trip food fajitas

Beef Fajitas

When I get a hankering for beef fajitas, I pretty much can think of nothing else until I eat them.

Delicious grilled flank steak served with tortillas and all the fixins. One of my favorite things on earth!

Ingredients

whole beef flank steak

olive oil 

Worcestershire sauce

fresh-squeezed lime juice

cloves garlic, minced

chili powder

red pepper flakes

black pepper

medium onions, halved and sliced

red bell pepper, sliced

orange bell pepper, sliced

green bell pepper, sliced

yellow bell pepper, sliced

Oil, for frying

Flour tortillas, warmed

Cheese (grated cheddar/Jack or crumbled queso fresco), for topping

Salsa, for topping

Sour cream, for topping

Cilantro leaves, for topping

• Step  1 In a dish, mix together the olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice, garlic, cumin, chili powder, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and sugar until combined. Pour half of the marinade into a separate dish. In one dish, place the flank steak, turning it over to coat. In the second dish, place all the veggies, turning to coat. Cover the dishes with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours. 
• Step  2 Prepare the tortillas and toppings. 
• Step  3 Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle in some oil. Add the veggies and cook them for a few minutes, until they're cooked but still slightly firm and have nice black/brown pieces. Remove to a plate and set aside.
• Step  4 Heat the same same skillet (or a grill pan if you have it) over high heat and drizzle in some oil. Cook the meat for about 2 minutes per side until medium rare. Remove and allow to rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes. Slice the meat right before serving and serve with all the fixins. Delicious!

When I get a hankering for beef fajitas, I pretty much can think of nothing else until I eat them. I made them over the weekend after a profound craving set in—and no, I’m not pregnant I think as far as I know—and ohhhhh, was the reward so sweet.

Here’s how I like to make ’em.

Start by drizzling some olive oil into a dish…

Then add some Worcestershire sauce.

And there you have it! Beef fajitas.

Just kidding.

Then slice up a bunch o’ limes…

And squeeze the juice on in.

Then chop up some garlic…

And throw it in, too!

For the spices, I used cumin…

Because I love cumin and I associate it with anything Tex-Mexy.

And some chili powder…

And red pepper flakes for heat.

I have no idea why I just said bada bing.

Sometimes these things just come out.

Add some salt…

Some black pepper….

And just a little bit of sugar, because it makes the savory even better.

Now, whisk the whole mess together…

And pour half of it into a second dish.

I’ll tell you why in a minute.

Grab your hunka beef and throw it into one of the dishes…

Then turn the meat over to coat it in the marinade.

Now for the veggies, which are an important part of fajitas: slice up a couple of onions…

A red bell pepper…

An orange bell pepper…

A yeller bell pepper…

And a green bell pepper.

I love all the colors.

But you can just pick one or two.

You can also do diced zucchini.

Sliced mushrooms.

Any vegetables you love.

Throw them into the second dish of stuff…

Use your hands to toss the veggies around and coat them in the marinade. It won’t totally gloop them up, it will just give them a little coating of spice.

And here’s the thing: A lot of people just throw the meat and veggies into the dish together. A lot of people like to just marinate the meat and veggies together.

I’ve done it a lot myself.

But some people don’t like the idea of marinating raw meat and raw veggies together.

I’m that way with chicken. But not with beef.

But for the purposes of this post, I showed them marinating separately to show you how easy it is.

Now, just stick ’em in the fridge and let ’em marinate for a good couple of hours.

When you’re ready to make the fajitas, heat a skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle in a little olive oil or canola oil. Throw in the veggies…

And cook them, stirring them around…

Until they’re nice and golden, with some flecks of brown and black. I don’t like to let the veggies get soggy; I still want ’em to have a little bite!

Remove the veggies to a bowl or plate, then get the fixins ready: I crumbled up some queso fresco, which I love, but you can use any grated cheese, too!

I just grabbed some salsa and sour cream to go with the cheese, but if you want to whip up some pico de gallo and/or guacamole, I wouldn’t blame you one bit.

Drizzle some oil in the same skillet or on a grill pan if you have one, and throw on the flank steak. The heat needs to be very high!

Grill it for a minute at first, then rotate it 45 degrees on the same side to make lovely grill marks.

No more than a minute later, flip the flank steak…

To the other side and cook it, rotating it 45 degrees again, for a total of a minute, minute-and-a-half.

You don’t want to overcook the flank steak, and because it’s thin, it will cook in no time! So probably a total of 3 to 4 minutes is all you want to do…maybe even a little less.

I’m so terrified of overcooking beef. I avoid it at all costs.

Unless it’s ground beef. Then I cook the heck out of it with wild abandon.

When it’s done? Ta-da!

This looks good enough to eat.

Slice up the steak into thin strips…

And be sure to sneak a couple of bites. You have to confirm everything tastes good, right?

Then, when you’ve confirmed this, sneak a couple more bites.

Repeat as needed.

I think it’s fun to serve both the steak and the veggies directly on a cutting board.

It makes it appear very grabbable.

At the end, bring out some very, very warm flour tortillas so everyone can start to build! I started with veggies…

Some strips of beef…

Plenty of fromage, I mean queso…

A nice spoonful of very spicy salsa…

A dollop of sour cream…

And then, for a little freshness, a few cilantro leaves.

This is divination right here, baby.

Pure divination.

(And “divination,” I now know, means “fortune telling.” I’m awesome with vocabulary! Not.)

Main Courses

Stuffed Banana Peppers Make a Hearty Family Dinner

Ree's Broccoli Chicken Casserole Is Pure Comfort

Dive Into Seafood for Dinner Tonight

Bring These Dishes to Your Next Church Potluck

How To Make Kale Caesar Salad with Steak

The Heartiest Helping of Ground Beef Casseroles

You'll Want Seconds of Ree's Chili Mac and Cheese

These Comfort Foods Are Like a Warm Hug

This Baked Pasta Is The Best Fall Dinner

Garlic Lovers, These Dishes Are Made for You

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole Is the Coziest Meal

These Meatball Subs Are Coming in Hot

• Latest Recipes
• Recipe Videos
• Our Favorites
• Soups and Stews
• Side Dishes
• Gluten-free
• Thanksgiving
• Recipe Index
• Saved Recipes

The Best Fajitas We’ve Ever Made

This is the best fajitas recipe we’ve made. See how to make incredibly delicious homemade fajitas with steak, chicken, and shrimp. Cooking them in the same skillet builds so much flavor. I promise it’s easy, and you’ll love the homemade seasoning!

Our family is obsessed with this recipe. These are the ultimate fajitas. Thanks to the combination of steak, chicken, and shrimp, they are just as good, if not better, than what you can get at a restaurant.

I realize cooking three proteins for dinner seems like a lot, but with our clever recipe, it’s easier than you think. We use the same skillet to cook the steak, chicken, shrimp, and veggies, which means we build so much flavor! You will love it.

Key Ingredients

• Steak:  I use flank or skirt steak for fajitas because it cooks quickly and becomes incredibly tender when sliced against the grain.
• Chicken breast:  I love chicken breast in this recipe, but you can use chicken thighs with no changes.
• Shrimp:  I love combination fajitas, so I include shrimp. For this recipe, choose large to jumbo shrimp.
• Veggies:  Even though this fajita recipe has steak, chicken, and shrimp, the veggies are still my favorite part. All the juices and spices leftover from cooking the proteins get scooped up by the veggies, which makes them extra delicious. I use onion and bell peppers (or poblano peppers).
• Fajita seasoning:  I love our homemade fajita seasoning! I bet you already have everything in your spice cabinet to make it. You’ll mix chili powder (I love ancho chili powder), cumin, oregano, garlic powder, and smoked paprika.
• Tequila:  Everything for this recipe is cooked in the same skillet, so the bottom of the pan builds in flavor thanks to bits of steak, chicken, shrimp, and spices sticking to it. A generous splash of tequila helps to lift all that flavor from the pan to create a sauce. A Mexican beer or chicken stock is a good substitute.
• Lime:  I squeeze fresh lime into the skillet and serve more lime wedges on the side. With this recipe, you can’t have too much lime.

How to Make Fajitas

Fajitas cook quickly! To make them extra flavorful, I marinate the steak, chicken, and shrimp with salt and a simple fajita spice rub (ancho chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, and smoked paprika) for 30 minutes before cooking.

To start, I cook the chicken since it takes the longest. My favorite method for cooking chicken breasts is to sear them in a skillet, then cover and cook over low heat until done. After 10 to 15 minutes, I transfer them to a plate and cover with foil while I cook the steak. For fajitas with just chicken, see these garlic citrus chicken fajitas .

I use the same skillet for the steak , cooking until browned on both sides and slightly pink inside (I like to cook to medium, around 140°F). Then it joins the chicken to rest.

Now, the veggies and shrimp! Sliced onions and peppers go in the pan and cook until softened. They release moisture as they cook, which mixes with the flavorful bits stuck to the skillet from cooking the steak and chicken.

I move the veggies aside as they finish and cook the shrimp until firm and opaque. Then, I add a splash of tequila to deglaze the pan for extra flavor .

Finally, to serve, I slice the steak and chicken and add them back to the pan, helping to reheat. Then, it’s time to build those delicious fajitas!

What to Serve with Fajitas

Homemade flour tortillas or corn tortillas take fajitas to the next level! Then, you can load them up with your favorite fajita toppings. I love sliced avocado, guacamole , sour cream, shredded cheese, and pico de gallo . 

A side of Mexican rice , refried beans , or homemade black beans is always a hit. And, of course, remember the tortilla chips and salsa for the table.

The Best Fajitas We've Ever Made

• PREP 30mins
• COOK 35mins
• TOTAL 1hr 5mins

Fajitas cook quickly, so I always take 30 minutes to season the steak, chicken, and shrimp with our simple fajita seasoning. Use our recipe as a guide (you can make all three proteins or choose one). Use 2 ½ pounds of protein for 6 people.

Watch Us Make the Recipe

You will need.

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and fajita seasoning, recipe below

1 pound (450g) flank or strip steak

1 pound (450g) chicken breast (2 medium)

1/2 pound (225g) large shrimp, deveined with tails left on

1 pound bell peppers or poblano peppers, sliced (3 medium)

1 large onion, sliced into half-moons

1 tablespoon minced garlic, about 3 cloves

3 tablespoons tequila, light beer, or chicken stock

1 ½ teaspoons ancho chili powder or homemade chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

• Season Chicken, Steak, and Shrimp

1 Mix the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, and smoked paprika in a small bowl.

2 Season the steak, chicken, and shrimp with salt and a generous dusting of fajita seasoning. We use 1/2 teaspoon of salt for the steak, 1/2 teaspoon for the chicken, and 1/4 teaspoon for the shrimp. Set aside for 20 to 30 minutes.

• Cook Chicken

1 You will need a wide skillet with a lid. If you do not have a skillet with a lid, prepare a sheet of foil large enough to cover it.

2 Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in the skillet over medium-high heat.

