Chicken Fajita Skillet
Spiced chicken and peppers on a grate, rolled into tortillas at the tailgate.
- calories
- 560
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 51
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 5, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 30 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Boneless skinless chicken breast | 2 lb | sliced into half-inch strips at home |
|---|---|---|
| Bell peppers | 3 | any color, seeded and sliced |
| Yellow onion | 1 large | sliced thick so it does not fall through |
| Garlic | 3 cloves | minced |
| Cooking oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Lime | 1 | |
| Cilantro | a handful | optional, wilts fast in a cooler |
| Flour tortillas | 10 small | |
| Chili powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Paprika | 2 tsp | |
| Cumin | 2 tsp | |
| Onion powder | 1 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Dried oregano | 1 tsp | |
| Cayenne | 1/4 tsp | |
| Salt and black pepper | 1 tsp each | |
| Toppings | as you like | salsa, guacamole, shredded cheese |
Method
- Get a bed of coals going, or run a propane grate on medium-high. Set a cast iron skillet or steel pan on it and let it come up to heat.
- Add the oil, then the chicken strips in one layer. Leave them alone for three minutes so they brown, then turn.
- Push the chicken to one side. Add peppers and onion and cook until the edges char, about five minutes.
- Stir in the garlic and the whole spice mix. Keep it moving for a minute so the spices toast instead of burning.
- Cook until no chicken strip is pink at the center, another three or four minutes.
- Squeeze the lime over the pan, scatter cilantro, and warm the tortillas directly on the grate for ten seconds a side.
- Build the wraps out of the pan and add toppings.
This is a home fajita pan moved onto a grate, and almost nothing had to change. Chicken strips, peppers, and onion all cook in the same time window over live fire, and the pan does the whole job, so cleanup is one skillet and a spatula.
The spice blend is the part worth doing at home. Eight jars is eight chances to spill something in the dirt, and premixed spice keeps for months in a film canister. The lime at the end is not garnish; the acid cuts through the char and wakes the whole pan back up. Skip it and the fajitas taste flat and dusty.
Packing
Slice the chicken and vegetables at home and bag them separately; raw chicken goes in a doubled bag at the bottom of the cooler. Mix all seven spices plus the salt and pepper into one small jar so camp is one pour, not eight.
Variations
- Swap the chicken for a can of drained black beans and a bag of frozen peppers for a meatless pan.
- Corn tortillas make it gluten-free and hold up better once they get greasy.
- No cooler? Two foil pouches of chicken breast, added at the end, get you most of the way there.
https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/healthy-dinner-recipes