Chicken fajitas are a crowd-pleasing Mexican dish, featuring tender strips of chicken breast or thighs seasoned with a zesty blend of spices and grilled. While you can use store-bought fajita seasoning packets, homemade has a fresher, more vibrant flavor.
Making your own chicken fajita seasoning at home is quick, easy, and allows you to control the quality of ingredients. You’ll come to love this flavorful blend, and may never go back to the store-bought versions again!
Why Make Homemade Chicken Fajita Seasoning?
There are several benefits to crafting a homemade blend over using pre-made packets
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Ingredients you can see and pronounce – With homemade, you know exactly what’s going into your food. No hidden preservatives anti-caking agents, MSG or other additives.
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Fresh, potent spices – The spices haven’t been sitting on the shelf losing their flavor. You can ensure you use newly purchased, robust seasonings.
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Cost savings – Purchasing spices in bulk is cheaper compared to pricier pre-mixed packets. A large batch of homemade can cost just a few dollars.
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Customizable – Tweak the blend to your preferred level of spiciness or flavor profile. Add more cumin or cayenne if you like heat.
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Works for all fajita recipes – Use it for chicken, steak, shrimp, portobello mushroom, and more.
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Multipurpose – Jazz up eggs, meats, veggies, rice, and more with this bold seasoning.
How to Make Chicken Fajita Seasoning
The process is simple. You’ll combine chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and a touch of cayenne.
Here’s an overview of how to mix up a flavorful batch:
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Add 2 tablespoons chili powder to a small bowl. Chili powder provides a base flavor, mild heat, and reddish color.
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Include 1 tablespoon ground cumin, which has an earthy, slightly citrusy warmth.
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1 tablespoon paprika delivers a sweet, subtle heat and intensifies the color. Smoked paprika is amazing if you have it.
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1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder and 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder provide an aromatic backbone.
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3/4 teaspoon dried oregano gives it a fresh, herbaceous note.
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3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper brings additional heat. Reduce or omit if you don’t want too much spice.
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Whisk ingredients together until thoroughly combined.
That’s it – you have homemade chicken fajita seasoning ready to go! Store it in an airtight container in a cool, dark place and it will stay fresh for around 6 months.
Tips for the Best Homemade Chicken Fajita Seasoning
Follow these tips for optimal flavor:
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Use high-quality spices within a couple months of purchasing. Older spices lose potency.
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Consider toasting the whole cumin seeds briefly to intensify their flavor before grinding.
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Add a teaspoon of cornstarch to help absorb moisture and prevent clumping.
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Start with less cayenne and add more if needed. You can always make it spicier.
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Play around with other spices like coriander, thyme, chipotle chili powder, ancho chili powder, or clove.
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Finish with a pinch of sugar to balance flavors, and a half teaspoon of salt if desired.
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Zest a lime or two for a citrusy lift.
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Use within a year for best flavor, storing in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.
How Much Homemade Fajita Seasoning to Use
Most fajita recipes specify how much seasoning blend to use. But for reference:
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For 1 pound of chicken, use around 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons fajita seasoning.
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For 1 pound of steak or shrimp, use around 1 to 2 tablespoons.
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For veggie fajitas, use around 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons for 1 pound veggies.
Always taste and season additionally with salt, pepper, lime juice, etc. to achieve your perfect level of flavor. The great thing about homemade blends is customizing to your taste!
What to Make with Homemade Chicken Fajita Seasoning
This versatile mix can spike flavor beyond just fajitas:
- Chicken: Fajitas, kabobs, baked or grilled chicken
- Beef: Fajitas, burgers, steaks, chuck roast
- Pork: Fajitas, ribs, pulled pork, chops
- Vegetarian: Fajitas, chili, stuffed peppers
- Seafood: Shrimp, fish, crab cakes
- Other: Eggs, avocado, dips, dressings, rice, potatoes
With its bold southwestern flavors, the possibilities are endless!
How Does Fajita Seasoning Differ From Taco Seasoning?
While fajita and taco seasoning share some base ingredients like chili powder, cumin, and garlic, they have different flavor profiles:
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Fajita seasoning trends smokier with more cumin. It’s designed for grilled meats.
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Taco seasoning contains more chili powder, paprika, and oregano. It has a bolder spice blend.
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Fajita seasoning works best for dishes like fajitas, kabobs, and grilled chicken.
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Taco seasoning suits tacos, enchiladas, taco salads, and Mexican-style rice.
Their flavor differences are subtle, however, so they can be interchanged in many recipes if needed.