3 When the oil is hot and looks shimmery, add the chicken. Cook until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the chicken so that the seared side is facing up.

4 Reduce the heat to low, then cover the skillet with its lid or use foil. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer reads 165°F when inserted into the thickest part of the breast. Transfer chicken to a plate and cover loosely with aluminum foil.

1 Pour any liquid left in the pan into a bowl, and use a paper towel to wipe the bottom of the skillet. It is okay if bits of chicken or spices are stuck to the bottom (you can leave them).

2 Put the skillet back over medium-high heat and add two teaspoons of oil.

3 When the oil is hot and looks shimmery, add the steak. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until brown, then flip to the other side and let cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer reads 140°F when inserted into the thickest part of the breast (for medium). Cook longer if you prefer your steak to be more done in the middle.

4 Transfer the steak to the plate with the chicken and cover loosely with aluminum foil.

• Cook the Vegetables and Shrimp

1 Put the skillet back on the heat, increase to medium-high, and add two teaspoons of oil.

2 Add the onions, peppers, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until the veggies start to soften and brown a bit, about 5 minutes. As the veggies cook, use tongs or a wooden spoon to scrape up bits of chicken, steak, or spices stuck to the bottom of the pan.

3 When the peppers and onions are ready, pile them on one side of the pan. Add the shrimp to the pan and cook, flipping once, until firm and opaque throughout, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the cooked shrimp to a plate.

4 Turn the heat down to low, arrange the vegetables on the bottom of the skillet, stir in tequila, beer, or stock, and cook for 1 minute.

5 Take the pan off the heat. Slice the chicken and steak, then arrange them on the peppers and onions. Finish with a generous squeeze of lime.

6 Serve the fajitas family style with more lime on the side and your favorite side dishes.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

• Leftover fajitas last in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Gently reheat in a skillet over medium heat.
• The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.

You May Also Like...

Easy Garlic Citrus Chicken Fajitas

Easy Ground Pork Tacos

Best Homemade Taco Seasoning

Cilantro Lime Butter Shrimp

Shredded Chicken Tacos with Creamy Cilantro Sauce

Perfect Cilantro Lime Rice

So happy I found this recipe! I also added 1tsp brown sugar and 1tsp onion powder. Made this for 6 adults and it was a huge hit! Thanks for your detailed recipe and tips! This has been added to our dinner rotation!

No problem. So glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂

Thank for this fabulous recipe! Amazing how tender the chicken breasts came out! Also used beef tenderloin. I also added 1tsp brown sugar and 1 tsp onion powder to the spice rub. My family loved it. Will be adding this recipe to our rotation. Thanks again!

Your site is excellent. Do not need to go searching for recipes as you have it all.

You have made our day with this comment 🙂

I love trying new recipes

Excellent and easy recipe. I even made the tortillas for the first time. All was delicious.

Yay! Making this with freshly made tortillas really does take it to a whole new level. So glad you enjoyed it 🙂

The peppers are abundant in stores now, great luck for my first time making this. I was so impressed with the directions and ingredents I invited a friend to share, I’m brave! We both LOVED them!

What a nice comment! So glad you loved the recipe 🙂

I just found your recipe for Fajitas. Excellent detailed recipe. Sounds so good. Planning to make for large family gathering Next week.Thanks for sharing.

Your welcome! Be sure to come back to let us know how your gathering went 🙂

I’ve been on the hunt for a great fajita recipe and this really delivered!!!

Yay! Thanks for the kind review 🙂

My family and I really liked this one! I’m back to make it once more! Thank you for the recipe!

You are very welcome! Glad your family thinks the recipe is a keeper 🙂

Can you use ribeye steak in place of the flank or skirt steak?

You absolutely can!

I look forward to seeing more recipies and I am making the fahitas today and will try your scallop recipe

Ah! This is literally THE BEST fajitas recipe!! First time making fajitas and I wanted them to be perfect for my parents’ birthday (they both were born on the same day). Crazy I know! But anyways, I kept looking up recipes and I found this one, so perfectly detailed! And I followed it to the bone- they came out AMAZING! Everyone loved them! Thank you!!

Wonderful! So glad that their birthday fajitas were a hit 🙂

Thanks you guys are epic!!!!!!!

Wow! What a nice comment. We are blushing 🙂

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Leave a review.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe!

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

All comments are moderated before appearing on the site. Thank you so much for waiting. First time commenting? Please review our comment guidelines . You must be at least 16 years old to post a comment. All comments are governed by our Privacy Policy & Terms .

We are Adam and Joanne, the creators of Inspired Taste, a recipe blog devoted to home cooks. Look around for easy recipes, straightforward recipe videos, and cooking inspiration. More about us .

• Privacy & Terms

© 2009-2024 Inspired Taste, Inc.

• Recipes By Region
• Latin American Food
• Mexican Food
• Mexican Sides

23 Delicious Ideas for What to Serve With Fajitas

Make it a complete Tex-Mex party

The Spruce/Kristina Vanni

Making fajitas, and wondering what else to serve? Turn everyday fajitas into a meal to remember with our winning recipes for drinks , desserts, and side dishes that go great with fajitas. Whether you're cooking steak or chicken fajitas , or keeping it simple and vegan with just veggies , we've got the best recipes to turn this Tex-Mex staple into a complete meal that hits all the right notes in every course.

Homemade Bottled Mexican Hot Sauce

​The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

Green or red hot sauce in Mexico is often used on  botanas   or snacks such as  chicharrones  (fried pork rinds) and potato chips. It is also sprinkled on fresh fruit, either plain (cut into chunks or slices) or prepared as a fruit salad, and adds extra zing to fried or scrambled eggs, fish tacos, and even soups.

Guacamole Salsa

The Spruce/Leah Maroney

If you crave heat in your fajitas, this creamy, spicy guacamole salsa is a great way to lay it on. It's a zestier, saucier take on the classic guacamole spread, with roasted jalapeno, fresh squeezed lime juice, and tomatillos bringing the flavor to mashed ripe avocados. Pile it atop all your entrees, or serve it as a dip with tortillas chips and veggie sticks.

Vegan Frijoles Negros (Mexican Black Beans)

The Spruce/Anastasiia Tretiak

Black beans (frijoles negros) are a staple of Mexican cuisine and easy to make vegan or vegetarian. Our homemade recipe tastes so much better than beans from a can, and while it takes some time to cook, there is little hands-on effort. Enjoy these beans as a tasty side dish for any meal, or a filling for vegetarian burritos .

Elote (Mexican Street Corn)

Leah Maroney

Mexican street corn (elote) is salty, sweet, crunchy, and creamy in every bite. Roasted fresh corn cobs are rolled in a garlicky crema, and then topped with cilantro , chili powder, and Parmesan and queso fresco cheeses, for an amazingly tasty, hand-held side. Enjoy it hot off the grill in the summer months, when fresh corn is at its seasonal peak.

 Kristina Vanni

Sopes are a Mexican dish made from masa that resemble a thick tortilla with pinched sides. They are gently pan fried and filled with with chicken, beans, vegetables, and crumbled cheese.

Flour Tortillas From Scratch

Homemade flour tortillas are so fresh and delicious, you may never go back to the store-bought version. You will likely be surprised by how incredibly easy they are to prepare in your own kitchen, with only 4 simple ingredients. Use them to wrap up all your favorite Taco Tuesday dishes , from fajitas and enchiladas, to quesadilla snacks and breakfast burritos.

Shrimp Avocado Salad

The Spruce Eats/Jennifer Perillo

Balance out a dinner plate groaning with fajitas by serving this refreshing shrimp salad on the side. Plump, juicy shrimp and creamy, ripe avocados are a match made in heaven, especially when accented by herbaceous cilantro, and a zingy, citrusy vinaigrette dressing. Feel free to prep the shrimp a couple of days ahead, for a salad that comes together quickly at meal time.

Pico de Gallo (Fresh Tomato Salsa)

Pico de gallo is a fresh, chunky version of salsa. Because you don't need to cook the veggies as you would for a traditional, smooth salsa, pico de gallo is a snap to prepare in mere minutes, and provides great texture and brightness to Mexican and Tex-Mex entrees. Use the boiling water trick in the recipe to mellow the onion and garlic flavors — it may sound strange, but really works!

Mini Chipotle Chicken Taquitos

Double down on deliciousness when you serve tiny chicken taquitos as an appetizer to fajitas for dinner. They are crunchy, deep-fried corn tortilla tubes with an outrageously tasty filling of chipotle chicken and cheese. Make ahead and freeze a bunch for serving at game day parties, adding to a DIY nacho bar , or kicking off taco Tuesdays with the family.

Instant Pot Refried Beans

Refried beans are simply twice-cooked beans. This essential, protein-rich side is naturally gluten-free , deliciously filling, and easy to make vegetarian or vegan. Whip up a batch of restaurant-style refried beans to make all your entrees better with our easy Instant Pot recipe that uses inexpensive pantry ingredients, and cooks in a fraction of the usual time.

Cauliflower Tortillas

If you love fajitas and tacos, and are following the Keto diet or eating low-carb, then you need these cauliflower tortillas in your life. Soft and flexible, and a breeze to make with a quick cauliflower and cheddar dough, they are the perfect, plant-based vehicle for all of your favorite fixings.

Esquites (Mexican Corn Off the Cob)

Enjoy a classic Mexican street food experience with esquites . The fresh and flavorful corn side dish includes everything you love about Mexican street corn, in a fork-ready version. With toasted corn kernels, salty queso cheese, zesty lime and jalapeno, and crema, it is always a hit at cookouts and weeknight dinners.

Mexican Rice

Cook up a toothsome, tomato-infused Mexican rice to rival restaurant versions with our essential, budget-friendly recipe. You'll be wowed by how easy it is to create this must-know side dish in just 30 minutes, using basic cupboard ingredients. It cooks in a single pot, so clean-up is easy, too. Serve it as a side for fajitas , or make it a simple main dish with tortilla chips.

Salsa Verde

The Spruce/Victoria Heydt

Salsa verde is a popular condiment for a reason. It is a simple, versatile salsa made with tomatillos instead of tomatoes, plus onion, garlic, jalapeno, lime, and cilantro. Fresh, green-tasting, and bright, it makes a great topping for steak or chicken fajitas, is an essential part of enchiladas verdes, and even tastes great on eggs.

Ensalada de Nopales (Cactus Salad)

Robin Grose

Mexican cactus salad is not just a great-tasting, nutritious salad. This easy, aromatic, and delicious medley of chopped, cooked nopales, tomato, lime, onion, and cilantro is also a fabulous topping for plain grilled meats , or a side dish for fajitas and other Mexican mains. Make it a day ahead and chill to let the flavors blend, using jarred nopales (or homemade, with tips in the recipe).

Horchata (Mexican Cold Rice Drink)

Horchata is a refreshing, chilled Mexican beverage that is great for cooling off in the hotter months. Our dairy-free version is light, sweet, and creamy, with a flavor that will remind you of rice pudding . Make the classic, thirst-quenching version first, and then look below the recipe for yummy variations to try.

