Chicken Fajita Salad

Juicy chicken thighs, bell pepper, and onion are combined with avocado, tomatoes, and ranch dressing to create a light and refreshing dinner salad for two. Serve for Cinco de Mayo or as a simple gluten-free Mexican supper.Chicken Fajita Salad

Chicken Fajita Salad

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J, my cat, is completely enamored with my food. particularly when it’s chicken.Chicken Fajita Salad
He’s the pickiest cat in the world, you see. Eats just chicken. Just pate or shred. won’t consume thick food. Just specific brands.Chicken Fajita Salad

Even yet, he occasionally skips meals, only to eat them an hour later when his hunger strike is ended.Chicken Fajita Salad

I sometimes wonder how he managed to eat at the shelter before I took him in.Chicken Fajita Salad

He consumes all of his food when he eventually gives up, so no, he is not ill.Chicken Fajita Salad

My worst error was letting J taste some of my fresh chicken. He’s in my face all the time now while I eat.

He sits in my lap when I’m at the dinner table. He’s usually on my chest or right next to me, with one paw on my leg, when I’m eating on the couch.

He snatches pizza rolls from my plate, sticks his face in my salad bowl, and even tries to block my fork when I raise it to my face.

He gets so delighted when I cut steak because he believes it to be chicken. Until it’s not, everything is always chicken.

He rushes to the kitchen if the air fryer beeps, assuming it’s chicken (that is, Air Fryer Chicken Fajitas, sometimes), but it’s usually just tater tots.

He rushes over for a taste if I eat a candy bar from my cabinet because it might be chicken this time.

He had a few bits, decided he didn’t like it, and then went, so I left my dish of chicken fajita salad unattended twice and returned with the salad all over the floor.

I make Chicken Fajita Salad every week, and while it might not be cat-approved, it is definitely human-approved.

Since I gave you my steak fajitas, I wanted to provide you instructions on how to make chicken fajitas as well, even though I usually make them with steak rather than chicken.

In this manner, you may choose the protein you want to use and then choose whether to serve your fajitas as a taco salad or on corn tortillas.

Ranch dressing is drizzled over chicken, avocado, tomatoes, cilantro, sweet bell pepper, and onion in this dinner salad for two.

It is served over lettuce with ranch dressing and is comparable to my chicken fajita pasta.

On a hot summer day, this is a cool dinner to prepare. particularly if you want to consume more vegetables.

What are fajitas?

The Tex-Mex cuisine known as fajitas, which is pronounced “fah-hee-tahs,” consists of grilled meat, typically beef or chicken, fajita spice, colorful sweet bell peppers, and onions, all of which are served in a tortilla.

As the name suggests, fajitas can also be served as a taco salad.

Does making fajitas require marinating the chicken?

You don’t have to marinate your chicken for fajitas in order to make my chicken fajita salad.

While it’s not required for tender chicken, I occasionally use a marinade for steak fajitas to help soften the beef.

Rather, I season my chicken with homemade fajita seasoning before cooking it.

You can use the marinade from my beef fajita recipe if you really want to use one.

Ingredients for Salad with Chicken Fajitas

This recipe for chicken fajita salad calls for the following ingredients:

• Boneless skinless chicken: Dark meat is juicier and tastes better, therefore I like to use chicken thighs. But if you want white meat, you may also use chicken breast.
• Fajita seasoning: The majority of your flavor will originate from this! To save time, you can purchase a store-bought package or make your own mix (recipe included).
• Oil: This is used to cook the vegetables and chicken. Since flavor is irrelevant, I suggest using vegetable, canola, or olive oil.
• Sliced onion: The best onions are white or yellow.
• Sweet bell pepper: Because they are sweeter than green bell peppers, use red, orange, or yellow bell peppers. Since you only need one pepper, you can use a small amount of each hue or just one.
• Salt: While the vegetables are cooking, salt extracts moisture. You can use table salt, but I like to use kosher.
• Lettuce: To be honest, I detest lettuce. I tried to follow the instructions by using red leaf lettuce, but I prefer to eat mine with arugula and spinach. You may eat it with romaine as well.
• Avocado: Because avocado is a good source of protein, it gives the salad body and helps you avoid feeling hungry after eating it.
• Tomatoes: Every taste is enhanced by the acidic and brightening effects of tomatoes. You can use sliced tomatoes, but I used grape tomatoes that had been cut in half.
• Ranch dressing: Since making chicken fajita salad requires a lot of preparation, I took a small respite by using bottled ranch dressing. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, I do have homemade jalapeño ranch dressing.
• Cilantro: All Tex-Mex recipes require cilantro! As long as it doesn’t seem soapy to you, of course.
• Lime: The acidity is what transforms a bland salad into a fantastic one.

