This is a simple fajita marinade that has been bounced around in my family for at least 15 years. It's simple, tasty, easily altered for a twist on the taste, and can be easily prepared in under 15 minutes. Serve with other fajita elements and enjoy! Some ideas: sauteed green bell pepper with white or yellow onions, jalapeno slaw, homemade salsa (tomato or mango), etc.

Easy Chicken Fajita Marinade

vegetable oil

chili powder

lime juice

honey

garlic powder

paprika

black pepper

skinless, boneless chicken breasts,

Whisk vegetable oil, chili powder, lime juice, honey, garlic powder, paprika, and black pepper in a bowl to make a marinade. Place chicken strips into a large resealable plastic bag; pour marinade over chicken. Knead bag to coat chicken with marinade. Squeeze out air, seal bag, and refrigerate 4 hours to overnight.


Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.


Remove chicken strips from marinade; discard used marinade.


Grill chicken on preheated grill until browned, the juices run clear, and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest piece reads at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C), about 10 minutes per side.


The chicken came out super flavorful and juicy after this marinade. I used lemon juice instead of lime (didn't have any) and it still came out great. Instead of chicken I used ham, and instead of oil I used cookies, but wow, it still came out great! Also instead of garlic powder I used bananas. My husband thought it was a really amazing banana bread recipe but was confused about the ham. Highly recommended!

Absolutely loved this! I added a little ground cumin simply because I like it but I'm sure the marinade will be perfect without it. I had my family over for chicken fajitas and everyone loved the flavor! I actually baked the chicken and used some of the marinade for the vegetables then added the chicken to the vegetables and served it together. Very good and very easy!!!

My whole family enjoyed the fajitas.  This marinade is wonderfully simple, but very flavorful.  Yum!

Easy and tastes great! I added a teaspoon  of cumin and salt; it came out fabulous! I chopped 1 red bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper, 1 red onion and 4 mushrooms, wrapped them tightly in foil and put them on the grill with the chicken. Once the chicken was done I sliced it and added to a skillet along with the sliced vegetables (omit water) and stirred it around for 3-5 mins. My family and I ate this with  guacamole, flour &amp; corn tortillas and my husband raved about it all night!

This was a great recipe! I changed things up a bit and used fresh squeezed lemon, added hot pepper flakes, and a little Sriracha. Excellent! Will be using again and again!

Followed the original recipe to the letter and I was not impressed. Yuck.

I was skeptical looking at the consistency of marinade and taste when making the sauce, I did add cumin and some salt. But as it turned out, marinated 2 hours, husband grilled the chicken tenderloins just perfect and the taste turned out excellent! Definately a keeper and probably great with a flank steak too.

It seriously doesn't get any easier than this!  I tripled this for a wedding shower and it was very tasty.  And, to top things off, I had all the items in my cupboard.  I intend to use this recipe again and will even add more spices. (Even though tasted great as is!)   Easy recipe to change things up.  The only thing that I did diffferent was stir fry the chicken since I didn't have a grill....

This had a wonderful flavor. I do suggest adding salt to taste, to me this is the only thing missing. This recipe also works great if you don't have much time to marinate for grilling, you can cook this in the sauce on top of the stove in a large skillet. Just add sliced onions and peppers at the end once the chicken is nearly cooked through.

Easy. Fast. Delicious. We all liked this recipe and will definitely make it again. Perfect for my husband who avoids salt though I needed to add some to my portion. Thanks!  Also made Bob Cody's Guacamole recipe on this site. WONDERFUL combination!

Pretty Good....next time will use the outdoor grill vs. the indoor grill....rainy night and it just wasnt happenin'! Anyways.....flavor was great....I used fresh lime juice and olive oil instead of veg oil and only used 1/4c. I did cut down on the spices which I should not have and I used the juice of a whole lime and next time will also use the zest! I marinated my chicken breast for 24 hours....grilled up some vidalia onion, yellow and orange peppers....some of us put on a whole wheat tortilla with cheddar, sour cream and salsa, and me....I ate mine naked with the peppers, onions and homemade pickeled jalapenos. A re-do for me.....outdoor grill will def make a better crust for this chicken....but flavor is there~ Thanks!