Chelada With Mexican Beer

The Spruce/Julia Hartbeck

Chelada , also known as a lager-and-lime, is a simple and bracing beer-based drink that pairs perfectly with fajitas, and other south-of-the-border favorite foods. It couldn't be easier to make with a bottle of light lager beer , and a wedge of lime, plus some coarse salt to create the essential salted rim on your pint glass.

Mexican Michelada

If you are a beer drinker who also enjoys Bloody Mary cocktails, meet your new favorite mash-up of these two popular drinks. The Mexican Michelada uses beer and tequila, instead of vodka, for an easy-drinking cocktail you can enjoy with a dinner of fajitas, or even bust out at brunch .

Tres Leches Pastel

Treat yourself to tres leches pastel (Spanish for "three milks cake"), the beloved dessert enjoyed throughout Latin America . Sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream combine in a soaking sauce that gives this classic cake a dense, extremely moist texture that is closer to a custard than a light and fluffy sponge.

Mexican Chocolate Cake

The classic Mexican flavor combination of chocolate and cinnamon is at the heart of this rich and decadent chocolate cake . It's an ideal dessert for a Cinco de Mayo fiesta , or a great way to end family dinners. Make it in about an hour from start-to-finish, including making the homemade frosting.

Mexican Paletas (Fruit Pops)

​The Spruce/Cara Cormack

Get out the popsicle molds for these magically flavorful frozen fruit pops that are a staple of Mexican summer living, and make a fantastic cookout treat. They are unbelievably easy to make with ripe fresh fruit, lime juice, sugar, and water. Use juicy watermelon , fresh pineapple, cubed cantaloupe, or any other fruit in season.

Mexican Flan

If you favor creamy desserts like creme caramel, you are sure to love Mexican flan . Velvety smooth and creamy, with a rich-tasting, vanilla bean-infused custard, it makes a delicious ending to any Mexican-inspired meal . Prepare it in individual ramekins for a show-stopping, chilled dessert.

The Spruce/Kelly Ryan

Kids and adults alike go crazy for churros , the deep-fried dough treat. A simple batter is piped into hot oil and fried until golden to make these delectable, doughnut-like desserts. Dust them with cinnamon-sugar, or dip them into a cup of hot chocolate , for a truly Mexican-style after-dinner treat.

• Summer Recipes
• Cinco de Mayo Recipes
• Mexican Cooking Basics

• Breakfast & Brunch
• By Occasion
• Recipe Index
• House & Home

The Best Steak Fajitas

The absolute BEST Steak Fajitas you’ve ever had! This is my take on the Tex-Mex steak fajitas. Marinated for hours in lime juice, garlic, and cumin — so good you’ll never use another recipe again!

Holy Guacamole!

And I’m not just saying that because steak fajitas NEED guacamole. I’m saying it because you need these homemade fajitas. And I actually can’t believe it took me this long to make them for us. I mean, beef fajitas are a classic, and quite possibly the most delicious thing we’ve eaten around here. Hands down. Like EVER. So it’s totally my food blogging responsibility to bring these to you right now because they couldn’t possibly taste better than they do right now.

These fajitas were gobbled up quicker than anything I’ve ever made before – that’s saying a lot because I feel like I’m ALWAYS cooking. And these make A LOT, enough to feed 4-5 people! We enjoyed them in tortillas the first day and turned them into Chipotle-style fajitas bowls for lunch the next day, and we still had some leftovers! And nope, I’m not even complaining about them. I’ll definitely be making these over and over again on repeat.

Watch how to make the best steak fajitas video (57 sec.):

You’ve probably made steak fajitas with store-bought fajitas seasoning a million times before. But I’m kind of reinventing this a little because my recipe is less focused on spices and more focused on overall ingredients that marinate, tenderize, and flavor the fajita meat. Because no one likes fajitas that are bland. What’s the point in that?

But this marinade! Oh my Lanta! It is unlike anything you’ve ever tasted before. I was never convinced you could make restaurant-style steak fajitas at home and make them taste better, but this totally does it. They are absolutely are the BEST steak fajitas of your life. The ingredients are simple and straight forward. Also, this isn’t a Harry Potter potions class – you don’t need anything super fancy to make the best fajitas of your life. There is one ingredient in particular that I use that isn’t a typical ingredient one sees in a fajita recipe but give it a try, I promise you, it’s a GAME CHANGER.

I like to use a colorful array of veggies for my fajitas.

You can do with the regular red and green peppers if you’d like, but I love the color and the flavor that yellow and orange peppers add to this recipe. I’m one of those people that eat with my eyes first. I also like to add in a BIG poblano pepper. Remove all the ribs and seeds, so the spice is gone. We just want the nice smokiness of the poblano sizzled with the onions and bell peppers — the flavor is out of this world. I can’t believe I had been making fajitas without poblanos for so long before this. I almost feel like I cheated myself out of the best fajitas.

And the secret ingredient in my steak fajitas is…

Okay, let’s do a quick walkthrough on the ingredients and how you’re going to make the marinade for the fajitas. Without any further suspense let me share with you the ONE ingredient that makes my steak fajitas better than the rest — PINEAPPLE JUICE. Um, yup. You read that right. Pineapple juice, the stuff that comes in a small/large cans in the juice aisle. I use the stuff that is 100% juice with no additional sugars added.

If you’re wondering what the function of pineapple juice is for fajitas, allow me to explain. Store-bought fajita seasonings usually contain enzymes that help tenderize the meat. So to mimic that same tenderization without any weird ingredients, we use pineapple juice. There are people that argue that fresh pineapple juice (that hasn’t been heated) works best. But honestly, for our recipe, canned pineapple juice works just fine! No need to grab a fresh pineapple and make fresh juice, unless you’d like to that is.

What else do you need to make the best steak fajitas:

The other ingredients are simple! A little lime juice, some Worcestershire sauce (this is Tex-Mex style fajitas after all!), garlic, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, a little olive oil, chopped cilantro, and a little salt and pepper. That is it! No cornstarch or sugar or a million other ingredients. These are simple, flavorful steak fajitas that shine on their own. You don’t need to put a million ingredients in them to taste good.

How to make the best steak fajitas:

Now the instructions – combine the ingredients for the marinade and let marinate. It’s that simple. I like to let fajita meat marinate for at least 4 hours and ideally sometimes, overnight. The longer you let them sit, the tastier they are.

I made these indoors on a large cast iron skillet. You can grill the meat out on the grill in the summertime if you’d like. I know we definitely will once it stops raining here EVERY SINGLE DAY and once we purchase a grill. In the meantime, the cast iron skillet is making them just perfectly. ?? I use one large skillet to sear the meat, and while the meat is resting, I add in another tablespoon of oil and allow the veggies to sauté. I love the little bits of the charred marinade to coat the peppers and onions. If you don’t want that, use a separate skillet to make the veggies. Make sure to season them with a hint of salt and pepper.

Be prepared to make this meal on a weekly rotation, served both inside warm homemade flour tortillas and over a bed of cilantro lime rice .

Make it a Sunday tradition, because I have a feeling that this recipe is going to get ten thumbs up.

If you like this recipe, you might also like:

• Cheesy Steak Quesadillas
• Homemade Carne Asada
• The Best Chicken Fajitas
• Shrimp Enchiladas in Poblano Cream Sauce
• Crispy Cheesy Chicken Taquitos

The BEST Steak Fajitas

The absolute BEST Steak Fajitas you've ever had! This is my take on the tex-mex steak fajitas. Marinated for hours in lime juice, garlic, and cumin -- so good you'll never use another recipe again!

Ingredients

Steak marinade:.

• ⅓ cup lime juice
• ¼ cup pineapple juice (no sugar added)
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoon EACH: ground cumin AND chili powder (or more to taste)
• 1 teaspoon EACH: kosher salt AND smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon EACH: black pepper AND red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• 1 ½ - 2 pounds skirt or flank steak
• 1 tablespoon oil (high heat)
• 2 medium white onions, sliced
• 1 large poblano, ribs and seeds removed then sliced
• 2-3 bell peppers, thinly sliced (any color you please!)
• guacamole, salsa, cilantro leaves, salsa verde, sour cream, black beans, rice, tortillas, cilantro-lime rice, sautéed corn, tomatoes, lettuce, shredded cheese, etc.

Instructions

• STEAK MARINADE : Combine the ingredients for the marinade in a large shallow bowl or zip-top bag. Give it a taste to check for seasonings and adjust to preference. Coat the steak with the marinade and let sit covered in the refrigerator for at least 2-4 hours and ideally overnight (or see notes to freeze.) Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes prior to grilling.
• COOK: Set a large cast iron skillet or grill pan over high heat and let heat up for a couple of minutes. Add the steak to the pan and fry on each side for about 3-5 minutes or longer if you'd like it more done. Feel for desired firmness. The 3 minutes/side will yield a medium rare doneness. If the pan becomes too hot, reduce the heat to medium-high. Remove the steak from the pan and allow it to rest for several minutes, tented with a piece of foil.
• FAJITA VEGGIES: Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan over high heat, and add in the onions, poblano, and bell peppers. Let the veggies begin to sizzle and toss as necessary, cook for a total of 2-3 minutes or longer if you prefer them softer, season with a pinch of salt and pepper. If your pan is small, cook the veggies in a few batches so they don't steam.
• SLICE: Slice the meat against the grain into thin slices. I like to do so on an angle so the meat slices are tender and thin. Add it back to the veggies if you'd like.
• ASSEMBLY: Serve fajitas in tortillas or on rice bowls topped with your favorite toppings!
• Freeze: If you aren't planning on making the fajitas right away, marinate the meat in a zip-top bag and freeze immediately. Let the steak defrost in the refrigerator overnight, and you're ready to grill!

Have you made this recipe?

If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and a comment below. You can also share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #LITTLESPICEJAR, I'd love to see what you made!

originally published on Mar 16, 2016 (last updated Jan 30, 2023 )

315 comments Leave a comment »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe:

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

315 comments on “The Best Steak Fajitas”

Looks awesome! Just wondering, do you marinate the veggies as well?

I didn’t Kim, but you can if you’d like!

Can you use this marinade for chicken as well?

Sure can! But I wouldn’t marinate for more than 2-3 hours.

I marinated chicken overnight and it was great. 

A wonderful blend of ingredients and you were right the family would be asking for more. I used chicken only because beef is far too expensive. I tried the recipe on a Tuesday and it fed us two days. My son was to have a friend over on the weekend and guess what … he wanted that for supper! With the left over I made a Fajita Pizza. Wow now there is something to try! Thank you 🙂

I made this for myself and the guy I’m dating, and we were both blown away! I had another fajita recipe that I thought was good, but this one is awesome. My guy actually said he was full, but he didn’t want to stop eating because it was so good! Haha! I didn’t change a thing, and this is definitely a keeper. Found it on Pinterest. Thank you so much!!

About how long can you leave the meat in the marinade?

I’d say 14 hours max.

