Fajita Salad Recipe
With juicy, marinated chicken and fresh lime flavor, this Fajita Salad Recipe is the perfect weeknight dinner or meal prep recipe. It’s colorful and has a Tex-Mex taste to it but it comes together in minimal time with easy ingredients. Plus, it’s easy to vary for kids!
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- ⏲️Ready In: 35 Minutes Cook time
- 👪Serves: 3
- 🍽 Calories: 424 kcals
- 📋Main Ingredients: Seasonings, bell peppers, boneless, skinless chicken breasts, lime juice.
- 📖 Dietary Notes: Dairy-free and gluten-free depending on the seasoning.
- ⭐ Why You’ll Love It: It’s fresh, filling, packed with bold Tex-Mex flavor, and easy enough for both quick dinners and meal prep lunches.
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The combination of juicy chicken, healthy fats from the avocado, and crisp vegetables is pretty much always a win to me flavor-wise, which is why I make this chicken fajita salad pretty often. Letting the chicken marinate before cooking gives it that bold fajita flavor that makes the salad taste like a full Tex-Mex dinner instead of just another basic lunch salad.
Another win is that you can enjoy it cold straight from the fridge for quick lunches or turn it into chicken fajita wraps, bowls, or taco-style dinners, depending on what you have on hand. I’ve even made it with air fryer steak tips in place of chicken, and it’s amazing.
Jump to:
- A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Why The Recipe Works💭
- Ingredients and Substitutions
- Flavors To Try
- How To Make the Fajita Salad Recipe
- Helpful Hints
- How To Serve
- Fajita Salad Recipe FAQs
- More Easy Dinner Recipes
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- Air Fryer Teriyaki Chicken Thighs [2 Ingredients]
- Taco Spaghetti Skillet Recipe
- Chicken Fajita Salad Recipe
Why The Recipe Works💭
Versatility: This recipe can be enjoyed as written or made into chicken fajita wraps or even bowls with different toppings.
Easy: Though the chicken cooks quickly, you can easily use leftover BBQ chicken breast in the air fryer or grab a rotisserie chicken on the way home.
Meal prep: The high-protein chicken salad recipe works just as well for a quick dinner as it does for make-ahead lunches for the week.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Chicken breasts: Boneless, skinless breasts work best, as you’ll be cutting them into strips so that they cook more quickly. You could also buy chicken tenderloins to save on cutting, like in this keto air fryer chicken tenders recipe.
- Mixed bell peppers: This is a classic for any fajita recipe but know that you can use any other vegetables too.
- Oil: I like to use avocado oil in place of olive oil as it has a higher heat point.
- Lime juice: Fresh is best here as it will bring out a better flavor.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Flavors To Try
Below are a few fun ways we’ve adjusted the salad to make “new” dinners.
- Spicy: For a spicy fajita salad, slice up some jalapenos to add to the bell peppers or sprinkle red pepper flakes into the mix.
- Protein: You can easily sub the chicken for steak or make a shrimp fajita salad, especially if you have leftover shrimp from this low carb shrimp fried cauliflower rice.
- Chicken fajita salad wraps: This is what I make for the kids, as they prefer wraps to actual salad. Roll everything up into a tortilla, add some extra cheese, and you’ve got dinner before sports practice.
How To Make the Fajita Salad Recipe
Step 1: Mix together the marinade ingredients and add the chicken strips. Toss them well and let them sit for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
Step 2: Cook the marinated chicken strips for 7–8 minutes, turning halfway through, then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
Step 3: In the same pan, sauté the bell peppers and red onion in olive oil for 5–6 minutes until slightly softened.
Step 4: Add the cooked chicken, sautéed vegetables, cherry tomatoes, lime juice, and fresh herbs to a large bowl, then toss well and chill before serving if desired.
Note
Don’t overcrowd your pan while cooking the chicken, it won’t cook evenly or get that bit of crunch.
Helpful Hints
Pro tip: Let It Cool
If making the chicken fajitas into a wrap, let the sauteed vegetables cool slightly so that they don’t soften the wrap too much.
- Avocado: Add the avocado just before serving to prevent it from browning.
- Marinating the chicken: Marinating the chicken longer gives the fajita seasoning more time to soak in and creates deeper flavor.
- Chicken texture: Cooking the chicken over medium-high heat helps create better browning and adds more fajita-style flavor.
- Storing and meal prepping: Store leftover chicken fajita salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. For the best texture, keep the avocado separate and add it just before serving to prevent browning and keep the salad fresh.
How To Serve
This easy fajita chicken salad recipe makes for simple dinners or meal-prepped lunches. There’s also a zillion ways to serve it. Below are a few favorites:
- Top the fajita salad with extra crunch from pumpkin seeds or crispy wontons. Or sprinkle on some cheese. You can stretch it further by throwing some lettuce or greens in there, too.
- Serve the salad alongside easy avocado cream soup for a bigger meal.
- Make it into wraps with low-carb tortillas and enjoy it chilled, or fry them in the air fryer for a crispy fajita quesadilla.
Fajita Salad Recipe FAQs
More Easy Dinner Recipes
If you tried this Healthy Chicken Fajita Salad Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes!
Chicken Fajita Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2/3 lb chicken breast cut into strips
- 1 avocado
- 1 cup mixed bell peppers cut into strips
- 1/2 red onion cut into strips
- 3 tbsp olive oil for marinade
- 1 tbsp olive oil for frying
- 1/3 tsp salt
- 1/3 tsp ground cumin
- 1/3 tsp ground coriander
- 1/3 tsp black pepper
- 1/3 tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 12 –15 cherry tomatoes halved or quartered
- chopped parsley or cilantro optional
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix 3 tbsp olive oil with salt, cumin, coriander, black pepper, and paprika. Add the chicken strips and toss to coat. Let marinate for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
- Cook the marinated chicken for 7–8 minutes, turning halfway through.
- Place cooked chicken on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
- In the same pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan. Sauté bell peppers and red onion for 5–6 minutes until slightly softened. Let cool for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine chicken, sautéed vegetables, and cherry tomatoes.
- Add diced avocado, lime juice, and chopped herbs.
- Mix well and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes if desired.
Notes
- Slice the chicken into even strips so it cooks quickly and evenly in the pan.
- Chilling the salad for 20–30 minutes before serving helps the flavors blend together even more but you can also enjoy this warm!
- Use ripe but firm avocados so they hold their shape better when tossed into the keto chicken fajita salad.
Nutrition
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
Such an easy recipe that you can either meal prep or enjoy fresh. Either way it’s lots of color and flavor.