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My new go-to weeknight dinner – Chicken Fajita Tortilla Bowls. Seasoned chicken pan-seared with bell peppers and onions, and served up bowl style with a cilantro-lime vinaigrette. All put together with rice, lettuce, corn, salty cheese, and warm tortillas. Plus creamy whipped avocado on the side. These colorful and fresh chicken fajita bowls are simple to make and full of wonderful Mexican flavors. A fun any-night-of-the-week dinner!
Another week, another dinner bowl. Apparently, 2022 is all about a damn good dinner bowl for me. I’m loving creating “bowl style” recipes more than anything right now. Something about a mishmash of food and flavors piled high into a bowl and eaten together really excites me.
I think it’s all the layers of flavor and all the color. I get to have so much fun when I create this style recipe. So even though I’ve shared a number of “bowl” recipes over the last few months. I’ve decided to continue to run with my ideas and not hold back.
Enter this chicken fajita bowl. One of my favorite “bowl style” dinners yet, and so perfect for summertime.
This recipe was inspired by my skillet chicken fajitas. I’ve been making those on repeat and just love the flavors so much. I wanted to see if I could turn the fajitas into a new recipe with summer corn and a quick vinaigrette.
Naturally, I thought to put everything over rice, and well, this recipe was created.
Here are the details
Start with the chicken. I love to use Tajin seasoning as the spice mix in place of chili powder. It keeps the flavor delicious and the spice level just right. I’ve been using Tajin so much lately. Most recently to rim the glasses in Saturday’s frozen peach margarita.
I like to season the chicken directly in the skillet with olive oil, then start cooking. You want to use a pretty high heat to cook the chicken. Then you’ll get that nice light char around the edges of the meat that feels so classic for fajitas. If you have one, a cast-iron skillet is best.
When the chicken is cooked, I like to pull it out of the skillet and then add the onions to the same skillet. Give the onions a cook quick, then add in all of the peppers.
The peppers and onions are KEY here. Just like with a traditional fajita, the peppers and onions make these bowls. I use a mix of sweet onions, bell peppers, and smoky poblano peppers so that there’s plenty of flavor.
Then add the chicken back to the peppers to re-warm. Could not be simpler.
While the chicken is cooking, I mix the vinaigrette. We’re taking a shortcut and using store-bought salsa verde mixed with olive oil and lime. The salsa verde makes for a delicious vinaigrette that feels a little more special.
At this point, all you have to do is assemble. You’ll need cooked rice, tortillas, grilled corn, avocado, and lots of crumbled cheese, I love to use cotija cheese, but feta or shredded cheddar cheese are great subs.
The chicken should be served over bowls of rice. Then add the corn and sprinkle with some additional Tajin. Trust me, it’s delicious and reminds me of the popular Mexican street corn. And while I didn’t add this, a dollop of mayo or Greek yogurt over each bowl would be especially delicious.
And finally, tortillas. We’re obsessed with my homemade flour tortillas this summer. I’ve been making them nonstop!
Top each bowl with the vinaigrette and plenty of fresh cilantro + avocado.
So much happening, but really it comes together simply and in less than an hour. A fun, family dinner for sure!
Looking for other Mexican recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Skillet Chicken Fajitas with Creamy Jalapeño Verde Sauce
Crispy BBQ Salmon Tacos with Avocado Mango Salsa and Jalapeño Cream
Crispy Jalapeño Cream Cheese Buffalo Chicken Taquitos
Sheet Pan Chipotle Salmon Tacos with Pineapple Jalapeño Salsa
Crockpot Crispy Chicken Tinga Tacos with Avocado Jalapeño Crema
Lastly, if you make these Chicken Fajita Tortilla Bowls, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Chicken Fajita Tortilla Bowls
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 575 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breasts or thighs, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons chili powder or Tajin
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 3 bell peppers, sliced
- 3-4 cups cooked rice
- 3 cups grilled corn kernels
- 1/2 cup crumbled cotija cheese
- shredded lettuce, mashed/whipped avocado, jalapeños, and cilantro, for serving
- tortillas, for serving
Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup salsa verde
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 2 teaspoons spicy honey
- 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- 1. In a large skillet, combine the olive oil, chicken, paprika, chili powder (or Tajin), cumin, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat. Set the skillet over high heat. Cook until seared all over and cooked through, 8-10 minutes. During the last 2 minutes of cooking, add the garlic. Cook 1 minute, then remove everything from the skillet.2. In the same skillet, add the onions and cook until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Toss in the bell peppers. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the peppers are tender, another 5 minutes.3. Add the chicken to the peppers and toss to combine.4. To make the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients in a glass jar. Season with salt. 5. Spoon the chicken and peppers over the bowls of rice. Top with lettuce and grilled corn. Sprinkle the corn with chili powder or Tajin, then pour over the vinaigrette. Crumble the cheese over each bowl. Top with avocado, jalapeños, and cilantro. Serve with tortillas. Enjoy!