Could I freeze the marinated meat for a later time?

Hi Karla! I haven’t tried freezing the marinated steak before but I think it should be fine. I would freeze it immediately after combining the ingredients (skipping the marinating time completely). And just thaw it in the refrigerator for 12-14 hours prior to cooking!

Did you try marinating and freezing ahead? 

I have marinated and frozen and had amazing results!

That’s what I do when I have extra meat. It marinates the meat as it thaws.

2 questions- Could you cook the steak on a charcoal grill instead of a cast iron skillet? Wasn’t sure if that’d change the flavor or dry it out since the marinade will drip off the meat. Can you taste the pineapple from the juice after it’s cooked? My husband loathes the taste of pineapple but I want to see if I can use it without him knowing lol

Hi Tristen! Yes, you can certainly cook it on a charcoal grill — in fact, it might even be better that way! You’ll just have to keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t overcook. We really couldn’t taste the pineapple after cooking. It just kinda enhances all the other flavors and leaves the meat super tender. It won’t be sweet or smell like pineapple or anything like that. Hope you get away with it! 😉

I grilled it over B&B  charcoal and it was anazing !! The smoke flavor added to this flavors marinade… it’s my go to recipe now 

What is the marinade supposed to taste like before cooking? Mine is sort of bitter and I’m wondering did I do something wrong or does that cook out of it?

From what I remember, I think it was a little bitter. Probably because of the cumin. But rest assured, it’ll taste great once you cook the fajitas 🙂

Okay, thank you!! Can’t wait to see how it turns out

will the cilantro from the marinade burn in the cast iron skillet when cooking the steak??

I didn’t really have a problem with it, but if you’re worried Denise, you can simply add a handful of cilantro (without chopping it) into the container with the steak and the marinade. That way you still get that cilantro flavor!

So thankful to have found this recipe! I made an adapted version with buffalo skirt steak and it turned out amazing.

Is this spicy? Sadly, my kids can’t handle even mild heat. Can I omit the chili and red pepper flakes without compromising taste? Thanks

We didn’t find it to be spicy for our taste. You can still make this recipe without the chili powder/pepper flakes, it’ll still be BIG on flavor! 🙂

This is a keeper! Simple ingredients and great results. The only mistake I made was not giving the steak enough time to marinate. I only had one hour, but the flavor was still there. Will make this again and pass it on to my friends.

Stupid question – I want to buy a cast iron skillet –is there a size/brand you would recommend? Thanks 🙂

Hi Taz! If you navigate over to the shop menu (at the top of page) you’ll find a link to the cast iron skillet I have and love 🙂

Marzia, I made this for my family tonight and it was DELICIOUS!! I marinaded the flank steak before i left for work, grilled it, added a little of the marinade to the pan with the veggies and served in tortillas. You are correct, the marinade is perfection!! This is definitely on my “make over and over” list, thank you!!

Can you substitute the pineapple juice with apple juice?

Hi Kristie, apple juice will work it terms of flavor but it won’t help tenderize the meat. The pineapple juice actually plays a two part roll in this recipe.

I subbed with OJ! Since they are very similar profiles and acidity 

I am going to make this tonight. I am going to use sirloin steak so how long would you suggest to marinade it for? Also, how much marinade should I use to cook steaks in or do I just remove the steaks from the marinade and then cook them without any extra. How much marinade should I use to cook the veggies in?

I’d marinate sirloin for roughly the same time (2-4 hours at least). I removed the steak from the marinade when cooking so that it has a nice sear on the outside. Also, I didn’t add any marinade to the veggies, just cooked them in the same pan to pick up all the flavory bits left behind by the steak. You can let them sit in the steak marinade while the steak cooks or just drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of the marinade over the veggies (while cooking) if you want them to have that same flavor. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂

Thank you so much. I am sure this will be absolutely delicious.

I used your marinade and loved it, but instead of cooking it on the stovetop I just threw everything in my cast iron skillet and put it right in the oven. Cook at 400° for 16 minutes, stirring once halfway through and you’ve got perfectly done fajitas!

I am liking the idea of this oven method…did you slice the meat before or after cooking?

I absolutely love this recipe. The marinade is delicious! I have a two burner electric stove that works not so good. So it toke forever to cook. Especially for the amount I have to make for my family size. I was wondering if you have made this in the crockpot before? 

Happy to hear you loved it! Haven’t tried in the the crockpot before, but I’d love to hear how it goes if you decide to Ariana! Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂

My husband couldn’t stop raving about these fahitas bought a very thin sliced ribeye steak and it was the bomb !!!  Very easy and super sonic delicious  ?

Made both chicken and beef (sirloin from Costco) and marinated each in a separate bag for 7 hours and cooked all in cast iron skillets, best fajitas I have ever had. I will only make this recipe from now on. 

I would like to try this recipe for a family that I am making a meal for, but one of the family members has an allergy or some health issue with pineapple. Can you recommend another juice or acid to use in the marinade instead that will not compromise the flavor?

Orange juice would be a good alternative. You may want to let the meat marinate for at least 6 hours though (pineapple tenderizes the meat so it can be used as quickly as 2 hours, orange juice won’t do that). Hope everyone enjoys it! 🙂

Made these for dinner tonight. Could possibly be the best fajitas I have ever eaten. Store did not have flank or skirt steak, so. I used sirloin steak. Did not have pineapple juice so I used orange juice. I let it marinate overnight (it really marinated for about 20 hours) and during the day. Was not spicy and husband loved them. Will make these again. Yummy!!!!! Thanks for the recipe.

Absolutely, hands down, the BEST fajitas I have ever made. I used skirt steak and marinated for about 5 or so hours. The meat was melt-in-your-mouth tender. Beautiful clean flavors. My only regret was that my supermarket was out of poblanos, but there will most definitely be a next time, so I’m anxious to see how the poblanos peppers are in this recipe. As the meat was resting, I cooked the veggies in the same skillet and splashed some of the marinade in for flavor. Even the picky 4 year old ate some, and the fiancee went back for seconds. Thank you for a DELICIOUS recipe.

Does the 3 tablespoons of olive oil go in with the other ingredients to make the marinade or is it just 1 tablespoon for the marinade, 1 for the steak and 1 for the veggies? 

It’s listed separately. So you’ll need the 3 tablespoons for the marinade portion and the last tablespoon (listed under ‘fajitas’) is for the veggies. If you feel the steak will stick to the skillet, you can add a small drizzle before cooking it.

My san antonio college labmate had me over one weekend and got to see a large family version. Using canned pineapples chunks liquid and canned grapefruit juice. Drained Pineapples where used in a sheet pan version of upside down cake. Beef started afternoon Saturday, drained then dry spices added Sunday before Mass, after Church grilled at nearby park.

I’ve got the steak marinating and the veggies prepped. I couldn’t find poblanos at my grocery store so I subbed a couple of Anaheim peppers hoping it won’t be too spicy. I haven’t cooked with much except bell peppers and jalapenos, so we’ll see!

I’m excited to try this recipe and the steak is marinating now. I bought the pre-cut sirloin from the store. Will that change the cooking time since they are already sliced? Thanks! 

Hi Emy! Yes, pre-cut sirloin will have a different cooking time than the whole skirt or flank steak. Unfortunately, it’s difficult for me to say how long it’ll take as I’ve only tested the recipe as written. I’d just monitor for doneness (to preference) after the first 2-3 minutes.

DELICIOUS! Just the right amount of spice. And I used the same cast iron skillet (which still had some of the marinade flavor) to heat the flour tortillas. 

Hi!  I don’t have low sugar or sugar free pineapple juice.  Will just regular work?

Thank you, Kim

Regular juice will work!

Made this tonight and it was a hit with my family! Even my husband who can be picky about recipes that I find. I marinated the meat over night and it was so good!!! I used flank steak and grilled it. The flavor was incredible! For those who worried about spice, this was not spicy at all. I eased up a bit on the red pepper flakes and didn’t have cumin, but other than that I followed the recipe. I did use fresh lime juice as well. This is definitely a keeper!!

Was wondering if there is a reason the peppers and onions didn’t get into the wonderful marinade also? I am getting ready to start marinading the meat for dinner tomorrow and thought it would be great to have it all chopped and sliced and together soaking up all the marinades flavors.

I personally enjoy the natural flavor of the peppers and onions, so I opted to leave them as is. I believe there’s a note that mentions you can allow the veggies to soak up the marinade flavors while you cook the steak if you’d like them to have that same flavor. Not too sure how well the veggies would hold up because of all the acid in the marinade if you were to marinate them overnight.

These were excellent!  I let them marinade for over 24 hours.  This will be my new go to faijtas marinade!

Hi- I didn’t pay attention and used lemon juice instead. Is that a big deal?

I don’t see if being terrible or anything like that, just a little different! Limes are sweeter than lemons so you can add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to help balance if you’d like 🙂

I had never used smoked paprika before and was a little leary of its strong smokey smell so I just used a slightly rounded half teaspoon. Also, I like things on the hot side so I used a full teaspoon of red pepper flakes. These were by far the best steak fajitas I have ever made. I attribute the difference to the smokey paprika and the Worcestershire sauce. They were even more flavorful the next day. I used flank steak and yes the pineapple juice did help in tenderizing it. Thank you for a great steak fajita recipe!

Happy to hear you enjoyed the fajitas, Luanne! 🙂

Oh my…my there little lady… I love grilling, and cooking stuff like this. I’ve NEVER made better fajitas in my life… now everyone wants the marinade recipe…

Should I give it to them?? lol Thank YOU for this share!

Can you marinade pre-cut fajita steak for this?

Yes, but you won’t need to marinate it for too long as it’ll soak up the flavors quicker.

Amazing! Absolutely loved this recipe

So GOOD!!! My entire family loved it. I cooked it in a crockpot on high for 5 hours (4 pds steak strips). This will be one of my go to recipes from now on!

Hi! Did you put all the ingredients (steak and veggies) in the crockpot? Did you change anything?

In place of the pineapple juice I tried orange juice and it was delicious 

How much is a serving based on your nutritional facts? 

Just made them. They were awesome, best I’ve ever made. Thank you for sharing!

Making it and preparing it now. Meat is marinating now Can’t wait!!! Love fajitas!!!

Do you happen to know if any good substitutes for Worcestershire sauce? I haven’t been able to find one with clean ingredients that I can eat and would love to make this recipe! Just not sure if it will be the same without the sauce added. Thanks!

Hey Allison! I did a google search and found that you can make your own if you’d like! You’ll just need equal parts tamarind paste, soy sauce (or GF tamari), and white vinegar so in our case, it would be 2 teaspoons of each of these. Tamarind paste is usually sold in the international aisle of most grocery stores and you should be able to find it easily. Hope you enjoy the fajitas! 🙂

Yup, you’re right. I don’t think I’ll ever use another recipe for steak fajitas. This was fantastic.

Any recommendations for substituting the pineapple juice? My little one is allergic.

