Make the Best Steak Fajitas at Home

Make the best steak fajitas at home
Make the best steak fajitas at home

Making the best steak fajitas is easy to do at home. This recipe is easy to follow and you can even make it the night before if you’re strapped for time in the evenings. Growing up, I always would look forward to eating out at Chevy’s Mexican Grill and ordering their steak fajitas. Now, I can make my own.

This dish is incredibly customizable. Don’t like steak? Swap for shrimp, chicken, tofu or omit the protein altogether and just make the veggies. You can also swap the veggies for something else if peppers and onions aren’t totally up your alley- try mushrooms and broccoli instead.

The fajita seasoning is a mix of cumin, paprika and chili powder. You can also add other spices like oregano and garlic salt to mild the flavor a bit. My secret ingredient is adding pickled jalapaños to this dish and a couple of tablespoons of the liquid from the jar. Even the pickiest eaters in my family and those who don’t like spice couldn’t detect this addition to the recipe.

Best Steak to Use for Fajitas

There are many cuts of steak that will work for this dish: hanger steak, skirt steak and rump steak are all good options.

  • Skirt steak: This is a fatty and flavorful cut of beef. This cut can be cooked well-done without getting tough and chewy because of its fat content.
  • Hanger steak: This is a thicker cut of steak that isn’t long, usually measuring around 6 – 7 inches.
  • Flank steak: Leaner cut that is better served medium-rare to medium. If it is overcooked it is more likely to taste tough and chewy because it’s a leaner cut.
  • Rump steak: Generally a tougher cut of meat since it comes from the part of the cow that works hard during the cow’s life. It is an affordable cut of meat that will need to be cooked with a little more love and care.

There are many good options for your steak fajitas. It all depends on what you’re looking for in a cut of steak. I always go for the flank steak, since I want a leaner cut and I also enjoy eating my meat medium-rare. Flank steak is also a more affordable option when compared to hanger steak.

Ingredients

The ingredients for this authentic fajita recipe can be found at your local grocery store.

  • Steak: A critical part of steak fajitas is the steak! I used skirt steak but you can use any of the steak cuts listed above.
  • Marinade ingredients: Cumin, paprika, chile powder, jalapeno and garlic all go into marinading the steak. Go ahead and make this marinade and prep the night before cooking
  • Veggies: I used hearty vegetables that will stand up to the grill top, but you can use any kind of vegetables you’d like. Typical vegetables for fajitas are onions and bell peppers.
  • Sides: No fajita dish is complete without guac or pico de gallo.
  • Tortillas: The typical vessel for eating fajitas. Heat the tortillas directly on heat to char them a bit.

Meal Prepping

Even though this may seem like a difficult dish- it’s easy to whip up and even easier to meal prep. You can make the marinade for the steak and veggies the night before, throw it all into a bag, and put it into your fridge. It’ll keep overnight (or for another night- I won’t tell!)

Even after cooked, these fajitas will keep in the fridge for up to three days. It’s easy to make a large batch of these fajitas for the family and have leftovers the next day. Since you’re cooking with a hearty cut of meat and fibrous vegetables, this dish will reheat well.

Chevys Steak Fajitas Recipe

Does this recipe seem familiar? If it does, that’s because I tried to build this recipe based on my past experiences on going to Chevys Fresh Mex. Unfortunately, Chevys empire has shrunk to a mere 22 locations in the U.S.

If you want a Chevys recipe, you’ll want to use Skirt steak and to add a secret ingredient: baking soda. It will tenderize the meat when cooked. This is a little known secret in the restaurant industry. If you’ve ever had a piece of meat that seems spongey, it’s because the restaurant has added too much baking soda to tenderize it.

Cutting the Steak

Have you ever bit into a piece of steak that was looked incredibly tender but was chewy and hard to take a bite of? It’s possible that the reason why is because it wasn’t cut against the grain.

Before cutting, allow the meat to rest for at least 10 minutes. This will not only allow for the juices to redistribute into the meat but it will also allow the fibers of the protein to settle.

Whenever cutting meat, you want to cut against the grain. Look for the way the fibers of the protein are running and cut perpendicular to the fibers. Cutting against the grain will make chewing the meat easier, whereas cutting with the grain will make it more difficult to eat.

Cutting the steak against the grain.
Cutting the flank steak against the grain.

You can cut the steak and thinly as you’d like as long as it’s against the grain.

Serving the Authentic Steak Fajitas

When serving your steak fajitas, make sure you have an “assembly line” style so that those serving themselves can pick up as much or as little of each item as they would like.

After letting your steak rest for at least 10 minutes, slice it against the grain so that it is easier to eat.

Take a warmed tortilla (corn or flour) and fill it with two or three strips of the steak and top with the vegetables.

What to Serve with Fajitas:

How to Make the Best Steak Fajitas at Home

5 from 2 votes
Recipe by Sarah Course: Dinner, LunchCuisine: MexicanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

15

minutes
Cooking time

25

minutes
Calories

300

kcal

Making the best steak fajitas is easy to do at home. This recipe is easy to follow and you can even make it the night before if you’re strapped for time in the evenings.

Ingredients

  • flour or corn tortillas

  • 1.5 lbs 1.5 flank steak

  • 2 2 bell peppers (any color will work)

  • 1 1 red onion

  • 3 cloves 3 garlic, mined

  • 5 tbsp 5 olive oil (divided)

  • 2 tsp 2 chile powder

  • 1 tsp 1 cumin

  • 1 tsp 1 paprika

  • 1 bunch 1 cilantro

  • 1 1 lime

  • 1 1 jalapaño

Directions

  • Prepare the Marinade
  • Make the marinade. For the marinade, mix the cumin, paprika, chile powder and garlic together with 3 tbsps of the olive oil in a gallon plastic bag. Roughly chop the cilantro (setting aside a small handful for later) and add the cilantro along with the zest and juice of the lemon. Mince the garlic and add it to the bag.
  • Prep. Chop your peppers and onions so that they are all uniform in size. Making them all uniform will help them cook evenly.
  • Add your veggies. Vegetables. Add your cut up onions and peppers to your marinated meat mix.
  • Marinate. Let the steak and veggies marinate for at least one hour. This can be made the night before.
  • Making the Fajitas
  • Cooking the steak. Heat the remaining olive oil in a stovetop grill pan over medium-high heat. Place the marinated steak in the pan when the grill is hot and let sear for about 3 minutes. Cook evenly on each side, flipping every 2 to 3 minutes. Bring the meat to an internal temperature of 140 degrees for medium-rare doneness.
  • Rest the steak. When the meat is cooked to your liking, take it off the heat and place on a plate and cover with foil and let rest.
  • Onions and Peppers. While the steak rests, cook the veggies. Place your cut vegetables in the hot pan with the meat juices in it. Cook until the onions are tender but not overdone. About 7 minutes.
  • Heating the Tortillas. While the vegetables are cooking, heat your tortillas; either in a pan or in the oven so they are hot for serving.
  • Serve. Serve the tortillas, steak and vegetable mix together.

Notes

  • Add a couple of slices of pickled jalapeño to this recipe for some sweet heat.

Did you make the best steak fajitas at home? Tell me how they turned out in the comments below.

3 Comments

  1. Pingback: Fresh Guacamole at Home: How to Make It - Fluent Foodie

  2. This is a classic recipe that I made for my family. I made it without the onions and peppers but the seasoning was on point

  3. Pingback: Sarah Dickens (sarah5001) | Pearltrees

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