice the chicken and set aside, or mix into the veggies and beans (see note below).
8. Finally, assemble the chicken fajita bowls: add rice to the bowl, then veggies, beans, and chicken, and top with guacamole, pico de gallo, and cheese. Serve hot!

Even though chicken fajita bowls have a lot of components, the only real cooking you need to do is for the chicken, veggies, and beans. All of this is done in one pan on the stove, so it’s quick and easy with little cleanup afterward.

Make sure to prepare any cold toppings before you start the chicken and veggies, since they can sit on the counter or in the fridge until the rest of the meal is ready. That way, you won’t be rushing to make guacamole while your hot food sits on the counter, taunting you with its delicious aroma 🙂

Note: You can make the chicken and veggies go a long way if you mix them all together before adding them to the bowls. When the chicken is mixed in among the vegetables and beans, each bowl will likely end up with less chicken overall than if you were to plate everything separately, making the meal stretch farther. (This is part of the reason why we added black beans to the recipe – extra protein!). This is a great budget-friendly option if you’re serving dinner to a larger family or meal prepping for the week.

Serving Suggestions and Variations

We love to serve chicken fajita bowls Chipotle-style with a side of tortilla chips. That way, you can scoop up all the deliciousness in your bowl with chips instead of a fork!

Chicken fajita bowls are also super customizable, so you can serve them with any number of additional toppings. Here are some suggestions:

• Use sliced avocado instead of guacamole
• Add jalapeno slices for a spicy kick
• Drizzle with your favorite hot sauce
• Add tortilla strips or crushed up tortilla chips for extra crunch

Chicken Fajita Bowl Meal Prep

You can meal prep these chicken fajita bowls for an easy and healthy weekday lunch! Here’s how:

1. Cook the rice, chicken, veggies, and beans according to the recipe.
2. Portion out the rice, chicken, veggies, and beans into microwave-safe meal prep containers for the week.
3. Portion out cold toppings like guacamole, pico de gallo, and cheese into separate, smaller containers.
4. When you’re ready to eat, reheat the chicken fajita bowl “base” and then add fresh toppings!

You can also eat these chicken fajita bowls cold if you prefer. This way, you can combine almost all of the components into one meal prep container instead of keeping the toppings in separate containers.

Note: We recommend storing guacamole or sliced avocado separately no matter what, as it may brown over time. Scrape off any brown bits that you don’t want to eat before adding it to your bowl.

Storing And Reheating Leftovers

You can store leftover chicken fajita bowls in the fridge for a few days. We recommend splitting each component into a separate airtight container, or combining the rice, chicken, veggies, and beans into one container (since these can be reheated together) and keeping the cold toppings separate.

The rice, chicken, veggies, and beans will stay good for up to 5 days. Fresh guacamole and pico de gallo will keep for around 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Note that the guacamole may turn brown – just scrape off whatever you don’t want to eat!