Una comida muy sabrosa! Fajita tacos are excellent combos of flavor and texture that make you want to grab a sombrero and enjoy some mariachi. Now, tacos are just one way to enjoy a fajita, but they certainly are the most common. Get ready to take your kitchen on an exciting adventure to Mexico; let’s discover Fajitas Tacos!

Mexican Fajita Tacos (Origin and Curiosities)

This food is so well-loved in Texas, United States, there’s even a debate whether we should be thanking Mexico or Texas. The dish has evolved uniquely wherever you find it. Still, fajita tacos have their roots in the colorful lands of Mexico.

Oddly enough, we have Mexican ranch hands or vaqueros to praise for this culinary invention. They transformed one of the toughest cuts of beef, carne asada or skirt steak, into faja. Faja is the Spanish word for belt or strip, which is how the vaqueros cut the meat to make it more tender with cooking.

Skirt steak is actually more muscle than meat. It’s mostly the tendon of a cow’s diaphragm muscle, covered in tough and chewy silverskin. Ordinarily, skirt steak was considered dog food. Still, many vaqueros had little more to their names than beloved pets since their wages were abysmal.

They would grill the fajitas and add some vegetables to elevate them to a proper meal. In time, this meal came to be known as fajitas. Chicken fajitas are a more recent development, as traditional fajitas are exclusively beef even though the cut of steak may be different. In Northeastern Mexico, fajitas made from grilled skirt steak or arrachera, as they call it, are common.

Wrapping fajitas snuggly in a tortilla is what makes it a taco. Tacos can take in a variety of fillings, so fajitas are just one of them. Contemporary fajita tacos are a combination of grilled beef/chicken and vegetables, guacamole, sauce, and whipped cream.

Want a taste? Let’s make a chicken fajita taco together.

Chicken Fajita Tacos Recipe

Ingredients

What’ll you need for the Fajita Tacos

• 2lbs stripped chicken breasts
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp of Olive oil
• Fresh Tortillas
• Spice mix

What you’ll need for the spice mix

• 1 tsp or 2g Paprika
• 2tsp or 4g Ground Cumin
• 2tsp or 4g onion powder
• 2tsp or 8g garlic powder
• 2tsp or 6g granulated sugar (white)
• 2tsp or 7g corn starch
• 1/2 tsp ground chili
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Slice your chicken breasts into strips and place them in a medium bowl or a Ziploc bag.
2. Add 3/4 of your spice mix, and rub it into your chicken strips.
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or seal the Ziploc bag. Allow the chicken to sit and marinate in the spices for 3hours. You can go anywhere from 30minutes-24hours on the marinade process, but the longer you let the chicken sit, the better it’ll taste.
4. Put your onion and pepper slices into one bowl. Add the remaining spice mix and cover. Allow to sit in the refrigerator for some time. You can let it sit as long as the chicken does, but not if your chicken will be in there overnight.
5. To cook your chicken, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Then add the chicken strips and allow to cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. (P.s, this is a great time to start working on the guacamole, recipe below)
6. Next, mix in your onions and peppers and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes or until the onions are nicely caramelized.
7. Optional, squeeze fresh lime into the skillet and stir for a burst of freshness.
8. Your chicken fajitas are ready! To make them into a fajita taco, place one fresh tortilla flat and as much chicken fajitas as you want on it. Add a spoonful of guacamole on top and some whipped cream. Fold up and dig in!

Guacamole Recipe

• 2 small ripe avocados
• 1/4 cup fresh onion (finely diced)
• Juice of small to medium lime
• 1 Roma tomato
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (or scallions if cilantro tastes like soap to you)
• 1 jalapeño (seeds removed and diced)
• salt and pepper to taste

How To Make Guacamole

1. Mash the flesh of the avocados in a bowl with the back of a fork
2. Add your veggies, salt, pepper, lime juice, and mix. Voila!

I’m sure your chicken fajita tacos are going to taste delicious. Still, if you want to make a beef fajita, you’ll need something more than a spice mix–a proper marinade. You can also use this marinade recipe for an even tastier chicken fajita.

Fajita Tacos Marinade

• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (or citrus juice of choice)
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• If you mix that all together in a clean bowl, you should have a fantastic marinade for your beef or chicken to rest in overnight.

The recipe for beef fajita tacos is identical to that of chicken fajitas. All you have to do is cut your beef into strips and cook it till it’s your desired level of done-ness. I’m a well-done kinda person, but you do you!

Fajita Tacos Calories

Fajitas tacos are not just delicious but nicely incorporate every food group, making them a balanced meal. Therefore, fajitas are a generally healthy food choice for the average person that can be adjusted to suit specific dietary concerns. Calorie content per serving of fajita tacos averages 235-270 calories, depending on your portions.

If you’d like a more detailed nutritional breakdown per serving, here you go:

Total Calories: 250

Total fat: 9.1g

Cholesterol: 25mg

Sodium: 985mg

Potassium: 320mg

Total carbohydrate: 28.6g (dietary fiber is 4.5g)

Protein: 14g

Lastly, I’d like to assure you that there is no shame in counting your calories. It is simply one step you have taken to living a healthier life, and I’m proud of you.

Feel free to let me know how your fajita tacos came out or share the slight adjustments you made to make them more special. Enjoy!

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