Make this easy Chicken Fajita Marinade for the best sheet pan or grilled chicken fajitas. Full of fresh and vibrant flavors of lime, cilantro, and garlic.
If you're looking for the best, most perfect marinade for chicken fajitas or just some tasty grilled chicken, your search is over. This is my all-time favorite, holy grail marinade! If I could only make one marinade for the rest of my life, this would be it. This chicken fajita marinade makes for the most insanely flavorful chicken, especially on the grill. Something about the char from the grill brings out the best in this marinade. Although, I also make these fajitas all winter long on sheet pans with great results!
Ingredients in Chicken Fajita Marinade
- Lime: Fresh lime juice is absolutely preferred and necessary. It adds such a bright and tangy flavor to the chicken.
- Cilantro: Fresh cilantro adds a vibrant flavor to the marinade.
- Garlic: What's a marinade without garlic? Don't ask me, because I do not know.
- Olive Oil
- Dried seasonings and salt: I always use cumin and oregano in this marinade. You can also add chili powder or some Trader Joe's Chile Lime seasoning to kick it up a notch!
Making the Chicken Fajita Marinade
Mince the garlic and roughly tear up the cilantro. Then put all of the ingredients together in a bowl or bag. Add in the chicken and let it mellow for 15 min up to several hours. The longer the better!
Methods for cooking Chicken Fajitas
My preferred method is to cook these fajitas on the grill. The grill adds so much extra flavor! Leave the chicken breasts whole in the marinade and plop them on the grill when you're ready to cook. You can cook the veggies alongside the chicken in a grill pan. Let the chicken rest a bit. Then thinly slice the breasts against the grain, before serving.
Outside of grilling season, I cook the fajitas on sheet pans. Slice the chicken breasts thinly before marinading. Lay everything out on sheet pans and cook it all in the oven. The fajitas turn out great using this method as well!
What to Serve with Fajitas
- I like to top fajitas with a little sour cream, shredded cheese, restaurant-style salsa, and/or guacamole. You can also just eat them plain!
- Consider making some Cilantro-Lime Rice as a side with either white or brown rice.
- If you want something fruity and refreshing, try this Tropical Fruit Salad with Chili-lime Dressing. I think the flavors would really complement these fajitas!
Chicken Fajita Marinade | Grilled or Sheet Pan Fajitas
Ingredients
Marinade
- ⅔ cup olive oil
- 1 lime freshly squeezed
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ bunch cilantro torn roughly (½ cup packed)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon chili powder or chili lime seasoning
For the Fajitas
- 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (whole for grill, thinly sliced for sheet pan)
- 3 bell peppers any color
- 2 sweet onions
- 1 package tortillas
Instructions
For Marinade:
- Place all marinade ingredients into a large zip top bag or bowl and mix together. Add chicken (whole breasts for grilled fajitas or thinly sliced for sheet pan fajitas). Marinate in refrigerator, preferably 2-4 hours or as little as 15 minutes if necessary.
For Grilled Fajitas:
- Slice bell peppers and sweet onions. Toss the vegetables with a 2T olive oil, a few shakes of cumin and oregano, and a pinch of salt. Spread evenly on a grill pan.
- Preheat the grill to about 400-450°F for about 10 min. Place the veggies and chicken on the grill and turn the heat down to medium-medium/low.
- Allow the chicken to cook, flipping only once halfway through, until cooked to 165°F. Stir the peppers and onions occasionally. When cooked through, remove and let the chicken rest for a few minutes before slicing thinly, against the grain. Serve immediately on tortillas.
For Sheet Pan Fajitas:
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper if desired.
- Slice bell peppers and sweet onions. Toss the vegetables with a 2T olive oil, a few shakes of cumin and oregano, and a pinch of salt. Spread evenly on one sheet pan. Spread the chicken evenly on the other sheet pan.
- Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, flipping once or until the chicken is fully cooked and veggies have a little char on them. Serve immediately on tortillas.
Nutrition
Gluten Free Tortilla Options
You can use store bought corn tortillas or gluten-free wraps for these fajitas. Although, I think I'd like to start experimenting with homemade tortillas. I usually use regular corn tortillas, but I haven't been too happy with the flavor of the corn tortillas with these fajitas. Here are some recipes I'm thinking of trying:
- Pamela's Easy 'Flour' Tortillas because I always have this flour blend on hand.
- These claim to be the Best Gluten Free Flour Tortillas with a list of readily available ingredients and detailed instructions.
- These Two Ingredient Sweet Potato Tortillas sound very interesting and easy!
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