You can replace it with orange juice, others have tried that and have reported that it worked out well 🙂

Made these fajitas tonight for dinner and they were by far the best I have ever made. I couldn’t find flank or skirt steak at our supermarket so I used top round steak. Yummmm. This recipe will become a regular in our home. Thank you for sharing this recipe!

This is a very nice recipe – good flavour and a much healthier alternative to the packaged mixes for fajitas. I actually used this on some leftover steak – marinated for a few hours and reheated. Used the small amount of leftover marinade to coat the onions & peppers before cooking. Will definitely be using this recipe from now on.

Yes these were the BEST I’ve ever made and possibly eaten!! We loved it! I used flank steak and marinated for 24 hours! I used a fresh pinapple, blended it and strained out the puree’ for another use. so good!

Fabulous marinade.  I have made this many times. I trying it with chicken tonight. 

This recipe has become a family favorite!  I have also made the recipe with chicken and it was really good.

I made this dish for a Friday meal; following the recipe, it turned out good! But Saturday I kicked it up a notch I added brown sugar. Accent. Seasoning salt, I doubled batched it, along with chicken breast, and shrimp, Jalapeno’s, oh it is fire. Love this recipe.

I love this recipe! I’ve made it twice – marinated once overnight (amazing) and the other time just for a couple hours (still amazing). I have a question though – I’m pretty new to my cast iron skillet and both times I made this the marinade hardened into a black gunk that was impossible to clean off the pan. I kept the meat and veggies on a minimal amount of time – the steak was rare and the veggies were tender but definitely not burnt, but I still got the burnt-on marinade! Is this happening to other people or am I doing something wrong with either the recipe or my pan maintenance? I love the grilled taste I get from my cast iron since I live in an apartment so can’t grill – I’d love any advice y’all have!

How new is your cast iron skillet? You may need to season it before you use it. I prefer to cook bacon in mine to season it, just cook an entire thing of bacon nonstop. You can use the bacon for breakfast burritos or something else. This allows the bacon grease to really soak into the cast iron. Never ever wash your skillet with anything other than water, and you shouldn’t have any more issues with stickiness. 

This was SO good!! Only thing I did different was we grilled the meat and with the veggies we grilled them up in a grill pan.  It was fantastic! My 11yr old who is a picky eater came back for seconds. That’s saying something, lol. I’m so adding this into the weekly rotation! Thank you for the best fajitas, way better then any restaurant.

My husband love it and I did too….!!! awasome

I had some cooked shrimp that I tossed into the marinade separately from the steak…This was amazing..Even better heated up on sheet pan in hot oven the next day..Sharing this with everyone!

 I saw where you told someone to not marinate for longer than 14 hours; but before reading this, I mixed my marinade last night at 11:00 p.m. and didn’t cook everything until 6:00 p.m. tonight, so 19 hours.  I didn’t have any pineapple juice, but the flank steak was very tender and the fajitas were the best I’ve ever eaten. I can’t imagine how these could be better than they were tonight, but I will use pineapple juice the next time.  By the way, I like spicy, so I used 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes and increased the paprika to 2 tsp.  I also had sliced the flank steak into strips before marinating.  Thank you for a wonderful recipe!

Love this recipe, one of the things my picky husand will eat! I cut up the steak before hand and use mushrooms instead of onions being the hubby hates onions. I marinate the veggies in with the steak for at least 6 hours. We like it spicy also so we use more chilli pepper and red pepper flakes!

Delicious! I shared your link for this recipe on my blog 🙂 Thanks for posting!

Um yeah….. you cannot beat this recipe! Taco who?????

Could i use chipotle powder instead of smoked paprika?

Yes, chipotle powder would be a good substitute but keep in mind that it may make the fajitas a little spicier!

I have made it for my family and friends.  Everyone has loved it!

Definately the BEST fajitas ever! My husband and I love them! I do a small twist though, I add pinapple chunks and also shrimp. The other twist is that I prefer to broil my food, so I put it all (even the peppers and onions) on a sheet pan in the broiler for about 8 min. (Flipping the meat half way through)… and like I said, this recipie is so delish!

Thank you for taking time to post this recipe. I appreciate you and your effort. I tried this recipe tonight. I will not make this again because I keep only the best tasting recipes and this one is just average. Not worth the time and the effort. Some of the store bought fajita rubs are better in my opinion.

These truly were the best Fajitas I have ever had.  We did a mix of chicken & beef.  I just finished dinner and sI can’t wait to have them again!  Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe.

Awesome recipe! My family loved it and we will use it again. The only problem was the steak was tough. Not sure how to make it tender! I’d appreciate any help with that. Next time I’ll use it for the chicken too. Has anyone used this in the crock pot? Thanks for your help.

Made this tonight and it was good, should have marinated it longer. My question is that we used a cast iron skillet and there was some smoke but the smoke was almost toxic, burned my throat and made me sneeze and cough (no I don’t cook well or often, I’m sure it was all my fault).

If they were smoking then the heat is way too high, especially indoors.

Absolutely crazy good You’ve just turned a Canadian into a Latino  Thanks 

It was my first time making a fajita. I used tenderloin steak. It was sooooooo good! Husband really enjoyed it! Would definitely make again! Thank you for the recipe!

Is there a reason it calls for no sugar added pineapple juice? I cannot find that.  Will it be too sweet if I use regular? 

This has been my favorite fajita marinade for awhile! It’s so delicious and the pineapple juice is simply genius. I recently started Whole30 and had every aspiration to make some homemade worcestershire so we could have these fajitas. Got lazy and decided to use coconut aminos instead. It’s absolutely perfect! Just thought I would share for other Whole30ers out there. 

These truly are the BEST fajitas!! Love them! I’ve made them many many times and it’s always my go-to recipe for when company is coming over, I want to impress, have something kid friendly, and easy. Great recipe!

Excellent! I used Lemon instead of Lime and didn’t have any Cilantro on hand, and it was still wonderful. Will be adding this to my favorites! Thank you for sharing.

I have never made steak fajitas before – I don’t eat red meat, but my son was begging me to make these for him. I thought the ingredient list looked flavorful so off i went and bought a flank steak (which I have never cooked before) and made this tonite. My 2 sons devoured 2 pounds of meat in less than 10 minutes. This was awesome. We grilled the meat over charcoal – 3/3 min direct 1/1 indirect – perfect medium rare. This is a keeper.

Just made these for the first time and they are AWESOME! You can bet they will be in the regular rotation at our house.

Quick question. I have read that beef shouldn’t be marinated for more than two hours if your are using lime or lemon juice. The recipe you posted calls for marinating the meat longer than two hours. What am I missing?

What you’re missing is that skirt steak and flank steak are WAY tougher than other cuts of beef. Trust the recipe. It’s sublime.

Wow!  Easy and fun for the whole family.  Loved it so much, we will have it again for supper really soon.

So easy and so delish!  I made these beef fajitas for dinner tonight, and the flavor was incredible.  I think next time I’ll throw some jalapeños in the marinate, as I love spicy, but overall, the dish was magnificent!  Yum ? 

Could i cook the steak in a normal non stick calphalon pan? 

Yes, that will work, but it just may not develop as nice of a sear because the pan won’t get as hot as cast iron!

Wow, these were so authentic tasting. Due to limited resources of our current crisis, I subbed crushed pineapple for the amount of juice and it was still so delicious. I cooked my veggies in the cast iron skillet on top of the grill and the steak right next to the pan. I even grilled the corn tortillas. Thanks, I will definitely post up next time.

I cut the steak before cooking it! Can I still pan sear it? I don’t want it to be tough. Thanks!

Hi — It is May 20 – 2020 — it appears that the written recipe is missing — it looks like there was a link [recipe] on top of the nutritional information but there is no recipe… could you fix this? The reviews are excellent and I would like to try it 🙂

Sorry about that, Rachel! We’re making some changes behind the scenes and somehow the recipe fell off. It’s up now!

Made this last night but i used a diced habanero instead of a poblano. My fiance and brother were in food heaven. I also loved it. Fantastic recipe thank you.

Yum – I’m sure that added a nice bit of heat! Thank you for taking the time to come back and comment, Shannon!

What can I substitute for pineapple juice? I can’t do pineapple.

You could try orange juice, the flavor might be a little different though!

This marinade is a game changer! It is worth the time it took to marinade, steak was tender and delicious. This is a Keeper!

That’s awesome! So glad to hear that!

Fantastic!  Looking forward to having them again.  Absolutely delicious 5 star recipe!

So happy to hear you enjoyed them, Jo! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment 🙂

Best marinade ever!

I’m so glad you think so, Sarah! Appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment!

These were the best fajitas I have ever made. Thanks for sharing the recipe. 

Love hearing that! Appreciate you circling back to leave a comment, JoAnn 🙂

This is my GO TO Steak Fajita recipe. This marinade is such a game changer… It really is THE BEST! Pineapple Juice makes all the difference. Thank you for sharing it. My family and I absolutely LOVE IT.

So happy to hear that, Krystal! I concur, that pineapple juice really makes it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment 🙂

Easy hack was to substitute 2 Tblspoons of Taco seasoning  for the the dry seasonings(chili, cumin paprika etc…) and then add salt pepper along with all other ingredients!! ! Easy peasy!

Easy and delicious! Will never buy pre-marinaded meat again!

So happy to hear that 🙂

Delicious! I made cilantro lime rice and guacamole to complete the meal. I also used NY stip steaks and sliced them then before marinating.

I want to know if I can marinate the meat and portion in zip lock bags? I plan on cutting the meat before cooking. Will I have to cook it before I freeze it or could I freeze it raw?

Does it taste like pineapple? 

Nope, it doesn’t!

I’m excited by this one. Have sodium issues, but LOVE fajitas. This looks low in sodium, but just in case, how would I modify this to keep the flavor but lose the salty (if it is)? Will this work for other meats? Fish? Pork? Chicken? Deer? Lamb? Suggestions?

I made these today and OMG, best ever! I used carne picada meat and I also grilled pineapple chunks, then added pepper flakes! The sweet n Spicey combo was so good my family ate every last bit!!!! Thanks for sharing recipe!!  

What cut of steak did you use?

This fajita marinade is the only you need! Sooooo delicious. I only used the juice of one decent lemon and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Definitely printing this recipe!  

can i usepetite sirloin steak ?

The perfect marinade!  Used on beef and chicken. Grilled the meat and sautéed the vegetables in cast iron skillet snd deglazed with the leftover marinade. Delicious!

We made this tonight and it was delicious!  

Delicious! Used the meat I had (sirloin tip roast cut into steaks). Will def make again! Thank you!

How would this work with chicken instead of beef?   Made it with beef and it was Fantastic!  Thanks

Hi Amy! Here’s a recipe for the chicken version of this 🙂

Thank you so much!  I’m making the steak ones again for tomorrow night – so deicious!!

Needed way more than 3 min per side to get to medium rare and was I supposed to put oil in the pan before the meat? The directions say add the remaining oil (before the veggies) but it never said to add any to begin with aside from the marinade. Also doesn’t say to slice the peppers or onion. Good but kinda incomplete recipe. 

