This sheet pan chicken fajitas recipe is perfect for weeknight meals and I’ve perfected the technique so the dish won’t come out soggy. Plus, it’s an all-in-one meal that’s Whole30-friendly, even topped with a dairy-free avocado crema!
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The quest for perfect sheet pan chicken fajitas
Chicken fajitas and sheet pan suppers would seem like a marriage made in a busy home cook’s heaven. I mean, who wouldn’t fall in love with the idea of chicken strips, bell peppers, and onions tossed in a Tex-Mex inspired marinade, oven-roasted for a few minutes, and plated up on a busy weeknight? Sadly, it turns out that the reality—like most fairytale Hollywood celebrity unions—rarely winds up as happily-ever-after as one would hope.
No more soggy chicken fajitas!
If you’re like me, you’ve no doubt been seduced by the noisy sizzle of fragrant onions and seasoned meat strips at a neighborhood Tex-Mex restaurant. (Psst! That sizzling cast iron platter? It’s just a prop to further a calculated marketing move called the “Fajita effect.” It doesn’t do anything other than make you drool while it overcooks your food.) I had high hopes of coming up with a one-pan approach to making restaurant-style fajitas, but my initial test batches were a let-down. The flavors were right, but the chicken, peppers, and onions ended up steaming in their own juices. I forced my family to choke down tray after tray of soggy, limp piles of meat and veggies swimming in orange-y liquid. Still, despite my kids’ insistence that I throw in the towel, I persisted.
Why? Because (A) I’m no quitter, and (B) I knew my flavors were right and sensed that a breakthrough was right around the corner. Also, (C) I don’t really care if my kids have to eat the same thing four nights in a row.
A wire rack is the solution!
So I kept testing. I tried altering the cooking temperature, preheating the sheet pan in the oven before adding the ingredients, and adjusting the ratio of vegetables—all to no avail. Finally, Henry suggested that I raise the ingredients up on a wire rack—similar to what I do with many of my roasted chicken recipes (like this one and this one)—to see what would happen.
Spoiler: The rack worked!
The extra liquid released from the chopped up veggies and chicken drip through the rack, allowing the fajitas to cook more evenly when elevated! Just make sure you buy a sturdy, oven-safe stainless steel rack like this one. (Chrome racks can flake with time or vigorous scrubbing and may not be heat-safe up to 575°F, like stainless racks.)
What if you don’t use a wire rack?
No rack? I’m giving you fair warning that your fajitas will steam, and the vegetables will end up limp. It’ll still taste good, but you’ll want to tilt the pan and spoon off the extra liquid before serving.
Me? I’m going with the rack. See the difference?
While you’re waiting for your fajitas to finish cooking, you might as well whip up my simple dairy-free Avocado Crema as a topping, too.
This zesty sauce was developed as an accompaniment to my Paleo Shrimp Tacos recipe and it tastes great on everything!
Ingredients
Chicken Fajitas
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- Red and yellow bell peppers
- White onion
- Garlic
- Avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil
- Limes
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- Chili powder
- Ground cumin
- Green or butter lettuce leaves (optional)
- Grain-free tortillas (optional, omit if on a Whole30)
- Avocado Crema (see recipe below)
Avocado Crema
- Hass avocado
- Full-fat coconut milk
- Chives
- Cilantro
- Freshly squeezed lime juice
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
How to make Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
Heat your oven to 450°F with the rack in the middle. Place a stainless steel wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the avocado oil, lime juice, minced garlic…
…kosher salt, chili powder, and cumin.
Whisk it all together.
Add the chicken thigh strips to the marinade. (Chicken breasts will dry out. Please use thighs.) Toss in the sliced peppers and onions, too.
Use your hands to combine well.
Plop the chicken and veggies onto the rimmed baking sheet…
…and spread everything in a single layer.
Place the tray in the oven and cook for 10 minutes. Then, toss the chicken and veggies, and rotate the tray.
Switch to broil…
…and cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the peppers and onions are browned in places. Keep your eyes on the fajitas to make sure nothing burns!
While the chicken is cooking, make the Avocado Crema.
Cut the avocado in half lengthwise and remove the seed. Scoop the flesh into a food processor or blender. Add the coconut milk, chives, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper.
Blitz until smooth. Add some water to thin out the sauce if desired. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed with salt, pepper, or more lime juice. You can refrigerate the crema in a sealed container for up to 2 days.
Once the chicken and veggies are finished cooking, pull the tray out of the oven. Serve the fajitas with lime wedges, lettuce wraps or grain-free tortillas, and avocado crema.
How to store leftovers
The avocado crema can be stored in a sealed container in your fridge for up to 4 days. The chicken fajitas can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How to clean your wire rack
One last thing: Wondering how to clean the stainless steel wire rack? After everyone grabs the chicken and veggies off the rack, I take the pan ’n rack to the sink. Then, I flip the rack upside down, place it in the rimmed baking sheet, and cover it with warm soapy water. I let the rack soak while we eat dinner. When we’re done with our meal, I simply wipe the grime off the rack with a sponge. Then, I can either rinse it or put it in the dishwasher to finish cleaning.