When making fajitas, do you cut the chicken before or after cooking?

Depending on the type of chicken you’re using, you can cut it either before or after cooking it for fajitas.

When put out flat, boneless chicken thighs, like the ones I used, are often very thin. Because they’re so thin, you may cook your thighs as is and carve your chicken after cooking.

On the other hand, boneless chicken breasts are significantly thicker. The surface will burn before the middle is cooked through if you cook them whole.

Before frying your chicken breast for fajitas, cut it into strips unless you’re using thin cutlets or butterfly cut the flesh.

How to Prepare a Salad with Chicken Fajitas

Heat the oil in a big 12-inch skillet before preparing the chicken fajita salad. Apply the fajita seasoning to your chicken while it’s heating up.

Make sure there is adequate space for the chicken when you add it in a single layer once the oil is hot. Overcrowding will cause the meat to steam instead than brown.

Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, then turn and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, or until the center is 165 degrees Fahrenheit and no longer pink. Keep heated after transferring to a platter.

Add your bell pepper and onion to the same skillet, making sure to scrape away any remaining brown bits. If not, you can add a bit extra oil and salt, but there should be enough left over from the chicken.

Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until browned and softened. Add any chicken juices that have collected on the dish to your vegetables.

Combine the cooked veggies, lettuce, avocado, and tomatoes in a large salad bowl. Add your chicken as well, sliced.

Garnish with lime juice, ranch dressing, and cilantro.

Additionally, you can substitute guacamole for avocado or fresh garden salsa for tomatoes.

Is it better to cut chicken against the grain or with it?

Slice the chicken thinly against the grain, whether you do this before or after cooking.

The lines you see in the meat are called grain. Cutting perpendicular to the grain is referred to as cutting against the grain.

Your meat will be more difficult to chew if you cut it in the same direction as the grain.

Is it possible to prepare the chicken fajita salad in advance?

It is possible to prepare the chicken fajita salad in advance. Almost all of it, anyway.

After cooking the chicken and veggies, let them to cool. Once cooled, store in the refrigerator until serving time.

Additionally, you chop your lettuce and tomatoes in advance, but you might want to hold off on slicing the avocado because it will quickly turn brown.

See my avocado burgers for tips on how to choose and cut your avocado.

Wait until you’re ready to eat before assembling your salad. If not, it might get wet.

Serving Ideas for Chicken Fajita Salad

When your chicken fajita salad is ready to eat, what do you serve it with? Take a look at these recipes:

• Margarita Popsicles
• Homemade Spanish Rice and
• Frozen Mango Margaritas

Chicken Fajita Salad

A cool dinner salad for two, chicken fajitas are made with juicy chicken, bell pepper, and onion and are topped with avocado, tomato, and ranch dressing.

Ingredients

• One large boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced into strips, or four small, boneless, skinless chicken thighs, left whole
• Get the recipe here. 1 tablespoon of fajita seasoning
• To taste, add salt (ideally kosher).
• One tablespoon of vegetable oil
• Half of a tiny white or yellow onion, cut into slices (about 1 cup)
• One sliced red, orange, yellow, or mixed sweet bell pepper
• Four cups of chopped lettuce (romaine and red leaf are good choices)
• One sliced avocado
• Half a cup of grape tomatoes, cut in half
• Two tablespoons of freshly cut cilantro
• One tablespoon of freshly squeezed lime juice
• For serving, use ranch dressing

Instructions

• Coat the chicken by rubbing it with the fajita spices. You might wish to sprinkle some salt on your chicken if the seasoning doesn’t contain a lot of it.
• Heat the oil in a big 12-inch skillet. Once heated, arrange the chicken in a single layer, making ensuring the thighs are flat if using them. Cook for 3–4 minutes, or until browned.
• After flipping, cook for a further three to four minutes, or until the middle is no longer pink and the food is brown. Move to a bowl or plate and keep warm.
• Add the bell pepper, onion, and a generous teaspoon of salt to the same skillet, making sure to scrape out any remaining brown pieces. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until softened and beginning to brown.
• The chicken should have left over enough oil and salt, but if not, add more.
• Slice the chicken thigh against the grain (cut perpendicular to the lines you see in the meat) and then add any fluids that have gathered from the chicken to the vegetables.
• Add the cooked veggies, sliced chicken, lime juice, lettuce, avocado, tomatoes, and cilantro to a large serving bowl. Serve with as much ranch dressing as you like.