The Dinner Plan's Sheet-Pan Chicken Fajitas-Famous Fridays
Hiya! Whew! What a week! Could it be any busier? If you’re caught in the swirl of activity that seems to be latching on to just about everyone I know, then this Famous Fridays is especially for you, ‘cause today I’m featuring the brilliant time-saving and lifesaving Dinner Plan: Simple Weeknight Recipes and Strategies for Every Schedule by Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion. The book is chock full of easy to prepare, foolproof, busy-people recipes, like these amazing sheet-pan fajitas, that will totally simplify your life and earn you cheers from the people that are making your life so busy!!
Two busy moms are the brainchild behind Dinner Plan and believe me, they speak from what they know. Not only is the book divided into easy-to find-categories like Fish & Shellfish, Chicken & Turkey, Eggs, Rice & Meatless etc, but all of the dishes come with strategies to serve all the members in your family at different times if necessary, so that on those nights when one of your kids has soccer at 5:30, the other one has play practice that starts at 6:00, you’ve got a PTA meeting at 7:30 and your spouse won't be home from until 8:00, everyone can enjoy a tasty and healthy dinner without the food being dried out or over cooked. Of course, the book advocates for dinnertime together (so do I) but let’s be real, right? Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do! Happily, I've already made a bunch of dishes from the book and each one has come together easily without a lot of difficult ingredients and been a hands down winner. Promise to share those soon too.
But for now, even though we’re busy, I’ve got to spend a few minutes raving about these one-pan chicken fajitas. I think I’ve made it three times in the last month and again just this week when my husband requested it for his birthday dinner! And once again there were no leftovers! Don’t count on having this for lunch the next day if you know what I mean!
And one more boon for you busy folk—since you line the one pan you use with parchment paper, there's virtually no cleanup either!! It’s a win-win all around!
Tender, spicy grilled chicken, roasted red onions, peppers and cherry tomatoes with the spike of fresh lime juice, all wrapped up in a warm floury tortilla--seriously we’ve hit dinner heaven!! You could even cut up your veggies and chicken, season them and then store in an airtight container or resealable bag up to a day ahead, which means that all you'd have to do was spread the mixture out on a baking sheet, give it all a good toss and bake. I mean really, what more can you ask out of life?!!
And speaking of life, did I mention it’s busy? Yup, time is ticking away so...pick up a copy of the Dinner Plan, cook up something easy and yummy this weekend and I'll see you next week. Gotta run!!
The Dinner Plan's Sheet-Pan Chicken Fajitas-Famous Fridays
Makes 4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes; Bake Time: 30-45 minutes
Ingredients
- Eight fajita-sized flour tortillas
- 2 red bell peppers (or any color you prefer), stems and seeds removed and cut into thin strips
- 1 red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
- 1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes, if they’re very large cut them in half
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut lengthwise into thin strips
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder or 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Salt and black pepper
- The juice of ½ a lime
- Sliced avocado, shredded cheese, salsa and sour cream (optional)
The Recipe
1. Preheat oven to 425º F and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the peppers, onion, tomatoes and chicken on the pan and sprinkle on the oil, chili powder, garlic and some salt and pepper. The easiest way to mix this up is to just use your hands so that everything gets well coated. Try to spread the mixture into a single even layer. Wash your hands well and place the pan in the oven.
2. Bake for 20 minutes and give the mixture a good stir. Return the pan to the oven to cook until chicken is entirely cooked through and veggies are tender and starting to brown. We generally like food on the well done side, so I cook this for another 20-25 minutes. When mixture is done, sprinkle with lime juice and toss well.
3. While the chicken is cooking you can wrap the tortillas in foil to heat in the oven right before fajita mixture is done or heat them over the burner one at a time if you like some char on them.
4. Fill warm tortillas with chicken mixture, add any extras and serve immediately.
5. If you like you can totally prepare the fajita mixture up to one day before up to the baking part and store it in an airtight container or resealable bag in the fridge. When ready to bake, just put it on the lined baking sheet, give the mixture a good toss and proceed with the recipe. Also this doubles well for a bigger crew.
Enjoy!
Note: Recipe adapted from Dinner Plan by Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion. I tinkered with some of the proportions and left out the teaspoon of cumin and coriander and the fresh cilantro but add 'em in if they float your boat. This is a very versatile recipe and you could sub in or out a whole lot.
