Grilled Chicken Fajitas

I don’t know what it was about our late summer camping last year, but we were dealing with all kinds of Mexican food cravings.

Not only where were NOWHERE NEAR our favorite Mexican restaurant at the time, but Tex-Mex restaurants in general... weren’t exactly plentiful along our route.

So, we ended up making all manner of Mexican-adjacent food... Some very loosely inspired, but still tasty.

Grilled Shrimp Tacos, Camping Tacos, 2 Ways, Grilled Tuna Tacos ... and some of the best grilled chicken fajitas I’ve ever made.

I’ve already shared those taco recipes, so it’s time to share the chicken fajitas recipe!

These homemade fajitas can be made over an open campfire, or over a charcoal grill.

The simple marinade works up in just minutes, and the marinated chicken is FANTASTIC - juicy chicken with a robust flavour.

We made this batch up on the back over our Driftwood Provincial Park campsite, right on the shore of the Ottawa River.

The sun was just starting to go down as we arranged our favorite fajita toppings on our tortillas - just a really great way to spend an evening!

Anyway, let’s talk about how we do it, and the ingredients we use!

Ingredients

The ingredient list for this chicken fajita recipe may be long, but it’s all stuff you’re either likely to have on hand, or will be easy to find in any grocery store

As always, I have a few ingredient notes for you:

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

This recipe calls for breast meat, mostly because I hate trimming thighs, and I prefer the nice long pieces that are easy to get from chicken breasts.

That said, feel free to use boneless skinless chicken thighs, if you prefer - I’d use 2-3 for each chicken breast.

Fresh Produce

While you COULD just use a bunch of green bell peppers in a fajita recipe, green peppers would make for a more visually boring dish.

A mix of red bell peppers, orange peppers, yellow bell pepper, and - yes - a green bell pepper makes for a more visually interesting fajita. There’s also a couple Jalapeno Peppers in there, for good measure.

In terms of the onion, I tend to use a red onion, again for aesthetics... but you could use a yellow onion, if you prefer.

Tortillas

You can use either flour tortillas or corn tortillas for making these fajitas, though flour is probably more traditional. (Corn is a good gluten-free alternative, though!)

If you're looking for other gluten free tortilla options, you can sometimes find decent gluten free flour tortillas in stores... but I prefer to make my own.

My Gluten Free Tortillas are a substitute for flour tortillas, and my Gluten Free Hybrid Tortillas basically have the texture of a flour tortilla, but the flavour of a corn tortilla.

If you're looking for an option that's grain free and paleo / AIP friendly, try my Cassava Flour Tortillas Recipe.

Lime Juice

You want a bit of acid in the marinade, and lime flavor is pretty traditional for fajitas. You can even add a little lime zest, if you want a bit more lime kick.

That said, other juices work - orange juice or lemon juice are just fine, if that’s what you have on hand. I’ll usually end up using calamansi juice, because I may be addicted to the stuff!

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Olive Oil (You can use avocado oil or vegetable oil)
Cilantro
Fresh Garlic Cloves
Nonstick Grilling Spray
2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika (Can use Cayenne Pepper or Chili Powder - half as much, though!)
Ground Cumin
Ground Black Pepper
Salt

Also, your favorite toppings for fajitas: Sour cream, cilantro, salsa, pico de gallo, avocado, shredded cheese are all great additions to your spread!

How to Make Grilled Chicken Fajitas

The full recipe - with the full list of ingredients - is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. This is the pictorial walk through - as a note, we made a half batch of the recipe for this post.

Fajita Marinade:

In the bowl of a mini food processor - or in a cup with an immersion blender, combine the olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, garlic, jalapeno, and seasonings.

Blitz until the pepper is finely chopped and everything is well combined. Set aside.

Fajita Filling:

Seed the bell peppers, slice into long strips, and place in a large Ziplock bag.

Seed the Jalapeno peppers, slice VERY thinly, add to the bag of peppers.

Peel and slice the red onion into thin slices, add to the bag of peppers.

If you’re dividing the recipe in half - as we did that day - you can divide the peppers into two baggies.

We usually freeze one resealable plastic bag of veggies to use a few days later.

Pour the fajita marinade into the baggie of fajita ingredients. Seal, and shake gently or carefully massage to coat everything.

Chill for at least two hours.

Assembly:

Get a medium fire going.

Divide fajita mixture among 4-6 sheets of heavy duty foil that have been sprayed with nonstick spray or a little olive oil- each is one serving. As we halved the recipe, we divided into 2 portions

Fold the foil to seal in the filling.

Spray a few flour tortillas lightly with pan spray, and cook directly on the grill grates for a minute or so on each side, just to heat through and char.

Serve the fajita mixture with warm tortillas, and your choice of toppings.

You can freeze this recipe at pretty much any point - just the extra peppers for later use, once you mix the marinade into the chicken, or even cooked leftovers.

If freezing before cooking, be sure to thaw (and drain, in the case of raw peppers), before use.

More Grilling Recipes for Camping

Looking for some great meals to cook on a campfire or grill? Here's a few of my favourites!

Bison Burgers with Bacon and Caramelized Onions
Fajita Chicken Kebabs
Elk Burgers with Bacon and Sauteed Mushrooms
Greek Chicken Souvlaki
Easy Grilled Shrimp Tacos
Grilled Tuna Tacos
Mediterranean Chicken Kebabs

Be sure to check out our other Camping Recipes, including Camping Desserts, Camping Snacks, Make-Ahead Camping Mix Recipes, and a ton of delicious Camping Main Dish Recipes.

Also, we had SO much fun designing gourmet jerky recipes for our camping trips, we started a whole new blog for them! Check out Dried & Tasty for all kinds of fun recipes to make in your food dehydrator!