These Low Calorie Chicken Fajitas are a healthy, easy family favorite! With a short list of simple ingredients, you'll make a mouthwatering fajita skillet packed with juicy chicken, bell peppers, and onion. It comes together in less than 40 minutes and is sure to satisfy the pickiest of palates!
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Check out my Buffalo Chicken Bites and my Easy Chicken Enchiladas Verdes for more delicious chicken recipes!
Who doesn't love fajitas? This easy low calorie chicken fajitas recipe is a great way to prepare a nutritious and delicious meal everyone in your household will appreciate. The best part? The whole thing comes together in one skillet for easy clean-up.
The chicken is marinated in extra virgin olive oil and simple fajita spices, so it's extra tender and packed with flavor. The vibrant peppers and onions add another element of fantastic flavor. I love colorful dishes, so I used a trio of bell pepper colors, but the choice is yours!
These fajitas are perfect with corn tortillas, low-carb tortillas, flour tortillas, or lettuce wraps. I love assembling a spread of healthy fajita toppings so everyone can customize the fajitas to their tastes. As a result, there are never any leftovers!
Check out my sheet pan chicken fajitas to make baked fajitas instead, or these easy air fryer chicken fajitas.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- This is a healthy one pan recipe the whole family will love.
- It's made with low carb and low calorie ingredients.
- It's quick, easy, and a great recipe for beginners in the kitchen.
- The serving and topping options are endless!
Ingredients You'll Need
- Fajita Marinade: A simple blend of extra virgin olive oil, dried oregano, salt, garlic powder, and chili powder tenderizes the chicken and adds a savory, smoky, and mildly spicy flavor.
- Chicken Breast: Patted dry and cut into strips. You can also use boneless, skinless chicken thighs if you like.
- Bell Peppers: Use a few different colors! Red bell pepper, orange, bell pepper, and yellow bell pepper are sweet and citrusy, while green bell pepper is more savory. They each have a decent amount of fiber and are high in vitamin C, vitamin K1, vitamin E, vitamin A, folate, and potassium.
- Onion: I used yellow onion, but white and red onion are also great in fajitas.
- Lime Juice: A squeeze of lime juice over the top at the end enhances the flavor.
- Cilantro: To add a pop of vibrant, herby flavor. If you're not a fan of cilantro, you can use parsley instead.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Marinate chicken. Mix oregano, garlic powder, salt, chili powder, and oil in a large bowl. Add sliced chicken and toss to coat the pieces in marinade. Set in the fridge to marinate for 15-30 minutes.
Step 2: Cook fajita vegetables. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Once hot, add the onions and peppers. Season with chili powder and salt, and sauté until the veggies begin to soften. Then, transfer them to a plate, and set it aside.
Step 3: Cook chicken. Lower the heat to medium, add the chicken, and sauté until the chicken is cooked and no longer pink.
Step 4: Combine and serve. Add the peppers and onions to the skillet, squeeze fresh lime juice over the top, and sprinkle in cilantro. Give everything a good stir, and serve hot with lettuce wraps or tortillas and your favorite fajita toppings.
NOTE: You can print the FULL recipe with all ingredients & detailed instructions below!
Recipe Tips
- Take time to slice the chicken and the veggies the same size so everything cooks evenly.
- Increasing the marinating time will make the chicken even better. It's best marinated between 6 and 24 hours.
- Make-ahead: since the chicken can be marinate for up to 24 hours, it's a great recipe to prep a day ahead and then cook in 10-15 minutes when it's time to eat.
- Your skillet needs to be HOT, or the vegetables may become soggy. They're best cooked quickly over high heat.
- To achieve fajita chicken with tasty charred edges, cook the chicken in the skillet mostly undisturbed, stirring only a few times during the cooking process.
- While the chicken is cooking, toast your tortillas, or wash and dry your lettuce leaves.
Variations
Seasonings: Feel free to add more dry spices to the marinade mixture, like cayenne, cumin, and paprika. You can also use 2-3 teaspoons of store-bought fajita or taco seasoning.
Protein: This easy fajita-making method is also excellent for steak, shrimp, and vegetarian fajitas.
