Citrus Chicken Fajitas!

I love dishes that are packed with flavor, colorful, and simple and quick to make. This fajita chicken embodies all of those requirements, and they’re even better the next day as leftovers! The citrus juice adds a tangy kick to the fajitas. I adapted this recipe from my mom. Moms always make everything better, but I think these turned out pretty well!

To make these, you will need:

• 1 – 1.5-lb chicken breast or tenderloins
• Red, yellow, and orange peppers
• Large jalapeno pepper
• Red onion
• Garlic
• 2 – 3 large limes
• 2 medium lemons
• Olive oil
• Optional: 1 medium orange or 1/4 cup orange juice

The prep for these takes about 1 hour because the chicken needs to marinate. To save time, you can even marinate them overnight – just make sure they are in a tightly wrapped or sealed container.

First, dice the chicken into medium chunks. In a bowl, combine two tablespoons of olive oil, the lemon, lime, and orange juice, and the chicken. I usually eyeball the seasoning, but if that’s intimidating, you can use about 1/2 teaspoon – teaspoon of each, depending on your taste: salt, black pepper, paprika, granulated garlic, granulated onion, and cayenne. Let the chicken marinate in the juices for 45 minutes – 1 hour.

While the chicken is marinating, chop up the peppers, onion, and garlic. Once the marinating process is done, add the peppers to a pan with a little oil and sweat them down until they’re soft.

Next, add the chicken and cook on medium for about 20 minutes or until chicken is tender, stirring occasionally.

Once the chicken is cooked, it’s ready to serve! My favorite way to serve these are as lettuce wraps (using Romaine), but you can use low carb or corn tortillas, make a salad bowl, or serve as-is with sour cream, avocado, and cheese!

I was busy doing taxes tonight, so I didn’t have time to add a bunch of additions to these. They were still delicious! Serving them this way makes the perfect protein-packed, low carb meal!

If you would like to make a vegetarian version, I recommend substituting with Gardein chicken strips. You can also use hominy or potatoes, but be careful that the marinade doesn’t make them soggy. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do (and my husband does – he ate half the pan!).