But if I were you, I’d get someone else to clean—after all, you did all the cooking! Just don’t tell them how easy it was to make dinner!
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2022).
Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas + Avocado Crema
Ingredients
- ¼ cup avocado oil or olive oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1½ teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch strips (Step away from the boneless, skinless breasts. They’ll dry out.)
- 1 medium red bell pepper deseeded, cored and sliced into ¼-inch strips
- 1 medium yellow bell pepper deseeded, cored, and sliced into ¼-inch strips
- 1 small white onion sliced into ¼-inch pieces
- 2 limes cut into wedges
- Green or butter lettuce leaves optional
- Grain-free tortillas optional
- Avocado Crema see recipe below
Avocado Crema
- 1 large Hass avocado
- ¼ cup full-fat coconut milk
- ¼ cup chives roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons cilantro roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 450°F with the rack in the middle. Place a stainless steel wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the avocado oil, lime juice, minced garlic, kosher salt, chili powder, and cumin.
- Add the chicken thigh strips to the marinade. (Chicken breasts will dry it. Please use thighs.) Toss in the sliced peppers and onions, too. Use your hands to combine well.
- Plop the chicken and veggies onto the rimmed baking sheet and spread everything in a single layer.
- Place the tray in the oven and cook for 10 minutes. Then, toss the chicken and veggies, and rotate the tray.
- Switch to broil and cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the peppers and onions are browned in places. Keep your eyes on the fajitas to make sure nothing burns!
- While the chicken is cooking, make the Avocado Crema. Cut the avocado in half lengthwise and remove the seed. Scoop the flesh into a food processor or blender. Add the coconut milk, chives, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper.
- Blitz until smooth. Add some water to thin out the sauce if desired. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed with salt, pepper, or more lime juice. You can refrigerate the crema in a sealed container for up to 2 days.
- Once the chicken and veggies are finished cooking, pull the tray out of the oven. Serve the fajitas with lime wedges, lettuce wraps or grain-free tortillas, and avocado crema.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I live in the heart of Texas where Tex-Mex is available on every street corner. These fajitas are as good, if not better, than the best fajitas I’ve had at any local restaurant. Really well done! Thank you for perfecting a fajita recipe for the home cook. This one is going in the repertoire for sure.
Made this dish and LOVED it!!! Thank you Michelle for all the great recipes you share. You are such a gift to the world by creating all these fast and truly delicious meals we can feed our families with:)
This is one of my very FAVORITE recipes! I have made it SO many times over the past few years. I don’t make the Avocado Crema, as the fajitas are SO tasty, you don’t need anything else! Thank you for sharing this recipe, my family loves it and we have enjoyed it numerous times. It is a regular in my menu rotation! If you haven’t tried it, you are missing out. Cooking the meat and veggies on the wire rack over the cookie sheet is key!
This was such a tasty meal. Even my very picky 7-yr-old ate the peppers and onions- an incredible feat! This will be a staple in my recipe tool box! Thanks for your perseverance and tireless trial and error for the benefit of our taste buds and bellies!
My family and I loved this recipe. It’s easy enough to make, healthy, and delicious. I like that when the chicken and veggies are cooking I have time to whip up the avocado crema and fry my tortillas. I love the avocado crema! It is so good, and I’m a super saucy person, so next time I’ll make a double batch. I try to do the keto thing so I love the extra dose of fat in the sauce from the coconut milk and avocado. I highly recommend this meal!
This is so amazing!!! It came to the table in under 30, and my two girls are licking their fingers and keep asking for more avocado crema!!!
Michelle, you are my hero, I have your Ready or Not book and I recommend this website to everyone I know, your recipes are always a hit!
A couple of things: 1) if you’re going to do this, go with the crema for heaven’s sake, it takes 5 minutes to get all the ingredients together and that’s if you’re a slow poke, like me. After that you blitz-blitz, and you’re done, and this incredibly tasty, rich avocado dream is yours to enjoy. Seriously, do it! 2) Get the rack! My gosh, what a difference that stainless steel wire rack makes! I have made this recipe before, WITHOUT, and I can tell you the rack is a game changer. Everything is tasty, charred to perfection and not a soggy mess. Yes, you can do without, but not the same experience.
Cook. THIS. tonight!!! Your family will thank you. If by chance you have leftovers this is yummy the next day, I pan fry for a couple of minutes and usually there’s left over crema because I always make a double batch. AWESOME job Michelle, never disappointed!!!
Is there a substitute for the coconut milk in the crema? My husband can’t tolerate the taste of coconut and I have tired every way possible to sneak it in but to no avail 😂, he catches me every time.
Maybe cashew milk?
Used pastured chicken breast, frozen peppers, tossed with spices. Baked until internal temperature 160°. Then broiled for less than 5 minutes. Very good. Used for chicken nachos. Yum
I love that you included an easy way to clean the rack at the end of your recipe! The first thing that occurred to me when reading the recipe was that I hate cleaning extra stuff for an “easy weeknight meal”. You solved the problem, and I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. Thank you. : )
Can any of these things be successfully frozen? Company cancelled….
You can freeze this after it has been cooked for up to 3 months.