Healthy Chicken Fajitas Recipe

A delicious, nutritious, healthy dish that you can customize however you like! This healthy chicken fajitas recipe is one my husband Dan makes for us from time to time, and it is a recipe we eat regularly because it is so good, and good for you.  The main advantage comes in the choice of toppings you can have to round out your nutrition for the day.   The prepared fajita mix also freezes well, so you can make that in bulk and reheat it later for some easy Tex-Mex dinner.    It also makes for a fantastic party dish!

 

For a single recipe of healthy chicken fajitas you will need:

  • A large cast iron skillet (or you may want a large pot if you’re making a double recipe)
  • 2 Cutting boards
  • Knives
  • Cheese grater (optional)

Ingredients:

  • Tortillas (Whole Wheat Flour or Corn)
  • 1 – 1.5 Pounds of Chicken (refrigerator temperature)
  • Spice Mix
    • 1 tsp Whole Wheat Flour (Gluten Free – substitute 1 Tbsp cornstarch)
    • 2 tsp Chili Powder
    • 1 tsp Paprika
    • 1 tsp Salt
    • 1 tsp Sugar
    • 1/2 tsp Onion Powder OR dried minced onion
    • 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
    • 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
    • 1/4 tsp Cumin
  • 3 Bell Peppers (seeded and sliced  lengthwise)
  • 1 Medium Onion (sliced into long strips) [optional]

Toppings, presented in separate dishes  – Get creative with your nutrition! The following are our favorite choices.

  • Garlic Black Beans
    • Take a can or two of black beans (drained), and heat them to a simmer in a saucepan.
    • Add 2-3 dashes of garlic powder per can to taste as you heat it up.
    • Serve.
  • A mild cheese such as Monterary Jack Cheese
  • Fresh Tomatoes, cubed
  • Fresh Jalapeño Peppers, minced
  • Mashed Avocado (with an optional splash of lime or lemon juice)

Instructions:

First thing, I want to mention, when my husband was making the recipe for this blog he was making a double recipe so he was using a pot.    That said,  we both recommend the use of a large cast-iron skillet if you can, as cooking the mix with the lid off allows a lot more of the liquid to boil off and it becomes far less soupy.   It’s still delicious and good for you either way, though!

Begin by preparing your spice mix. Measure and combine all the spices into a single dish.

Cut your chicken into long, thin strips, about half an inch thick. Place cut chicken into a plastic freezer zip-loc bag.

Add your combined spices to the chicken, then close the bag.  Mix the spices in with the chicken until homogenous.

Refrigerate to allow to marinate for up to 8 hours. The longer you’re able to let it marinate, the better! Wash your knives and counter top in the meantime to prepare for cutting vegetables.

When ready to proceed, cut up your fajita mix vegetables.  The classic presentation of fajita mix has you slicing your peppers and onions lengthwise. Note that the original recipe calls for onion in the mix, and most people enjoy onions in their fajitas.  However, I’m not a fan of onions at all so my husband leaves them out.

Transfer your sliced fajita vegetables and marinated chicken to your cast-iron skillet (or cooking pot). Heat the fajita mix on medium-low heat until cooked through, about 30 minutes. Again, we’ve found that when cooked in a skillet it allows more liquid to boil off, and makes for a nice, thick fajita mix. Use a cast-iron skillet if you can fit your whole mixture in there.

While your fajita mix is cooking, prepare your toppings!  Cube your tomatoes and dice your peppers, mash your avocados and grate your cheese. You can also incorporate some drained canned black beans by adding some garlic powder and heating it up a bit.

Finally, when ready to serve your healthy chicken fajitas, take your tortillas out of the package and microwave them for 30 seconds or so, to give them a bit of warmth and make them much more pliable.  For extra credit, if you want to get really fancy and for added health benefits, consider making your tortilla shells from scratch!  More to come on that at a later time, so keep an eye out for that.?

Looking for more recipes to warm you up and still help keep the extra pounds at bay? Schedule a free consultation. Or call 651-895-0774.

 

 

This blog was contributed by our Pilates guru, Kaethe Birkner. Kaethe is a certified Pilates instructor through Balanced Body and dances ballet professionally at Continental Ballet Company. She has been teaching Pilates since 2012 and has been taking Pilates since 2004.