These sheet pan fajitas require minimal prep and produce an amazingly flavorful pan full of tender chicken and roasted veggies. The easy spice blend is perfection and you can serve these in a variety of ways! Obviously the mixture can be tucked into tortillas, but we also love these over rice bowls (extra great with some black beans, too) and they reheat really well for an excellent meal prep option. Thousands of you have made these and loved these and ranked them as our top recipe of the year!
Ingredients and Equipment Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Chicken – You can certainly try this recipe with boneless skinless chicken breast, but I prefer thighs for some very specific reasons. Aside from the fact that chicken thighs are so much more flavorful in a recipe like this, they are also much easier to cook. Chicken breasts need to be cooked to a certain temperature and as soon as they pass that, they’re suddenly dry and chewy. It’s hard to mess up chicken thighs. You can overcook them and they’re still juicy and tender. On a sheet pan meal, you’re cooking several different things on the same pan and it’s really nice to have some flexibility in case everything isn’t done at the exact same time. Did I mention they taste so much better in this recipe? Buy boneless skinless ones and then use a sharp pair of clean scissors or kitchen shears to trim excess fat if you like.
- Onion
- Bell peppers
- Olive oil
- Seasoning mix – I’m using seasonings that most of you probably have in your pantries already: Kosher salt, black pepper, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, garlic powder, and if you have any- True Lime. I buy this crystallized fresh lime in a large shaker bottle on Amazon and use it on evvvverything. If you don’t have it, no worries. We’ll give these a squeeze of fresh lime.
We’re using all dry seasonings because there’s plenty of moisture in the chicken and vegetables and we want these to caramelize and roast (not simmer!). - Cilantro
- Lime
- Items for serving – Sour cream, guacamole/avocado, tortillas, rice and beans, etc.
- Nitrile gloves – Optional. I like to keep a box of these gloves in my kitchen for recipes like this. It makes it easy to mix everything up by hand on the baking sheet!
- Extra large sheet pan – I use an extra large sheet pan so things aren’t too crowded. I get them here, they’re fantastic and so useful. I pretty much use this size for everything! If you don’t have one, you may want to spread everything between two standard sheet pans.
How to Make Sheet Pan Fajitas
- I slice up my chicken and vegetables and then use nitrile gloves so I can just toss everything together with my hands! Pop everything on a foil-lined sheet pan and drizzle with a few tablespoons oil and all of your seasonings.
- Toss that pan in a hot oven. If your oven has a convection setting, use it. Convection will circulate hot air and help get everything kind of toasty brown like a grill would. If not, you can always broil quickly at the end if you like.
- I toss on a handful of chopped cilantro at the end and a big squeeze of fresh lime juice. These are DIVINE.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy within 3-4 days for best results.
Additional Serving Suggestions
You can obviously serve these traditionally in tortillas with all the fixings. But some other ways we love eating these, depending on nutrition preferences, are:
- Over shredded iceberg or mixed greens
- Over a bed of cauliflower rice
- In a bowl of rice and beans (use the quick steam rice bags and canned beans for a fast meal!).
- Simply in a bowl with avocado and sour cream
More Fajita Recipes
I’ve got a couple other fajita recipes here on Our Best Bites, and they all have their place!
For the grill, you cannot beat our Classic Fajita recipe. It requires a long marinade and its tangy, smoky flavor profile is beloved by readers around the world as one of our all-time most popular recipes!
For those times where you need to just dump everything in a slow cooker, we have my easy Slow Cooker Steak Fajitas. Super tender steak and so easy and delicious. Set it and forget it.
These days the recipe I tend to make the most are these Sheet Pan Fajitas. You cannot beat the convenience of a one-pan meal and a simple yet flavorful dry rub gives these fajitas out-of-this-world flavor without drowning everything on a pan like a marinade would.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! You can prep all of the ingredients ahead of time and store them in the fridge. To follow best food safety practices, store prepped veggies and protein separately. When ready to cook, simply proceed as directed.
