Straight To Chicken Fajita Recipe

Ad Disclaimer We Recommend

My adventure to enjoying Mexican food began as a child when my mom served tacos made with simple, wholesome ingredients: ground beef seasoned with chili powder and chopped olives. The meat mixture was served in corn tortillas warmed in oil, topped with cheddar cheese, tomatoes and lettuce. It was a simple dish which was enthusiastically devoured by my sister, brother and I; little did I know a whole world of Mexican foods awaited me beyond mom's mild, no-fuss tacos!

In my teen years, we lived in a town with a high Hispanic population where both friends and local eateries introduced me to wonderful entrees like burritos smothered in green chile, and little pockets of sweetened, fried bread, known as “sopapillas.”

I enjoyed introducing Mexican food to my southern husband—where the most south-of-the-border food he experienced was Taco Bell®. It was great fun to watch him test various dishes, most of which were too spicy for his traditional southern taste buds.

When we moved to Texas, I discovered Tex-Mex foods and learned to make family-friendly Mexican dishes that even young children would like—which meant pretty mild stuff.

When we were first introduced to fajitas I had trouble pronouncing their name. And, I couldn’t even fathom thinking I could ever cook them! The typical recipe called for skirt steak, which was out of our modest budget. It was also impractical to think of firing up a charcoal grill every time we wanted fajitas. So I forgot about making fajitas until I was browsing through a friend's cookbook one day. The recipe intrigued me, so off I went to adapt the recipe to our more affordable mainstay: chicken.

Since I had learned to sear my food as an alternative to grilling, a grill was no longer necessary. With a few changes to the recipe, I created "Real Easy Chicken Fajitas."

With a cast iron skillet, and a few helping hands, our family enjoys dinner in less than thirty minutes. I do the cooking, and the kids grate the cheese and put out the toppings, such as low-fat sour cream, salsas of various “heats,” and the olives—a tribute to my mom.

Real Easy Chicken Fajitas Recipe:

1 ½ - 2 lb. boneless, sliced, skinless chicken breasts

2 fresh limes

1 whole yellow onion

1-1 ½ c. green, yellow, red peppers

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1 8 oz. can sliced black or green olives

2 whole coriander seeds, coarsely crushed

½ - 1 tsp. oregano leaves

Dash salt

Dash of black pepper

1 c. low-fat sour cream

1 jar salsa

Flour tortillas