- Steak fajitas: Marinate strips of a skirt of flank steak for 2 to 8 hours before searing in a hot skillet.
- Shrimp fajitas: Marinate large shrimp for 1 to 8 hours, then cook, only flipping once, in a hot skillet.
- Veggie fajitas: Hold the meat and load up on vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, yellow squash, and carrots.
How to serve chicken fajitas
- In tortillas
- In lettuce wraps
- Over rice
- Over cauliflower rice
- In a wrap
- Over a salad
Storing & Freezing
Storing: Let the chicken and veggies cool, then store leftover low calorie chicken fajitas in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freezing: Cooked fajita vegetables won't hold up in the freezer, but you can freeze the chicken in an airtight bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge before reheating.
Recipe FAQ‘s
The precise number of calories in chicken fajitas will vary depending on how they are served. For example, a serving of these chicken fajitas with peppers and onions is about 250 calories (not including tortillas or toppings).
I like serving fajitas with a selection of nutritious fajita toppings, like shredded lettuce, sliced avocado, guacamole, salsa, pico de Gallo, and lime wedges, cilantro, jalapeno slices, Greek yogurt, and freshly grated cheese.
These fajitas are great with refried beans or black beans and Spanish rice.
Fajita meat is traditionally marinated and cooked before it's sliced, but for these easy chicken fajitas, the chicken is cut into strips and marinated before sauteing. For tender chicken strips, slice the meat against the grain (perpendicular to the direction of the grain).
More Easy Dinner Recipes You'll Love
Low Calorie Chicken Fajitas
Special Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt divided in half
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 16 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast sliced
- 4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil divided in half
- 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1 green bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1 yellow onion thinly sliced
- Juice of one lime
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Mix oregano, garlic powder, salt, chili powder, and oil in a large bowl. Add sliced chicken and toss to coat the pieces in marinade. Set in the fridge to marinate for 15-30 minutes, or as long as you can up to 24 hours.
- Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Once hot, add the onions and peppers. Season with chili powder and salt, and sauté until the veggies begin to soften. Then, transfer them to a plate, and set it aside.
- Lower the heat to medium, add the chicken, and sauté until the chicken is cooked and no longer pink.
- Add the peppers and onions to the skillet, squeeze fresh lime juice over the top, and sprinkle in cilantro. Give everything a good stir, and serve hot with lettuce wraps or tortillas and your favorite fajita toppings.
Notes
- Take time to slice the chicken and the veggies the same size so everything cooks evenly.
- Increasing the marinating time will make the chicken even better. It's best marinated between 6 and 24 hours.
- Your skillet needs to be HOT, or the vegetables may become soggy. They're best cooked quickly over high heat.
- To achieve fajita chicken with tasty charred edges, cook the chicken in the skillet mostly undisturbed, stirring only a few times during the cooking process.
- Storing: Let the chicken and veggies cool, then store leftover chicken fajitas in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freezing: Cooked fajita vegetables won't hold up in the freezer, but you can freeze the chicken in an airtight bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge before reheating.
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Julia
I make similar chicken fajitas and we love them. It's such a delicious meal, isn't it?
Veena Azmanov
Delicious, healthy and a colorful platter. Perfect for my Dinner table.
Nart | Cooking with Nart
I love that this dish is healthy and suitable for so many diets. It's a perfect dish to cook for just about anyone!
Tracy
So easy and delicious and healthy! My family loved it!
Denay DeGuzman
Sizzling fajitas are a family favorite! Yours look super festive and deeply satisfying. Thank you for sharing this healthy recipe.
Jordin
Wow these chicken fajitas sure are EASY to make! I need to make these for my family, they will love them!
Justine Howell
Even the kiddos liked this one, peppers were perfectly cooked.
thisiswholesome
Thanks for making these delicious fajitas. I'm on a gluten free diet and I'm adding this to my favorites.
Andrea Metlika
Such vibrant colors and we love all the peppers. Can't wait for my family to taste this.
Tamara J.
Perfect recipe for a quick and healthy weeknight meal. I love your photos also!
Angela greven | Mean Green Chef
Another winning flavor combination, love the addition of cilantro, lime, and oregano! Boom full on flavor and healthy too 😋