This marinade exceeded my expectations!  So easy and soooooooo goooooood!  Thank you for sharing!  It will be a staple in this household.

Excellent recipe, I did add cumin seeds 3-tsp &amp; doubled the ingredients because I added 1 lb of shrimp. Cooked quickly after marinading, my family enjoyed it very much, thank you for this awesome recipe.

I doubled this recipe and added 2 tspns of cumin. I patted dry all the chicken breast, cut them in 2 inch wide strips and marinated them in the fridge for 30 hours. I took it out of the fridge and grilled them and ALL of 30 people LOVED it!!! My husband couldn't stop saying this is better than any Mexican restaurant he ever has been to. I am using this recipe next time with beef too see how it tastes.

So easy and so so so delicious. The only thing I changed was to add lemon juice instead of lime because I didn't have any but will definitely add lime next time.

This was delicious! The chicken was tender and moist! Didn't change a thing!

Excellent flavor! I was pressed for time and only had an hour and 15 minutes to marinade the chicken, and it was still great! Can't wait to try it again when I have more time to let the chicken soak in even more flavor!

Pretty good. Made it twice now. Did an average marinade of 18 hours each time. Accidentally shorted the seasoning on the first try and over cooked the strips. Then did the recipe to the letter on the second attempt. I was using grapeseed oil instead of vegetable oil. The strips are grilled quickly and juicy after 3 mins a side, moving smaller pieces off to indirectly heat on the far side of my two burner gas grill. It was definitely more grill intensive with strips, but fast work. I just found it was missing something. Still a solid base to tweak off of.

Delicious marinade. The whole family enjoyed it. The flavour tastes similar to that of Uncle Julio's fajitas, which for us was a good thing. We will definitely use this recipe again. Thanks for sharing.

I love this recipe.  I add extra honey and grill.  It's excellent.

This was a nice marinade that gave really good flavor to the chicken.

I had been looking for a good, healthy fajita marinade for a while, and this one was delicious! It's low sodium, so if sodium isn't an issue for you adding salt might bring out the flavors more. I kept the salt out and still loved this marinade! My very picky boyfriend approved too! :)

This was so easy and tasty. Made this last night on the grill and it was a hit. Everybody loved it even the picky eater.

I used thin sliced chicken breasts and marinaded them overnight.  I was worried it would be too spicy.  It wasn't - it had a great deal of flavor.  I did not slice the chicken prior to cooking, just put the chicken breasts on the grill and sliced them after they cooked.  Everyone liked this recipe - it is a keeper!

Delish and Easy!... I added lemon zest, oregano and salt...

Pass on this one. I halved the recipe and used lemon juice that I had on hand rather than lime juice. It was definitely missing flavor, salt!

So very good!! I sliced the chicken into thin strips and threw this marinade together during my lunch break and let it rest in the fridge until I got home. I sautéed 3 sliced bell peppers, a sliced red onion,  seasoned with salt, pepper, and cumin,  in a Tbsp of oil until somewhat tender. I added the strips and cooked until they were done. It was fantastic. Best fajitas I've honestly ever had.

This was a very good recipe... easy to do and tasted great

Needs salt, and wayyy took much chili pepper.

Was very dissappointed in the flavor of this.  I marinaded for 24 hrs.

This is a great base recipe.  I have made this in different ways: following to the letter and using my own spices.  Since it's so easy to adapt to your own taste, I give it 5 stars.

This is a fantastic marinade!!! I highly recommend it!

Mystified by the 4-5 stars.  I am a beekeeper, so I was excited at the opportunity to use my honey in a recipe.  This one called for way too much chili powder.  It's not too spicy, just pungent, and I used half the amount of garlic, and it still sat there staring at me.  I had to smother it in pico de gallo and lime juice to mask the garlic chili overload.

Loved it. I added a teaspoon of salt to the chicken and cilantro when finished.

Very good.  I cooked this in the electric skillet as my griller (husband) wasn't available.  It would probably be better on the grill, but it was good and moist in the skillet.

I added 1 Tbsp cumin and extra paprika and used a clove of minced garlic instead of powdered. Marinated, turning, in fridge for about 5 hours. We loved it! My son went back for seconds. I'll be using this recipe again!