Absolutely! The only thing I’d caution against is overcrowding your baking sheet, as that will make it harder for moisture to evaporate and you’ll essentially end up boiling your ingredients. If you have two extra large sheet pans, that should work perfectly. Double ovens that can fit multiple standard pans would work as well. If you have a single oven and standard baking sheets, just do your best to spread everything out well, or cook in batches.
Sure! Add some red pepper flakes or a dash of cayenne or chipotle powder to your spice mix or top with hot sauce.
For best results, thaw meat completely before using in this recipe.
Sure! Toss anything in there that sounds good, just keep in mind that softer veggies will cook faster than firmer ones. My sister even told me she has had success adding cubed sweet potatoes to the mix and eats it all as a fajita bowl topped with sour cream and guacamole.
Sheet Pan Fajitas
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1½ – 2 pounds chicken thighs, boneless, skinless trimmed and sliced (see note)
- 1 onion large, sliced
- 2 bell peppers, large or 3 small/med ones, sliced
- 3-4 tablespoons olive oil or other oil of your choice
- 2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2-3 teaspoons True Lime optional
- handful cilantro
- 1 lime
- optional for serving: sour cream, guacamole/avocado, tortillas, rice and beans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425℉. Have a large sheet pan ready (cover with foil or parchment for easy clean-up).
- Place sliced chicken, onions, and peppers in an extra large mixing bowl. Drizzle on oil and all seasonings. Toss to coat. (Tip: I keep nitrile gloves in my kitchen and use them for things like this; tossing with your hands is much easier!)
- Spread chicken and pepper mixture out evenly on baking sheet and place in oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes (closer to 20 with convection) until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender. If desired, place under broiler for a quick minute to brown.
- Remove from oven and if desired, sprinkle cilantro over everything and give it a big squeeze of fresh lime juice (you might not need fresh lime if you used True Lime, but I say never enough lime).
- Serve with tortillas and traditional Latin-themed fixings. Or, try over a bed of salad, veggies, or rice and beans.
Notes
- I like using extra large sheet pans for most of my cooking, and they’re the perfect size for this recipe. If you are using a standard sheet pan, you will have to let me know if it all fits- if you’re worried there’s too much, just split between 2 pans and pop both in the oven!
- I use a full 2lbs of chicken and it’s generously seasoned.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy within 3-4 days for best results.
Questions & Reviews
Our family loves this recipe!!
These are a go to for an easy weekday meal in our house. I speed up the cooking time occasionally by sautteing the veg in a pan and adding shredded rotisserie chicken in at the end just to heat it up before serving.
I’ve made this several times and it’s always good. Easy to make a large batch and serve a crowd (Superbowl!) or make it smaller for the 3 of us at home with leftovers. Thanks!!
I prep multiple little cups of the spices to be ready as this is a family favorite! I always know an OBB recipe is going to be a hit. Thanks Sarah!
This is a staple in our house. My daughters love it. One on to clean? Mom loves it! We have used thighs and breast. Both come out great. I love the homemade fajita seasoning and the True Lime is clutch. I use it daily in my water so it’s luckily always on hand. We pair with corn tortillas that I toast on each side. That’s honestly the only labor intensive part of the recipe! And it takes three minutes!
This recipe is on regular rotation! So easy and incredibly tasty. The true lime is so worth it, don’t try to skip it!
We absolutely love these fajitas!!!!
We have these on a regular rotation. Easy to make and delicious!
Great meal 👍🏾especially for family of 4
I’ve made these many times and we absolutely LOVE them! Have you ever tried freezing them? I was thinking of cutting everything up, mixing with the seasonings, and then freezing them in freezer bags, still raw. That way I could just pull them out any night of the week, throw them on a sheet pan, and bake in the oven. Any idea if that would work?
I’ve never tried freezing, let me know how it goes!