Beef fajitas with marinated beef, colorful peppers, and onions wrapped up in tortillas make for a delicious weeknight dinner. This is an easy recipe that will satisfy the craving for Mexican food – especially if you add some chips and salsa on the side.
There’s a lot to love about beef fajitas: it’s an easy recipe to make, it’s colorful, loaded with veggies, and plenty of juicy beef that cooks fast in a hot skillet.
The recipe I’m sharing is an easy dinner for two but easily doubles to serve more. Add some chips, guacamole, salsa, and a few margaritas on the side amp up the happy quotient.
Oh, and bonus (!) – fajitas are a great make-ahead meal, so feel free to prep and cook them on a Sunday and then warm them up for an easy dinner or lunch during the week.
Beef Marinade
It all starts with the beef. Traditional recipes call for skirt steak or flank steak, but I use chuck eye roast. It’s less expensive compared to skirt and flank steak and I find it tastes just as good. You can also use sirloin, which is a little pricier.
Whichever cut of beef you decide to use, be sure to marinate it first. It requires some advanced planning, but the wait is worth it. Here’s what you need:
- Olive oil
- Soy sauce
- Honey
- Garlic
- Dried oregano, cumin, and black pepper
- Red wine vinegar
Marinate it for at least a few hours, or (ideally) overnight.
How to Make Them
Slice the bell peppers and red onion. I like a variety of bell peppers for a colorful presentation, but use your favorite combo.
Remove the beef from the marinade and pat it dry. This will make it easier to get a nice sear.
Cook the beef in a hot pan until it’s nicely seared and the internal temperature is 140 to 145°F. Transfer it to a cutting board to rest while you cook the veggies.
In the same pan, cook the peppers and onions until they are softened about 10 minutes. While they cook, thinly slice the beef against the grain.
Add the sliced beef back to the pan, stir to combine it all, and garnish with some fresh chopped cilantro. Serve with tortillas and your favorite toppings like sour cream, freshly squeezed lime juice, and extra cilantro.
Different Ways to Serve Them
Wrapping the beef and peppers up in flour tortillas is delicious, but there are other ways to enjoy beef fajitas:
- Serve them over cilantro lime rice and add some sliced avocado, cilantro, and sour cream.
- Toss the steak, peppers, and onions with crisp romaine lettuce, black beans, corn, and crushed tortilla chips for a fajita salad.
Happy fajita-making!
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Beef Fajitas
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Description
These beef fajitas are easy to prep, but the beef needs at least a couple of hours to marinate. All together it takes about 20 minutes to prep it all and about 20 minutes to cook making this an easy weeknight dinner. This recipe serves two hungry people.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 2 cloves of garlic, smashed
- 1 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 pound chuck eye roast (see note)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 bell peppers, sliced into strips
- 1/2 red onion, sliced
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Combine the olive oil, soy sauce, vinegar, honey, garlic, oregano, cumin, and pepper in a large resealable freezer bag. Place the beef in the bag, seal it, and then smush it around in the marinade to coat it evenly. Place the bag in the refrigerator for at least two hours or up to eight.
- Lightly coat a cast-iron skillet with vegetable oil and heat it over medium heat. Pat the beef with paper towels to absorb excess marinade (it will help the beef sear). Once the pan is hot, cook the beef until nicely seared on the first side, about 5 minutes. Flip the beef over and let it sear on the other side. Check the temperature with a meat thermometer and once it reads 140-145°F, remove the beef from the pan. Let it rest on a cutting board while you prepare the vegetables.
- Cook the bell peppers and onions in the same pan as the beef until softened, about ten minutes. While the vegetables cook, slice the beef against the grain into thin slices. Once the vegetables have cooked, add the sliced beef back in (along with the juices on the cutting board. Add the chopped cilantro and toss it all together.
- Serve with tortillas and your favorite toppings.
Notes
If you can’t find chuck eye roast, substitute flank steak, skirt steak,or sirloin. I bought a 1-pound piece of beef and cut it in half. I used one-half for this recipe and froze the second piece to use later.
Nutrition note: You will discard most of the marinade, but it is included in the nutrition estimate so it is over estimated. Also, it does not include tortillas or toppings.
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Sear
- Cuisine: Mexican-American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 of recipe
- Calories: 484
- Sugar: 11.4g
- Sodium: 542.1mg
- Fat: 35.4g
- Saturated Fat: 5.9g
- Unsaturated Fat: 28.1g
- Trans Fat: 0.4g
- Carbohydrates: 18.7g
- Fiber: 3.6g
- Protein: 26.6g
- Cholesterol: 83.9mg
Keywords: beef fajitas, marinated beef fajitas
Post, recipe, and photos updated from the archives. First published July 2009.
The nutrition information in this recipe is an estimate only and was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.
carol says
I made these tonight. I followed the recipe exactly but then realized I didnt! I accidently sliced the meat BEFORE cooking it. Turned out good though!! So easy to make and my husband liked it. I will make this again. Thank you!
★★★★★
carol says
accidentally. 🙂
★★★★★
April Anderson says
I’m so glad you loved it!
Tammy says
Haha! I did the same thing with the beef! It does work just as well…we enjoyed this recipe and will make it again; and I will slice the beef prior to cooking it again!