Recipe Background
Oven-Baked Chicken Fajitas bring festivity to easy weekday meals using fresh veggies and yogurt for juiciness.
When I moved into my first post-college apartment, the promise of independence came with a stark realization: dinners would no longer miraculously appear from Mom’s kitchen. Determined to impress my roommates and establish our humble abode as the go-to spot for hangouts, I rummaged through the pantry for inspiration. A small can of diced Roma tomatoes and a packet of fajita seasoning caught my eye. 'Why not fajitas?' I announced, pretending I had planned this all along. Ever since, I've been a fan of starting with a basic pack of seasoning and jazzing it up with fresh veggies and yogurt, a trick I learned to keep the chicken juicy and tender.
That first night, I learned the art of chopping onions without tears, slicing the bell peppers with a flair I hoped looked practiced. My roommates, unaware it was my first real culinary venture, marveled as the scent of cilantro mingled with the simmering mix. Baking it all together was a cheat code to eliminate the stovetop juggling act. I found that once everything hit the oven, I could dish on my college stories instead of being glued to the burners. The evening turned into a success, drawing a crowd larger than our small kitchen could hold, as we piled chicken fajitas into warm tortillas and experimented with queso fresco and lime wedges.
That simple meal marked the beginning of many more shared experiences. Now, whenever I whip up a batch, I'm reminded of those early days of adulthood, filled with nervous excitement and delicious outcomes.
Ingredients
For the fajitas:
- 3/4 cup Roma tomatoes diced
- 1/2 yellow onion sliced
- 2 bell peppers color of your choice, sliced
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 (1-ounce) packet fajita seasoning
- 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro minced
- 2 chicken breasts boneless and skinless, cut into strips
- 8 medium flour tortillas warmed
Optional toppings:
- queso fresco to taste
- cilantro to taste, coarsely chopped
- lime wedges to taste
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Coat an 18x26-inch baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, add the tomatoes, the onions, and the bell peppers and toss to combine.
- Pour the vegetable mixture onto the prepared baking sheet.
- In a second large bowl, add the Greek yogurt, the fajita seasoning, and 1 tablespoon of the cilantro and stir to combine.
- Add the chicken strips to the yogurt mixture and stir to fully coat.
- Top the vegetable mixture with the coated chicken strips.
- Bake the chicken fajitas, until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F and the vegetables are fork-tender, about 20-25 minutes.
- Fill the warmed tortillas with the chicken fajitas.
- Serve the chicken fajitas topped with the queso fresco, the remaining cilantro, and the lime wedges.
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