Skillet Steak Fajitas
Steak, peppers, and a chipotle-lime rub cooked hot in one pan over the fire.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 56
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 40 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
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Flank or skirt steak | 1.5 lb | sliced thin against the grain at home |
|---|---|---|
| Chipotle powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Cumin | 2 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1 tsp | |
| Lime juice | 1/4 cup | bottled travels fine |
| Olive oil | 6 tbsp | divided |
| Yellow onion | 1 large | sliced 1/4 inch |
| Bell peppers | 1 green, 1 red | sliced 1/4 inch |
| Garlic | 4 cloves | sliced |
| Flour tortillas | 12 | |
| Sliced jalapeno | 1 | optional |
Method
- Mix the chipotle, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a cup. Put two thirds of it on the steak with the lime juice and 2 tbsp oil. Let it sit while the fire burns down.
- Get a bed of coals and set the skillet on the grate. It needs to be properly hot, not warm.
- Add 2 tbsp oil, then the onion and peppers. Leave them alone for a couple minutes at a time so they char instead of steam. Season with the rest of the spice mix. Pull them into a bowl or a pot lid when they are soft with black edges.
- Add the last 2 tbsp oil and the steak in a single layer. Two minutes a side, working in batches if the pan is crowded. Toss in the sliced garlic at the end so it does not burn.
- Return the vegetables to the pan, stir once, and take it off the heat.
- Warm the tortillas on the grate for a few seconds each and build them at the pan.
This is a car-camping dinner, not a pack meal. It needs a cooler and a heavy skillet, and both of those are fine when you are cooking twenty feet from the car.
The work that matters happens at home: slicing the steak thin against the grain and cutting the peppers to a uniform quarter inch. In camp you are managing one variable, which is heat. Cook the vegetables and the meat separately over real coals and let each one sit still long enough to char. Crowd them together in a lukewarm pan and everything releases water and turns grey. The lime and chipotle sit on the steak the whole time the fire is burning down, which is the marinade doing its work for free.
Packing
Slice the steak and vegetables at home and bag them separately. Premix the spices in a film canister or small jar. Everything but the tortillas and spices lives in the cooler.
Variations
- A pound of peeled shrimp cooked two minutes at the end stretches this to eight people.
- Queso fresco or a hard cheese crumbled over the top if you have cooler space.
- Corn tortillas instead of flour if you need it gluten free.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/cast-iron-steak-shrimp-fajitas