Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
Spiced chicken strips, peppers and onions roasted on one tray and piled into warm tortillas.
Fajitas made in a pan mean cooking in batches to avoid crowding. A very hot oven and a single large tray get around that: everything roasts at once, the edges char the way they would on a griddle, and the only pan to wash is the one the tortillas warmed in. The lime goes on after roasting, never before.
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How to make Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
Ingredients
Quantities scale automatically. Cooking times stay the same.
Tray
Fajita spice
To serve
Equipment
- Large rimmed baking sheet
- Mixing bowl
- Dry skillet for the tortillas
Method
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1
Heat the oven as high as it goes
Heat the oven to 230C / 450F and put the empty baking sheet in while it comes up to temperature. Food landing on a hot tray starts browning immediately instead of sweating.
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2
Season everything together
Toss the chicken, peppers and onion in a bowl with the oil, garlic and all the spices until evenly coated. Doing it in the bowl rather than on the tray means no bare patches.
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3
Spread in one layer
Tip the lot onto the hot tray and spread it out so nothing overlaps. Use two trays if it looks tight; crowding is the only thing that will stop this from charring.
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4
Roast hard
Roast for 18 to 20 minutes without stirring for the first 12, until the chicken is cooked through to 74C / 165F and the pepper edges are blackened in places.
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5
Warm the tortillas
While the tray finishes, warm the tortillas for 20 seconds a side in a dry pan over medium-high heat and stack them in a clean tea towel to stay soft.
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6
Finish with lime
Squeeze the lime over the hot tray and scrape everything together with the juices. Scatter the coriander and serve straight from the tray with the tortillas and toppings.
Cook’s tips
- Preheat the tray. It is the single change that makes an oven fajita taste like a griddled one.
- Slice the chicken and vegetables to a similar thickness so they finish at the same time.
- Add the lime only after roasting. Acid in the marinade turns the surface of the chicken pale and stops it browning.
Variations
- Use steak strips, prawns or firm tofu. Prawns need only 8 minutes, so add them halfway through.
- Spoon the tray over rice with black beans for a burrito bowl instead of tortillas.
- Add sliced courgette or mushrooms to the tray, and a tin of drained black beans in the last 5 minutes.
Storage and make-ahead
Keeps 3 days in the fridge. Reheat in a hot dry pan for 3 minutes rather than the microwave, which makes the peppers limp. The cooked filling freezes for 2 months and is good in quesadillas straight from frozen.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 486 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 38 g |
| Carbohydrates | 42 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| Fibre | 7 g |
| Sugar | 8 g |
| Sodium | 620 mg |
Nutrition is estimated from ingredient averages and will vary with brands and portioning.
