Chicken Fajita Salad is marinated and roasted chicken thighs with seasoned peppers and onions served on a bed of lettuce with traditional fajita toppings.
My husband loves fajitas. It’s typically his go to meal at Tex-Mex influenced restaurants. He can’t resist getting his own little cast iron skillet filled with sizzling meat, onions and peppers that he stuffs into warm soft tortillas. Fresh made tortillas are a fine meal. No argument from me.
Summer’s here. We need to eat lots of good salads. Let’s turn fajitas into a big salad. I didn’t expect that a Chicken Fajita Salad would cause my husband to turn somersaults. He likes salads but he considers them a side and not a full meal. I, on the other hand, love dinner salads. This salad was a compromise that I hoped would satisfy his love of fajitas and my love of big dinner salads.
Chicken Fajita Salad is a good hardy salad. As you might expect, I was a tad big happier with it than my husband. Oh, he liked it and said he’d eat it again. If he’s given the option of the sizzling iron skillet or this beautiful composed salad, I’d put down money on the skillet. After all, sizzling meat is a “manly” sort of thing. Salads……not so much. But, my manly man indulged me, no arm twisting required. What a man!
Y’all come see us!
Chicken Fajita Salad
yield: 4 servings
Marinated and roasted chicken thighs with seasoned peppers and onions served on a bed of lettuce with traditional fajita toppings.
marinate the chicken:
1/2 cup salad oil
3 tablespoons homemade fajita seasoning
juice of 2 limes (approximately 4 tablespoons – save the limes, we will cook with them)
2 tablespoons honey
4 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin on
In a gallon plastic storage bag, mix first 4 ingredients. Add chicken and coat each piece well. Close bag and marinate in refrigerator at least 4 hours.
cook the chicken:
preheat oven to 350 degrees
Remove chicken from marinade and place in a cast iron skillet. Add lime halves to skillet.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until internal temperature of thighs reaches 165 degrees.
Remove from oven. Place chicken aside and use the same skillet to cook onions and peppers.
cook and onions and peppers:
1 medium sweet onion, peeled and thinly sliced
4 to 6 sweet baby bell peppers, any color
1 tablespoon homemade fajita seasoning
Use the same skillet in which the chicken was cooked. Drain off some of the cooking juices, if necessary.
Add onion, peppers and fajita seasoning to skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring occassionaly, until onions and peppers are tender and onions have started to brown.
Debone chicken. If the taste isn’t “fajita-ey” enough to suit you, add in additional fajita seasoning and stir well.
compose the salad:
shredded iceberg lettuce
de-boned chicken
cooked peppers and onions
shredded cheese
tomatoes
tortilla chips, slightly crushed
sour cream
pickled jalapeño peppers
additional dressing
Toss lettuce with a small amount of dressing. Arrange lettuce on a large serving platter along with chicken, peppers and onions, cheese, tomatoes and tortilla chips.
Pass around sour cream, jalapeños, salsa and additional dressing.
Chicken Fajita Salad
Ingredients
- yield: 4 servings
marinate the thighs
- 1/2 cup salad oil
- 3 tablespoons homemade fajita seasoning
- juice of 2 limes (approximately 4 tablespoons - save the limes we will cook with them.
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 4 chicken thighs bone-in and skin on
cook the peppers and onions
- 1 medium sweet onion peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 to 6 sweet baby bell peppers any color
- 1 tablespoon homemade fajita seasoning
compose the salad
- shredded iceberg lettuce
- Creamy Honey Lime Dressing
- deboned chicken
- cooked peppers and onions
- shredded cheese
- tomatoes
- tortilla chips slightly crushed
- sour cream
- pickled jalapeño peppers
- salsa
- additional dressing
Instructions
marinate the chicken
- In a gallon plastic storage bag, mix first 4 ingredients. Add chicken and coat each piece well. Close bag and marinate in refrigerator at least 4 hours.
cook the chicken
- preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Remove chicken from marinade and place in a cast iron skillet. Add lime halves to skillet.
- Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until internal temperature of thighs reaches 165 degrees.
- Remove from oven. Place chicken aside and use the same skillet to cook onions and peppers.
- Debone chicken. If the taste isn't "fajita-ey" enough to suit you, add in additional fajita seasoning and stir well.
cook onions and peppers
- Use the same skillet in which the chicken was cooked. Drain off some of the cooking juices, if necessary.
- Add onion, peppers and fajita seasoning to skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring occassionaly, until onions and peppers are tender and onions have started to brown.
compose the salad
- Toss lettuce with a small amount of dressing. Arrange lettuce on a large serving platter along with chicken, peppers and onions, cheese, tomatoes and tortilla chips.
- Pass around sour cream, jalapeños, salsa and additional dressing.
Andrea Broom says
Oh man this look incredible. everything you love about fajitas in a salad. SO wanna make this for meal prep, this would be perfect for the weeknight. Thanks for sharing Jackie!
Jackie Garvin says
Thank you, Andrea. I love big, filling salads.