It’s our Mom’s birthday today. Happy Birthday Mom!
One of Mom’s standard contributions to the North Dakota hunting menu is fajitas. She has really figured out how to make good fajitas. But since today’s her birthday, and my dad is the grill master of their house, I wanted to give her a meal that she likes but that my dad could cook for her. So here you go with grilled fajitas.
The best part of grilled fajitas is the vegetables. They get this awesome caramelization, a little bit of blackened char, and an amazing flavor. The chicken is just rubbed with my fajita seasoning and cooked. So we have that great fajita flavor coming out in both the chicken and the veggies. Plus it’s late April in Minnesota and we’re dying to be grilling every day – while at the same time we couldn’t be surprised if it snowed tomorrow. So I’m going optimistic and planning a grilled meal for mom.
Here’s what you need:
If you don’t have a chance to make my homemade fajita seasoning, then feel free to buy some.
Start by slicing the onion and bell peppers into strips. Then toss them with a little bit of canola oil (I don’t use olive oil because of the high heat on the grill) and enough fajita seasoning to coat the veggies.
Pound some boneless, skinless chicken breasts to an even thickness and rub some fajita seasoning into both sides.
Now you’re going to put both the veggies and the chicken onto a hot grill. Make sure to preheat your grill basket for the veggies so they really sizzle when you put the veggies in.
Add the chicken to the grill and the veggies to the grill basket.
The chicken is going to cook for about 8-10 minutes, plus or minus a little depending on how hot your grill is. Flip the chicken half way through. And stir the veggies periodically.
Once the chicken is done take it off the grill and let it rest for 3-4 minutes before slicing – cover with foil while it rests.
Continue cooking the veggies until they have a little char and have softened but still have a little crisp to them. Depending on your grill temp this may get done at the same time as the chicken or need a few more minutes. Do this by feel and personal preference.
Serve the chicken and fajita veggies on warm tortillas with cheese, sour cream, lettuce, and tomato.
Leftovers of this can be used for [obviously] more fajitas, fajita pizza, I have a friend who uses them for tortilla soup, or I have even put them on top of egg noodles as a Mexican stroganoff.
- Red onion, sliced into strips
- 2 bell peppers, sliced into strips
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to an even thickness
- 2-3 T fajita seasoning
- Canola oil
- Small flour tortillas
- Shredded Mexican cheese blend
- Sour cream
- Tomato, chopped
- Lettuce, sliced into shreds
- Preheat a gas or charcoal grill over high to medium-high heat. Preheat a grill basket on the grill for at least 5 minutes before adding the veggies.
- Toss the peppers and onions with 1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons of fajita seasoning and a drizzle of oil.
- Rub another 1 to 1-1/2 tablespoon of fajita seasoning into the chicken breasts so they are evenly coated.
- Put the chicken on the grill and the veggies in the grill basket. Cook the chicken for 8-10 minutes, flipping once. Remove from grill and rest for 3-4 minutes before slicing. Stir the veggies periodically and cook until they begin to soften (or to your preference) and develop a bit of a char.
- Serve the veggies and sliced chicken with warm flour tortillas, cheese, sour cream, lettuce and tomato.
[…] it’s finally warming up in Minnesota, I’ll be posting my recipe for grilled fajitas in a couple days – keep your eyes out for […]