Tip for the first comment, preheat cast iron for at least 10 minutes….dont add oil. You will get great color and flavor on the steak. Plus the steak is thin so 3 mins per side should come out perfect.

This marinade recipe was outstanding! We used elk and will definitely be making this again. Thanks for a great recipe.

The absolute best fajitas I have ever made!  I marinated overnight….and it made the flank steak fork tender!  

Hey there! We meal prepped this for the week and we are so excited to eat it! I sampled a bit beforehand.

I was searching for nutritional info on the marinade. Do you have that info available?

I love this recipe! We use it on the regular at our house. I never have fresh pineapple juice so I just take a spoon of frozen concentrate and some water to make 1/4 cup instead. Thanks for the great recipe! NUTRITIONAL INFO: I figured this out using My Fitness Pal. Makes 6 servings Amount Per Serving Calories 534 Total Fat 36 g Cholesterol 107 mg Sodium 374 mg Total Carbohydrate 14 g Dietary Fiber 3 g Sugars 5 g Protein 43 g

My boyfriend gave me the biggest compliment by saying they were the best steak fajitas he has had, including at restaurants. This is significant since we do live in Tucson, AZ.

Great marinade! Cut it in half for a smaller portion, worked great! Will make it again.

I’ve tried so many different marinades and finally found the ONE.  The flank steak was so tender and delicious! Making it again for Super Bowl Sunday. This time on the grill….I smoked the house out doing it on the cast iron on the stove..lol Thank you for an awesome recipe.

I’ve made these fajitas a number of times and have not disappointed. But I do have one question: do I add some of the leftover marinade to the veggies as they’re cooking to add flavor or is the burnt portions on the bottom of the cast iron pan enough?

It’s totally your call, Cora! Sometimes I let the veggies sit in the marinade while I’m cooking the steak. Other times, I drizzle a bit of the marinade over the veggies as they cook. No wrong answer here! 🙂

Just found this. Now my husband wants this or your chicken fajitas 3 x a week. I make my own flour tortillas and guacamole. I will be making this again tonight.

My sons Birthday today so made this for him at his house, I used skirt steak and all the ingredients as written including the poblano pepper, i had to cook this on a glass top in a cast iron pan, he only had a fan under the microwave above the stove, i knew this was gona be smoky as hell, had to open all the windows and doors to get the smoke out but it was well worth it the meat was so tender, and the fajitas were delicious, i did preheat the cast iron pan for 15 minutes, DID NOTadd any oil to the pan before i put the meat in, the marinade has oil in it , also while cooking the meat added the marinade to the vegetables, this was delicious and im definitely going to make again but probably on my blackstone grill at my house or a regular charcoal grill, for dinner tonight i give this a 5 star rating, best recipe ive tried in a long time, thank you

I’ve made this a few times, and it’s really good! Does anyone have a suggestion about how long to marinate if the steak is cut up before cooking? I was thinking maybe just the 2 hours, but I wasn’t sure if that would be too long?

I made it exactly according to the recipe except I used a round steak that the butcher had run through his tenderizer machine. I let it marinate for 2 1/2 hrs. It tasted wonderful. It was the best fajitas that I’ve ever cooked. And so EASY.

Fantastic marinade!!!

This is the only way I prepare steak fajitas for my family since finding the recipe.

Although, on occasion I add two pounds of shrimp to the leftover marinade, cook and serve along side the steak.. EVEN BETTER

Thank you for the great recipe. Do you have any substitute ideas for pineapple juice?

I honestly don’t usually write comments for cooking posts like these, I’ll usually just read the recipes, make the dish and move on. But, this recipe…is…too amazing to just move past! I made steak fajitas before and was always dissatisfied with how dry the meat turned out so I felt like I just couldn’t do it, but this was a game changer! First I want to say that using the pineapple juice is genius, it has created some of the most tender pieces of steak I’ve ever made, and I cooked the steak well done! I was making a giant batch so I cut up about four pounds of steak and marinated overnight. (I also doubled the recipe in general for the marinade except I only used 1.5 times the pineapple juice). The steak that came out was absolutely delicious! It reminded me of a more tender version of Chipotle’s carne asada. I served it up with guacamole, corn salsa and other fixins and my family really loved it. They were especially hyping up how tender the steak was. Absolutely 1000% would recommend making!

These were so good! I used striploin but otherwise followed the recipe and they were a big hit! Had a nice black bean salad on the side.

This is an excellent fajita recipe

Absolute best fajita marinade I have ever tried, and I’ve tried plenty.

Great recipe! If you want to avoid a smoke filled house when using a cast iron pan, use grapeseed oil to season and cook with. It has a high smoke point.

Thank you!!  These are the BEST fajitas ever! My husband rated them at a perfect 10.  I didn’t have the 4 hours minimum for marinating, only 2 hrs and they were impregnated with flavor.  I can’t even imagine how more scrumptious they can get with overnight marinating! Again, thank you these were absolutely amazing!

Trying this marinade tonight, the only thing I did different was added more garlic and I used smoked paprika!!  It smells ahmazing and I’m super stoked to try it.  Fingers crossed the kids love it but I’m sure they will because they love all things Mexican. I picked this marinade because all the delightful reviews!! 

Delicious! 

What if you don’t have pineapple juice ? Orange Juice?  

Awesome marinade!! Delicious even the my orange juice I had on hand. Next time I will try the pineapple.

This is quite possibly the BEST steak I have ever had. Topped off with fresh salsa and quacamole…yum! I also added cilantro lime rice, black beans, and shredded cheese. These are amazing. Give them a try…you won’t be sorry!

New to the flat Blackstone scene – But, my goodness this recipe was awesome. Well worth the prep. HUGE compliments from all on these amazing Fajitas!! Thank you for the great recipe

Fantastic! Introduced hubby to fajitas and did he ever LOVE them! I am marinading another steak to fix them again tonite! Ole!

Off. The. Charts!!!

That marinade really is to die for. Used it on a skirt steak cooked on a grill over charcoal.  Bravissimo!!! Couldn’t have been better!!! Think I just ruined myself for restaurant fajitas. 

Oh well, same thing happened with ribs anyway ;<)

You are absolutely right, these are the best fajitas I ever had! I had a lot of marinade left so I simmered it a bit and folded it into the cut steak. Just delicious  

It is so yummy. I grilled the flank steak. I did not put poblano because of my small grandchildren.  I highly recommend this recipe. Thank you.

Absolutely delicious! New favourite recipe! We served it with cubed avo, flour wraps, black beans mashed with salt and lime juice, grated cheese, crème fraiche and lime. Will definitely make again.

Can I marinate this overnight? I saw a comment that said no more than 12-14 hours but I was hoping that 24 hrs would be ok. ???? This recipe sounds amazing!

Best fajita recipe ever!

Thank you for listing the ingredients this way;

It makes sense to use the same measuring spoon for all ingredients that use the same amount.  

Oh my GOODNESS!!! I have tried so many fajita recipes but this one is the show stopper!! It truly is the best!

Excellent marinade. I purchased “stir fry/fajita” cut beef from the meat section at my grocery and I marinaded it overnight. My teenage boys gobbled it up and we’re disappointed I didn’t make more. Will be adding this to our meal rotations for sure. 

Scrumptious! Will definitely be making this again. Had sirloin on hand, so used that, but will use skirt or flank steak next time. Had this recipe saved to try for ages & I’m so happy with the way it turned out. Thank you, Marzia for this fabulous recipe!

We loved these fajitas!  My husband is a super foodie and had his marinade that he always raved about!  Well, he was out of town and I made them on the day he was coming home and he LOVED them!  I cooked them on the grill, but not ALL the way as I knew they were going to warm in their juices in the oven for a while until he got home. I marinaded the meat in straight pineapple first for a bout 2 hours (to make sure it was tender) and then switched the meat to the marinade.  I used sirloin strips as they had no skirt steak out here in the country where I now live!

The best steak fajitas. This is my new go to recipe. Thank you for sharing this recipe

Looks great. I’m making this for tomorrow !

This was really great! Will make again for a group.

Outstanding recipe for fajitas. I marinated skirt steak, then grilled over charcoal. Let rest for 5-10 minutes then slice against the grain into strips. Delicious!!

My favorite pinned recipe ever! Figured I should probably comment finally. I make it all the time and the family loves it. Usually do a strip steak. We skip the cilantro and still amazing. Also works great with chicken. Thank you.

This was great! Left out the red pepper flakes due to some sensitive palates in our house. Still tons of flavor. I put a little bit of the marinade aside and marinated the peppers and onions a bit before cooking them.

Delicious tasty goodness! Even the non steak eaters in the house love it. Awesome recipe, thanks for putting it up online.

Just made this marinade up. Steak resting in the refrigerator. Comments look promising! Can’t wait to make the fajitas later.

Made this tonight!  SPOT ON!  The only thing different is I grilled the steaks….they marinated for almost 24 hrs.  I will definitely make it again.  I am my own worst critic, and I was, along with my wife, greatly impressed!!!  Thanks so much for the recipe!

Hi – just a little confused with the oil portions. 3 tablespoons of olive oil for the marinade and then is it 1 tablespoon of high heat oil (canola?) butter I cook the steak and then another 1 for the veggies?

The fajitas ingredient section only references 1 tablespoon but the instructions in step 3 read to use the remaining tablespoon of oil….nowhere above that does it reference the first tablespoon of oil. 

I don’t normally leave ratings, but this was very good! I even used tenderized steak, and didn’t have cilantro on hand, and it still turned out well.

Five stars for this gem Followed recipe exactly except for the meat and I used a tomahawk I had. The marinade is the Best and it tasted great. Thank-You!

Indeed, The Best! Now one of our favorite meals.

Delicious. Thru together marinade real quick, i did not have the pineapple juice but followed otherwise. I marinated chicken and beef. Kids, husband and 80 yr old mom loved!!

Excellent marinade! Made a minor change and added a combo of chipotle, chili, and Ancho chili powders. Added Meat Church fajita seasoning to the veggies and cooked on my flat top. My personal best to date. Thanks for the awesome recipe!

Made the marinade exactly as posted. I found a small can of crushed pineapple for $1.35 will give you more than 1/4 cup of juice. I used a meat tenderizer hammer on the flank, just a little. It came out very good, and tender, guess that pineapple juice really works.

In all honesty I really didn’t care for this. I just didn’t like the way the marinade tasted. I feel like traditional Mexican fajitas are better.  For all the work and expense  I put into it, it was disappointing.

This is absolutely a fantastic marinade for fajitas!!! We all decided this recipe is definitely a keeper — THANK YOU!

The flavor is DELICIOUS!!! I marinated the skirt steak overnight, as directed, then grilled, and cut on the cross-grain.  The meat is delicious, but tough.  I was thinking of using meat tenderizer, in addition to the marinade.  Any suggestions?

I see on another post, that they tenderized the steak physically.  Next time I will do that, then marinate over night.  Any other suggestions are welcome. 