Make the Best Homemade Chicken Fajita Seasoning
With its hearty blend of spices and herbs, homemade fajita seasoning adds Southwestern flair well beyond fajitas alone. This recipe makes it easy to skip the store-bought packets and craft your own zesty, vibrant blend.
Give it a try, and you may never go back to pre-made again! Just a few basic ingredients come together to create a mix with flavor that pops.
Fajita Chicken deserves a great marinade!
The secret ingredient in this marinade is orange juice. No, it doesn’t taste of oranges once cooked. When mixed with other savoury ingredients (lime, garlic, cumin, olive oil) then cooked, you end up with an incredibly flavourful chicken that’s savoury, fragrant and balanced with a hint of sweet.
Fruit juice is used in a wide range of marinades, from Cuban Mojo marinades to Mexican Pork Carnitas, to Korean Marinades to Hawaiian. It injects with subtle flavour and also the sugar brines like salt so proteins retain juiciness when cooked. Did you know that? There’s your cooking trivia for the day!
PS Don’t worry if you don’t have fresh or bottled OJ on hand. See recipe notes for alternatives.
Fajita Vegetables – a big hit of greens!
One of the reasons I enjoy Fajitas so much is that you get a good serve of veggies without even realising. To serve 4 people, I like to use 3 large capsicums (that’s bell peppers to some of you) and a large onion.
This way, I can stuff the warm tortillas with tons of veggies, then top with a sensible serving of chicken. A slice of avocado, a quick drizzle of sour cream and you’ll be clutching an overstuffed tortilla of Fajita goodness, ready to be devoured.
Go forth and fulfil your Fajita cravings!!! – Nagi x
The BEST FAJITA Seasoning Recipe
FAQ
How to make your own fajita seasoning for chicken?
- ½ tbsp hot chilli powder.
- 2 tbsp sweet smoked paprika.
- 1 tbsp ground cumin.
- 1 tbsp garlic powder.
- ½ tbsp ground coriander.
- 1 heaped tbsp dried oregano.
What is fajita seasoning made of?
Fajita seasoning typically includes a blend of chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and sometimes cayenne pepper or oregano.
What ingredients are in chicken fajita?
- 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts.
- Salt, to taste.
- 2 tablespoons canola or extra virgin olive oil.
- 1 large onion, sliced lengthwise (root to tip) into 1/4-inch strips.
- 3 pepper bell peppers (various colors), sliced into 1/4-inch strips.
What ingredients do you need for fajita?
- Tortilla wraps.
- Fajita seasoning.
- A large Onion.
- Peppers.
- Protein of your choosing.
How do you make fajita seasoning?
Step 1 In a small bowl, combine the chili powder, cumin, salt, garlic powder, oregano, paprika, sugar, and red pepper flakes. Step 2 In a large bowl or baking dish, drizzle up to 1 1/2 pounds steak, chicken, shrimp, or vegetables with vegetable oil and rub with the fajita seasoning.
How do you Make A fajita marinade?
Turn it into a marinade: combine a few teaspoons of seasoning with some olive oil and lime juice and you’ve got yourself a fajita marinade! Try our steak fajita marinade. Looking for a simple fajita seasoning recipe?
How much fajita seasoning should I use?
Simply mix the spices together, and your homemade fajita seasoning mix is ready to use. The recipe you use should specify how much spice mix to use, including mine below, but I find that 1.5 teaspoons is enough for each pound of meat. Then, I use about 3/4 to 1 teaspoon salt per pound of meat for additional seasoning.
What can I use fajita seasoning for?
Buy Now! While the most classic way to use fajita seasoning is to season meat and veggies in fajitas, you can also use it in so many other ways Flavor soup: use this seasoning to give your chili or taco soup some extra flavor! Meat rub: you can use this fajita mix as a spice rub for any kind of meat such as chicken, beef, pork, or shrimp.
How much salt do you add to chicken fajitas?
Then, I use about 3/4 to 1 teaspoon salt per pound of meat for additional seasoning. In my Chicken Fajitas recipe, 2 tablespoons of this is enough for 2 to 3 pounds of chicken, plus 3 red bell peppers, and 2 red onions. With fresh orange juice, lime juice, olive oil, and garlic, that is hands down my favorite fajita recipe and marinade!
Does fajita seasoning add citric acid?
To achieve quick tanginess, store-bought fajita seasonings typically add citric acid. But with this homemade version, a fresh squeeze of lime over the fajita will do the trick and avoid any additives. In taco recipes: Slow-cooked meat is often used (like carnitas, birria, barbacoa, etc), which doesn’t require as much acidity.