I made these tonight & they’re amazing! I took a few short cuts-used TJ’s frozen roasted corn & Costco ready to cook tortillas. Delicious recipe, tons of flavor, not overly difficult! The vinaigrette is essential. Thank you for another winner.
Hey Christy,
Fantastic!! So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a bunch for giving it a try! Happy Monday!! xx
Delish! The vinaigrette really kicks up the flavors by providing an extra layer of sweet and fresh over the spicy (but not hot), savory chicken, peppers and onions. We love fajitas and this will surely be one of our regular dishes for Sunday night dinner. And, definitely, go the extra step and make the tortillas so yummy.
Hey Lia,
Wonderful!! So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks for giving it a go! Happy Monday! xx
Super easy and so delicious. I made my own tortillas using your recipe. It was a great meal and I can’t wait for leftovers! This would be a great meal prep meal. This will be a part of my normal rotation.
Hey Kimberly,
Fantastic!! So glad this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for making it!! Hope you’re off to a great day! xTieghan
Oohhhhh my goodness! This was one of the best meals I’ve ever made. First time my homemade flour tortillas turned out – thank you for that recipe! Then the cilantro lime vinaigrette just took this whole plate up a notch. I’ll be making this a lot for years to come, thank you for sharing!
Hey Leah,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks for making it! Have a great Monday! xx
This was great! Loved the vinaigrette as a change of pace.
Hey Shannon,
Happy Monday!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a go! xxT
I’m new to cooking and this looks so delicious! What kind of rice do you recommend for this recipe?
Thanks so much!! I like to use jasmine or basmati rice for this recipe. Let me know if you give it a try! xx
I made this recipe. It was delicious and the zippy sauce outstanding!
Hi Beth,
Happy Monday!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a go! xxT
Tieghan – I just read through some of the comments and I’m appalled at what some people think is ok to say – I am truly speechless, so I just want to thank you for sharing all of your recipes with us. I love making them, I love reading about your experiences and your family and I appreciate all of your hard work!
Awe, thank you so much Donna, this really means a lot to me:) I appreciate you giving the recipes a try!! xTieghan
This was absolutely fantastic! I think it’s my new favorite! I used regular honey in place of the spiced honey and that vinaigrette was out of this world! And those homemade tortillas – outstanding! Took me a couple to get it right but even those were delicious. Well done on this one, Tieghan!
Hey Donna,
Amazing!! Thanks for making this recipe and trying the homemade tortillas as well:) So glad to hear you enjoyed both of the recipes!! xx
So good! I need to work on getting the chicken a bit more seared and almost blackened but absolutely loved this!
Hi Kathleen,
Awesome!! Thanks a bunch for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! Love to hear that it was enjoyed! Have the best weekend:)
Can you sub regular honey for hot honey? If you can sub it, should you adjust the amount? Thank you!
Rebecca – I used regular honey and it was delicious!
Thanks so much for sharing Donna!!
Hi Rebecca,
Yes, an equal amount of plain honey is great! Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe!! xx
Is tablespoon correct on the paprika? Or is it supposed to be teaspoon
Hey Calleigh,
The tablespoon is correct:) Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan
To make this vegetarian,, do you think black beans would be a good substitute for the chicken? This looks delicious!
Hey Anne,
Sure, black beans would be great, you could even do cauliflower!! Let me know how the recipe turns out, I hope you love it! xx
So eat, and so delicious. The seasoning on the meat is perfection!
Hi Jennifer,
Happy Thursday!! I love that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
Super simple, super delicious, the perfect summer quick meal!
Hi Anneke,
Awesome!! So glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try! xx