So I just said everything that was listed but the only thing that I wasn’t able to find was sugarless pineapple juice is that gonna be a problem I hope not because I already marinated it with it and all the rest of the  things u listed 

Oh and I added a lil more pineapple juice than u listed is that gonna ruin it? Lol 

Great recipe as is!First fajitas that I’ve made better than a restaurant.

Amazing flavor.  I seasoned the vegetables with the same seasonings minus pineapple and lime juice. Put them in a pot on the stove with a lid stirring occasionally until soft. My whole house smells like a Mexican restaurant. So good!

Great taste. The whole family loved it

Finally got around to making these, now sorry, after having a great meal that I hesitated! Great, easy recipe! Thank you!

Amazing!! Made this tonight. Followed the recipe exactly. Marinated some sirloin steak overnight. Wonderful marinade, great taste, which turned into great fajitas! Already deleted my other couple fajita bookmarks cause I know I’ll stick with this one. Can’t wait to try it on chicken/shrimp/whatever.

Just made these for lunch–absolutely loved them! Will use this recipe from now on.

Excellent marinade! First time, I made it with a flank steak and it was delicious! Second time, I marinaded some deer meat and cooked it in a slow cooker. It’s so flavorful and tender. I’ll definitely keep this recipe. Thank you so much! 

We served these for a Saturday night dinner & they were a huge hit!!! Best steak fajitas we’ve ever had, anywhere!  Followed recipe to the letter. Served w/ tortillas & simple guacamole. W/ a WF 365 frontera or habanero salsa. Delish. Making again tonight!  Hint: buy pineapple juice from Trader Joe’s. Not from concentrate & very affordable. 

Made this last night and it was really yummy. I made as written and the steak (flank) was so tender ( I’m NOT good at cooking steaks on a cast iron, so it’s not due to me lol) and the marinade flavoring was phenomenal and really soaked throughout the entire meat.

I made these last night for the family, and wow! Excellent! I think the pineapple juice was the key factor. One thing I changed up was roasting the veggies on the stove fire and then quickly frying them together.

Where is your tortilla recipe?

Right here 🙂

Would it be ok to put the marinade in a blender to blend up the cilantro better? Even mix Acid and oil together better? 

Thank you for such a delicious recipe! For me it really was the best flavour profile I have had for beef fajitas and fulfilled the promise of the meat fully embraced by the seasonings! The marinade definitely penetrated the beef and it was such a treat.

Now with full transparency, I will be making this recipe again very soon. “Yes”, because it is that delicious, but more because the beef was so tasty, it kept being ‘picked’ at and was devoured before I had the vegetables and condiments ready! I think that says it all! LOL!

I will for sure be taking a good look through your site now for other tempting dishes to make! (I have just recently ‘discovered’ your site!)

With Warmest Wishes from the Canadian Prairies; a perfect time to try this on the outside grill!

Fantastic recipe! I did find that the lime was a bit prominent (used flank steak for the first attempt), but overall very delicious and juicy. I followed the recipe exactly. For my second attempt I am switching the measure of lime and pineapple juice to see how that turns out (I’m marinating flank this time). These are by far the very best homemade fajitas I have ever tasted and want to thank you for sharing the recipe!

It would be great if you tell or put part of the recipe with the instructions on how to cut the meat or what size to cut it

We like steak and shrimp fajitas. How do you think this marinade would work with the shrimp?

Do you think I can use this recipe with shrimp or chicken? 

Best fajitas I have ever had!!! The marinade is the best!!

Outstanding! I made a triple batch, and did it on the grill. Don’t be surprised if it looks like a dry rub prior to adding the wet. I used fresh garlic and fresh lime juice. The marinade is so sweet, it does make grilling tricky.

OMG, your marinade is amazing!!! Fajitas came perfect. Will try the poblano pepper next time. Definitely a keeper!

Used a bottom round roast, followed instructions and it was great! Wonderful flavor and cutting it at an angle did the trick. Will make again .

I sliced the meat before I marinated it and that was a big mistake. The marinade made the meat so tender that it literally turned to mush! Don’t do what I did lol. The flavour was amazing even with the strange texture. Next time I won’t slice the meat before marinating or if I do will marinate for a very short time.

Delicious tasty goodness! Best fajitas I have ever had!!!

Truly the best fajita marinade ever! The flavor is outstanding!

Can you provider the nutritional info please?

Omg, this recipe was absolutely amazing!  I’ve never made my own marinade for fajitas till now.  I will never use anything else.  My whole family absolutely loved it. Thanks for a great recipe. I can’t wait to see what other recipes I’m going to try.  

When I am making something new I always just Google, “World’s Best…” and try what I find. Someday that will bite me on the butt, but not today. These truly are the “World’s Best Beef Fajitas.” The only change I made was to sub out the Worstchestershire Sauce (I am highly allergic to it) and sub in balsamic vinegar. Other than that, it was perfect. My picky grandson said, “That’s the best steak I have ever tasted.” 

Excellent balance of flavors–thank you! While flank or skirt steak is the norm for fajitas, we’ve always used better cuts (NY strip, rib-eye). I skipped the pineapple juice for that reason (no need for further tenderizing), but used everything else. We also always grill the steak to desired temp (med rare, etc.) and serve separately from the veggies. Did all that using your marinade–NY strip, no pineapple juice, grilled separately–and it was excellent. I also add at least 1 tablespoon of minced garlic to sauté pan before cooking over our grill side burner–outdoors adds flavor to the veggies as well. Thanks for a terrific marinade that upgraded my own recipe nicely!

Hi … great recipe.  Very tasty.  I want to leave one comment though about the pineapple. We need to use fresh pineapple for the tenderizing effect. Packaged pineapple juice has been pasteurized/cooked, and that destroys the bromelaine enzyme that is responsible for tenderizing the meat. Still it is excellent flavor…  Good recipe.  

1st time making fajitas like this, I was amazed how tender the meat was. I wanted to go with beef tenderloin but opted on trying this and wow!! Made on a black stone griddle. Thank you for the great recipe.

Can this marinade be used on shrimp?

These were fantastic!

The best fajitas I ever tasted. I wanted lots of color so we doubled the recipe and used all the colors of peppers. I used only one pablano pepper because my daughter doesn’t like anything spicier than a banana pepper but that one added just the right amount of flavor. I also cooksed the onions by themselves for about 5 minutes before adding the peppers because I don’t like crunchy onions. Worked out perfectly for us. Thanks for this great recipe, it’s now saved as a favorite on my phone.

I don’t believe I’ve ever made Fajitas before and I found your recipe. I couldn’t find flank steak or skirt steak so I bought a Chuck roast.  I marinated a Chuck roast from Tuesday until Thursday and finished making everything today.  It was just delicious and I liked the poblano pepper and the fresh cilantro.  I made the recipe exactly and it will be my go to recipe.  Just the right spice to it.  

Can I use lemon juice instead of lime juice?

Not like any fajitas we have ever had. Not a do over for us

cAn you substitute anything else for the pineapple juice? Even with no sugar added I’m on a strict no sugar diet. I’m assuming the answer is no since pineapple juice is sweet and you need that little sweetness in the recipe…

I used this as a base recipe when out of nowhere my husband requested fajitas (his favorite and only thing he requests).  OUT OF THE PARK!  I added pineapple to the sautéed onions and pepper.  Cooked leftover marinade down and added chimichurri and drizzled on veggies.  My go to from now on!    

Absolutely delicious! It’s the pineapple juice. Yum. 

We have a pineapple allergy. What could I use in place of the pineapple juice?

I have enjoyed your meal, however, I can’t print them out & the PDF won’t download. I have given up trying to cook from my IPhone so unfortunately I will not be using this site any longer.

I just did this recipe.. best fajitas ever.. I just added tomato and jalapeños..thank you for the recipe 

THIS WAS AMAZING!!! These were the best fajitas I’ve ever had, including from restaurants. My 17 year old son doesn’t really like fajitas and he thought these were delicious! He just kept eating the steak and saying he couldn’t believe how tender it was. I made a couple of changes to the recipe (but only bc I didn’t have the correct ingrediants): substituted soy sauce in place of worchestashire sauce, used lime concentrate instead of fresh lime, added a little brown sugar, used tenderloin for the beef, and added chicken. I made a quadruple batch so I could freeze some for later.

Absolutely perfect! Followed recipe 100% and it was delicious I served it with  tortillas, brown rice, guacamole (homemade) p, salsa , sour cream, tortilla chips and black/refried beans. 

I’m using leftover prime rib. Do you suggest marinating the meat?

So good thanks for recipe

Awesome Marinade!!! Didn’t have pineapple juice and substituted with lemon juice, kept in fridge overnight and did not have great expectations. Boy was I wrong…the flank steak was still soooo tender and tasty!!

The only thing different that I did was something I saw in a YouTube video. He has some great tips.

When taking the steak out of the fridge I quickly rinsed the meat of most of the marinade and patted it dry, seasoned both sides with steak seasoning and cooked on propane grill with a grill griddle. Once the meat was done, removed and rested it, then cooked the onions and peppers in same griddle. Delicious!!!!

This is the best marinade I’ve ever made for fajitas. My husband and I love this recipe.

How many people does this recipe serve?

Thanks, [email protected]

Great recipe! The whole family enjoyed and had seconds! Wondering what the nutrition info is. Thx

We made this beef fajita recipe and absolutely loved it! Thanks for sharing!!!

This is Fantastic! I’ve never made beef fajitas without the package seasoning before. The recipe for marinade was perfect, easy to follow, and taste authentic! I also used all the colors of bell pepper, marinating them after removing the beef. So delicious!can’t wait to try it with chicken and shrimp!

Unfortunately, the marinade resulted in a lack of savoriness that my guests were expecting. Individuals were not happy with the sweetness associated with the other seasonings. Sorry to say I will no longer be incorporating pineapple juice into my recipes.

I was let down by the results. Skirt steak was just tough to chew. We usually grill our fajitas with great results. Flavor was nice though.

Made this for dinner tonight. It was a hit! I will definitely be making it again! 

Our family loves this recipe for steak fajitas. We no longer go to the Mexican meat market for our fajita meat as we’ve found a recipe we LOVE!

Great recipe!! My family loved it.

This was amazing. Will forever keep this recipe

I honestly love this recipe. I’ve been making it for years, including tonight, and I am not normally one to comment, but wanted to tell you how much I enjoy this one. Your recipes, and Pinterest, taught me how to cook and I know I can always find something that is easy to make and tastes great on your blog.

Sorry. This was a disappointment. Too many conflicting flavors. Could not detect the pineapple juice   Love poblanos, but felt it overpowering 

I believe the pineapple juice is a tenderizing agent, not a flavoring.

This looks fabulous!  Could I slice my flank steak first than marinate or do you recommend marinating the whole steak? Thank you!

Wonderful taste.

***** Excellent flavor for the fajitas and vegetables. I make it again and again. Although I cut my meat in strips before marinating

Excellent !

