Chicken Fajitas (Roasted Style)

Words are not easy to come by these days. These fajitas were made quite a while ago, but because I didn’t really have an interesting story to share, I procrastinated writing about it. Now, the memory of how these exactly tasted like is vague… but I do know one thing for sure, they were good!

 

These fajitas were made with just two chicken thighs. Not a lot of meat but that’s the way I cook… use less meat and load up on the veggies! You won’t even know what’s missing. The chicken thighs that I used were not boneless. Truthfully, I prefer chicken with their bones in, there’s just so much more flavor in them that way.

 

The chicken thighs roasted in the oven along with the fajita vegetables. When the chicken was done, the meat was shredded off the bones and tossed back in the roasting pan to coat them with the lime and spice-infused chicken juices. These savory shredded chicken pieces were then tossed together with the roasted vegetables. Absolutely delicious! The only thing that makes this even better is serving it with a side of guacamole.   

 

Roasted Chicken Fajitas

Seasoning Mix
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly cracked
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Chicken
2 chicken thighs, bone in
1 teaspoon of seasoning mix
juice from 4-5 key limes, depending on size
2 teaspoons olive oil

Vegetables
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 large bell pepper, (I used green), sliced
2 carrots, sliced into fat 1 and ½ inch sticks
2 oz cremini mushrooms, or more, sliced
3 garlic cloves, smashed using the back of a spoon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
the rest of the seasoning mix

corn or flour tortillas


Stir the salt, pepper, and all the spices well together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Place the chicken thighs in a non-reactive bowl. Rub a teaspoon of the seasoning on the outside of both chicken pieces. Pour in the key lime juice and olive oil. Mix everything well with your hands. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 2 hours. Turn the chicken pieces over so the other side also gets soaked in the marinade after an hour or so. When it is time to roast the chicken, move the pieces to a slightly oiled, small roasting pan. I used a round cake pan for this.

After chopping each vegetable ingredient, toss into a roasting pan. Sprinkle salt all over and pour in the olive oil. Mix with your hands. Add the rest of the seasoning and mix well, making sure that everything gets coated with it. Let sit in the refrigerator until the oven is ready for roasting.

Set an oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake the chicken skin side down for 15 minutes. Pull it out of the oven and flip the chicken pieces to expose the skin and place it back in the oven. At this time, move the pan of vegetables into the oven as well. Set the timer for another 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, pull out both roasting pans. Flip the chicken pieces one more time and stir the vegetables. Place both roasting pans back in the oven and set the timer to 10 more minutes.

While the chicken is roasting, pull out your desired number of tortillas. Stack them on a piece of foil large enough to cover every inch of the tortilla stack. Completely wrap tortillas with the foil and place in the oven during the last 10 minutes of roasting time.

When the timer goes off after the last 10 minutes, turn the oven off. Pull out the chicken pan, but leave the vegetables and the tortillas. Carefully move the chicken pieces to a plate or chopping board and shred with two forks or a fork and a knife. Move the shredded chicken back to the roasting pan and stir to coat it with the juices left in the pan. Remove the vegetable pan from the oven and throw in the shredded chicken meat along with the leftover juice from the chicken pan for added flavor. Toss to mix everything together.

Carefully remove the tortillas from the oven. Serve the roasted fajitas on the tortillas with a side of guacamole and salsa or hot sauce.