Erin’s Recipe Rundown
Texture: Juicy chicken and tender vegetables covered in a smooth marinade.
Taste: The perfect blend of salty, sweet, and tangy.
Ease: Easy prep and multiple cooking methods available.
Top Tips: Thinly slice the chicken into 1/2″ strips, cutting against the grain, for best results! You can even freeze the chicken for 30 minutes to make slicing easier.
Would I make these again? Definitely! This chicken fajita marinade makes it possible to whip up an easy dinner with bold flavors and little effort. Plus it’s a great make-ahead recipe!
xoxo erin
Featured Comment
From Journa: “This is a new go-to marinade recipe! Instructions are very easy to follow and the chicken fajitas turned out to be so tender and juicy. I would definitely make this on repeat.“
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are a few notes on some of the key ingredients to make this chicken fajita marinade. Jump to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Soy sauce: This is the foundation of the marinade, adding deep umami and saltiness. If you need a gluten-free option, use gluten-free soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos.
- Brown sugar: The brown sugar not only adds sweetness, but also helps caramelize the chicken for a perfect golden-brown sear.
- Lime juice: Always include an acidic ingredient in any marinade, like fresh lime juice or even orange juice, to tenderize the meat. Add lime zest for even more citrus flavor!
- White vinegar: This adds more acidity to further tenderize the meat and enhance flavor.
- Oil: A bit of oil helps coat the chicken evenly, keeps it moist during cooking, and carries the marinade’s flavors. You can use any neutral oil.
You also might like these breakfast tacos!
How to Make Chicken Fajita Marinade
Here’s an overview of how to make this recipe. You can jump to the recipe for the full instructions!
Throw the marinade ingredients into a shallow dish or large Ziploc bag, then add the chicken, onion, and bell peppers. Mix everything together until evenly coated, then marinate for at least 1 hour (up to 24 hours). Avoid marinating longer than 24 hours, as the acidity can make the chicken mushy.
You can easily pan sear or broil the marinated chicken and vegetables. If you prefer grilling, thread the chicken and vegetables onto skewers. You can also grill the chicken breasts whole and use a grill basket for the veggies.
Serve on tortillas with your favorite toppings! Here are a few ideas to get you started: avocado, cheese, tomatoes, guacamole, pico de gallo, lettuce, sour cream, and more!
Try these gluten-free flour tortillas with this recipe! And serve the fajitas alongside slow-cooker pinto beans for dinner made easy!
Best Chicken Fajita Marinade
Video
Ingredients
For the Marinade:
- 1/4 cup soy sauce, use gluten-free if needed
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
For the Fajitas:
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 2 large bell peppers (any color), thinly sliced
Instructions
- Mix all of the marinade ingredients together in a large ziploc bag or shallow dish. Add the sliced chicken, onion and bell peppers. Mix to coat evenly. Marinate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
- Pan Sear: Cook the vegetables in a hot skillet over medium-high heat for 6–8 minutes. Then add the chicken and cook for another 4-5 minutes until cooked through.Grill: Thread marinated chicken onto skewers or grill directly over medium-high heat for 6–7 minutes per side, and grill veggies in a basket or on skewers until lightly charred.Broil: Preheat the oven to broil (500°F), spread chicken and veggies on a foil-lined baking sheet, and broil 5–6 inches from the heat for 10–12 minutes, flipping halfway through, until cooked through and slightly charred.
- Serve on corn or flour tortillas with your favorite toppings. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in April 2013. It was updated with new photos and instructions in July 2025.
Made this for dinner and it was perfect! Such wonderful flavors and worked so well. Thanks for the recipe!!
This recipe is the BEST!
Erin,
This recipe was amazing and so easy to make. The only change I made was to leave out the cumin since I didn’t have any. The sauce was so tasty, I found myself wanting to drink spoonfuls of it! Thanks for sharing a great recipe..
Thanks for the comment! I’m so glad you liked the recipe!
One of our family favorites! Easy enough to do anytime, I almost always have the ingredients on hand, delicious enough for my husband and our 3 small children to eat it all! Sometimes I get lucky with leftovers.. 🙂 If you haven’t tried this fajita recipe yet.. you NEED to!!!
Thanks so much for sharing this, Erin!
I make this whenever we have guests over and they always ask for the recipe! It’s definitely a crowd pleaser. So much flavor and yet so simple. Love it! (P.s. before posting this comment I saw that I already left a comment in 2013…five years later and I still love it!)
Fabulous! These are so flavorful without the usual spicy-ness. Definitely going into meal rotation.
So glad you like them! 🙂
I’ve been making these for years off your recipe (with a couple of tweaks sometimes)… And I always forget to say thanks…. So thanks!
I’m so glad you like them! They are still a favorite around here too!
We made these today. They were yummy! Thanks for the great recipe. I think that’s 3 of your recipes that I’ve tried now and all have been amazing.
I’m so glad you have been liking the recipes!
Wowzers! The marinade on these fajitas is absolutely amazing. I made these tonight and the chicken was the star of the dish. I reserved about a half of cup of the marinade to put on the veggies after sauteing them. It worked out great. Thank you so much for sharing such an absolutely wonderful dish.
I forgot to leave the 5 stars!!!
Erin, we’ve made these several times in the last few months and LOOOVE them. Thanks for the amazing recipe!
OO yum!! New follower here!
I like to add doritos or wedges in my Fajitas 🙂
Wow you fajitas look amazing.
Your fajitas look so delicious, thanks for sharing this recipe!
So I have already been craving these the past two days since you made them for us but now seeing the pictures I want them now! Thanks for sharing!