Excellent recipe! Ended up grilling the steak to medium rare. Served them with guacamole, sour cream & salsa. Everything tasted so good, thanks for the recipe!

Really love this recipe, thank you! We’ve made it for the 2nd time tonight and it will be one a regular staple I’m sure. The steak is just different class using your recipe! I couldn’t resist adding a few table spoons of the marinade to the stir fry veggies and that worked a treat. 

Can I use a London Broil instead of the flank steak?

You have just made my LIFE – this recipe is perfection!!  Will be using it from now on. Thank you! 

Excellent recipe! The marinade is delicious. It has a little extra that sets it apart from other recipes: the smoked paprika and Worcestershire in particular. (I substituted OJ for pineapple juice and used pre sliced sirloin strips.) A hit with the family and easy to scale up for a crowd. 

This was really delicious with skirt steak. I don’t eat nightshade and ended up doing veggies as portobello mushroom, yellow corn, zucchini, yellow onion, and carrot. F*****g delicious. Down with peppers !!! 

I accidentally cut my flank steak with the grain for another recipe and was looking for something to make with it to tenderize! I cut my strips of meat into bite sized chunks , marinated in your marinade and cooked in my Dutch oven very quickly! It was delish! Thanks for the recipe!

These really are the very best! Was looking for a ‘limey’ marinade after having some incredible tacos in Pittsburgh. The lime comes through nicely. But the meat, oh, my, gosh, so tender and flavorful! I used skirt steak and I just used the juice from a can of pineapple slices (and saved those for another use.)

You weren’t lying. These tasted like I ordered them from my favorite Tex Mex restaurant! Don’t skip the cast iron. Marinated over night. I deglazed the pan with a 1/4 cup of wine after removing the steak. Once cooked off, I added the oil took cook the onions and peppers. Thank you!

We had this the other night. Marinated for about 6 hours and then grilled the steak over charcoal. I cannot quit thinking about it – it was THAT GOOD!!! Thank you for this recipe. Will use it over and over!

I thought the recipe was very good, but I am not sure it’s the BEST. I did cut back on the heat since my family doesn’t like very spicy foods. I tried cooking the steak on the grill and it was a little rare when I brough it in, so I cooked it with the vegetables to cook a bit more and mix flavors, but it got overdone. I think next time I will just cook the steak on the grill and stir into the vegetables without cooking them. I think I might also slice the steak before marinating to get the marinade into all the meat.

Is it ok to put the meat straight into a pan with all the marinade dripping off it? Difficult to get that good crust with wet meat. Thanks so much in advance!

I’m a lot late to the party ☺️ but wondering if you think leftover roast can  be marinated to use in these fajitas.  Sounds delish 

Made this last night for dinner. “Eyeball“ measured a few of the ingredients. My son said these were the best fajitas he’s ever had! For anybody questioning the pineapple juice, don’t! While it doesn’t add a specific flavor to the end dish, it does add to the level of flavor of the finished product. My new fajita recipe!

My husband loved these fajitas! For once a perfect amount of flavour and heat in the marinade – we used steaks already cut into strips.

Made for the family turned out amazing, used chicken and steak but the chicken was the favorite! Thank you!!

Not sure why but the meat turned out too chewy. I cut it across the grain so I know it’s not that. Maybe marinating it longer than 2 hours will do the trick. Any suggestions on how long to marinate is enough?

Love, love, love this! Best fajita marinade ever! 

We made this tonight with flank steak and it was excellent! So tender, so flavorful and came together so quickly once the meat was marinaded. This will be THE recipe for fajitas this summer! Thank you for sharing!

I have sliced beef tenderloin (uncooked) that is leftover from making pho last night.  I’m guessing it does not need to marinate.  Should I just add all the seasonings and let them meld into the meat then cook it all with the veggies? Any advice on what to do with all this beautiful meat would be appreciated.  

Amazing! Better than any restaurant!  For me cilantro = soap so used fresh parsley instead. I don’t care for Worcestershire so left it out. 

I second guessed myself paying $15/lb for skirt steak but OMG so worth it, this is one of the best meals I’ve ever made/eaten. Perfect with garlic lime rice. Thank you for these recipes!

I followed the directions exactly and the steak was so sweet after marinating for only a hour and 30 min. Disappointed in that. 

I made this tonight. Turned out perfect!!

Tried this steak fajita recipe, it’s the best!!! We love this so much, thank you.

This recipe is the bomb. Huge hit with the family. Thank you so much for sharing!

Delicious. Added to our “taco – Tuesday” rotation!

I followed the recipe verbatim and these were the best fajitas I have ever had. This marinade is amazing. The only thing I did differently was grilled the meat on my gas grill and basted the meat twice. The flavor was out of this world good. After I sliced up the skirt steak I drizzled a little bit of the leftover marinade over the meat in the tortillas. It was pure heaven. Thank you for this recipe.

I made these tonight. Left overnight in fridge. Was skeptical. The secret ingredient made this a grand slam.  Just didn’t see that coming. Thanks will recommend!  

We absolutely loved this recipe! I used both flank stank and chicken, and marinated the veggies with the meat.  We cooked it on our flattop griddle and it was one of the best meals I have had in a while!

Could I substitute shrimp for the steak?  If so, will that change the time in the marinade?  Thanks!

I’m camping & I have orange juice Vs pineapple.  U think that will help tenderize the meat?  Excited to make these tonite!

Recipe sounds amazing. Curious if it would be possible to cook the meat in a pellet smoker. Do you think that would work or has anyone tried?

These Fajitas are Delicious! We made them just like the recipe but cooked the steak on a hot grill fast! We even ventured outside of our normal red & green bell peppers & bought our 1sr poblano pepper. We could taste the difference . Thank you for a great easy recipe. 

Although I “eyed” the ingredients, I used all of the ingredients listed..these were delicious!

Free email bonus 5 Secrets to Skillet Success!

Tips, techniques & recipes to master skillet cooking like a pro.

• ^ Back to Top

TO EASY + LAZY

WEEKNIGHT DINNERS!

No fuss, easy clean-up, fast & delicious meals! 

FREE EMAIL SERIES

• Search the site Please fill out this field.
• Saved Recipes & Collections
• Add a Recipe
• Manage Your Subscription
• Give a Gift Subscription
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes
• Latin American
• Main Dishes
• Fajita Recipes

12 Best Side Dishes for Fajitas

Fresh, flavorful sides to pair with fiery fajitas.

Melanie Fincher is a Birmingham, Alabama–based food writer who covers everything from cooking techniques to gadget reviews. She has nearly 7 years experience writing news and lifestyle content.

Fajitas tend to steal the show. You can hear them coming a mile away with their sizzling melody, signaling to your hungry guests that dinner is ready. So how could any side dish possibly live up to these attention-grabbing platters of caramelized veggies and searing meat? We've rounded up 12 of the best side dishes for fajitas that will easily hold their own, even when paired with sizzling fajitas.

1. Avocado Salad

"This recipe is a keeper! It is halfway between a salad and a fresh salsa and is a delicious side dish for grilled meat. This is the type of recipe where you can make endless variations and it will still taste great," says reviewer BUCKYS. Tip: For best results, use large, ripe avocados in this recipe. Pair it with some Spicy Beef Fajitas .

2. Quick and Easy Refried Beans

"When you don't have all day to make refried beans but you can't stand the canned ones, these are easy and delicious," says recipe creator MarasFlourpower. These refried beans are ready in 20 minutes! When paired with these Quick and Easy Shrimp Fajitas , you have the perfect weeknight dinner.

3. Easy Spicy Roasted Potatoes

Chili powder, cheese, and garlic powder give these roasted red potatoes a burst of spicy flavor. Try adding taco seasoning, sour cream, or avocado for a unique Mexican twist on this classic potato side dish. Give it a try with some Chicken and Bacon Fajitas !

4. Jeff's Chili Con Queso

"This is a great queso. I made this for the Super Bowl and we really enjoyed it. The next day I used the remaining sauce to make chicken enchiladas and they were awesome," says reviewer ACE2774. While your guests are waiting on those fajitas, serve up some of the chili con queso with tortilla chips as an appetizer or just on the side! Pair it with these Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas for a serious crowd-pleaser of a meal.

5. Cilantro Tomato Corn Salad

This summery salad is a nice light side to pair with heavy fajitas. "This is a fantastic recipe for using up leftover grilled corn. I also love it because it uses ingredients I always have on hand. Quick, easy and inexpensive, not to mention really tasty," says reviewer Caroline C. Prepare it along with Sheet Pan Shrimp Fajitas to make Mexican night a breeze.

6. Fresco Salsa

Recipe creator ROXYDABINSKI says, "No cooking, no cans. All fresh ingredients and flavor no one will be able to walk away from! Sweet onion and fresh lime juice make all the difference in this recipe. My husband and I will eat this at one sitting!" This bright and colorful salsa recipe is the perfect side or appetizer for any fajita dish (like these Chicken Fajita Melts ).

7. Instant Pot® Chicken Posole Verde

"You can have posole without having to stand over the stove for hours. Let your multi-functional pressure cooker do the work for you. Garnish with avocado slices, lime wedges, sliced radish, jalapeno slices, and/or tortilla strips," says recipe creator Soup Loving Nicole. Pair this dish with lighter fajitas like these Colorful Vegetable Fajitas .

8. Spanish Rice II

"Best Spanish rice ever! Always a staple when I make Mexican," says Christina Angulo. You really can't go wrong with Spanish rice as a side dish for fajitas. Onions, green bell pepper, tomatoes, green chiles, and chili powder make this rice just the right amount of spicy. Try serving it with Swanny's Killer Fajitas .

9. Avocado and Black Bean Dip

"Awesome & versatile! I made this last night & served it with homemade chicken tacos. They were devoured! I had extra leftover, so I had it with my breakfast tacos this morning," says reviewer Chef_VaVaVoom_Pink. Whether you're serving this up as a side or an appetizer for your fajitas (like these Pollo Fajitas ), this is a great high fiber dish that no one can resist!

10. Sweet Corn Tomalito

Recipe creator THEKIRKLANDS says, "Steamed corn pudding made on the stovetop. This is a traditional Tex-Mex side dish that is a great side to any meal. Well worth the wait." For a delicious meat-free meal try it with these Vegan Fajitas !

11. Traditional Mexican Guacamole

Guacamole is always the first to go on Mexican night, and this authentic recipe is no exception. The jalapeño can be left out for a more mild version that will balance out zesty dishes like these Spicy Chicken Fajitas .

12. Mayan Couscous

This recipe brings to together the flavors of Mexico and the Middle East for a unique side dish that is great to serve with fajitas. "Many visitors to Merida and Yucatan are surprised to discover excellent Middle Eastern restaurants and such things as kibis offered by local vendors. The cooks of the area happily adopted some of the recipes and ingredients of the Lebanese immigrants who arrived more than a century ago," says recipe creator YucatanToday. This light side dish is great to serve with Beef Fajitas .

You’ll Also Love