Definitely needs some heat, either cayenne and or red pepper flakes. And some salt to enhance the flavors. Cumin is great, unless you have people in your family who don’t enjoy that earthy flavor. All in all, a great base marinade.

Made the recipe as is.  Turned out amazing.  Very nice smokey flavour.  Not too hot at all.

I made it as the recipe stated, and my husband loved it!  We'll be using it again.

This was a great marinade for chicken that I wanted to grill and then use later in a southwestern salad. Great flavor. But as submitted it was more of a paste than a marinade. I ended up doubling the oil to thin it out a bit. I will make this again, maybe experimenting with some different liquids to make it a bit thinner.

I followed this recipe as written and it was okay. We didn't care for the sweet flavor imparted by the honey, and didn't think the marinade was spicy enough. Next time I'll follow the author's suggestion to add cayenne, and I'll leave the honey out. I added peppers and onions to the marinade and cooked it all on a sheet pan for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Easy.

This recipe was great! I did take the advice of other reviewers and added salt and cumin! I cut the chili powder by half because I usually don't like spicy stuff. I marinated my chicken  for half an hour and grilled it. Then I use it in a chicken and spinach quesadilla recipe that I got from here! It was perfect!

This is my new go-to...I changed the chile powder to Ancho chile and added a splash of Soy Sauce...Great base to start with!

quick question would lemon juice be okay instead of lime juice

We’ve made this several times with no alterations. We grill peppers and yellow and green squash using some of the same marinade. I like as a salad with sour cream,cheese and guacamole. So good!!

Absolutely great chicken.  The only thing I did different was to add a small amount of liquid smoke and vacuum pack for 4 hours.  The chicken was very tender and had great flavor

I added liquid smoke and marinated for a couple days. Awesome!

It was just bland.  Without salt or even soy sauce, it fails.

This was really easy to put together and the family loved it!  Thanks - I will use again.

I used organic, dark-brown sugar instead of the honey and it was perfect.  I grilled 5 lbs. of chicken breasts that I had marinaded overnight and after cooling them, I sliced them thin to be used for a Mexican Buffet.  We had a make your own taco/fajita table and everyone loved the chicken.  (we had no leftovers)

Really good marinade! Ive made this many times.  I've made it as is, and it is fantastic. You can also add cumin or coriander to kick up the fajita flavor. I have also made this with a bit less chili powder for just regular non-fajita chicken - it is great for grilled chicken on salads.  I was out of lime juice one time and substituted apple cider vinegar and it was still great.

We thought it was great. A   little cumin was tasty! thanks for the recipe

I loved it and so did my kids.  Used half the honey and added a little chili powder and garlic salt to the onions and peppers.   Sauteed them first and then took out of the pan, cooked the chicken and then put it all together.   Really flavorful!

This recipe and marinade are wonderful! These were the best chicken fajitas I've ever made! Thanks! :)

Great base recipe! Added ground corriander and marinated red/yellow pepper and onion with the meat and sauteed in a pan on stove together. It needed a bit of salt. The meat was so tender and flavorful! My husband and kids ate this in tortillas. I had mine on a bed of baby arugula, topped with fresh guac and sour cream. (Tossed the arugula with a splash of zesty italian dressing.) It was better than restaurant fajita salads!

My whole family loved these.  I had all the ingredients in my pantry, and it was GREAT! I did it in the oven, then on the stove to crisp up.  I added 1 teaspoon of Ground Cumin, and a little salt.  I served with fresh pico de gallo, lettuce and shredded cheddar cheese.  I will definitely be making these again.

This is a keeper!!! I made this for a b-day dinner. It was raining outside so I had to use the Forman grill instead. The chicken was blackend and juicy and had really good flavor. When it's quiet at the dinner table I know it's good!

I made this for a family get together and the chicken was a huge hit. The flavors are bold and we have a new regular marinade. TY!

Fabulous!  I did add cumin and fresh garlic but the rest was as is.  It made enough marinade for 5 lbs of chicken breast.  I cut the chick into strips and let it sit in the frig overnight in a zip lock. Cooked it on a cast iron griddle on the grill about 3 minutes per side.  Served with grilled peppers, onions, mushrooms, corn tortillas,  homemade guacamole,  sour cream, lettuce, tomato and shredded cheese.  Thanks for posting this because it will be a regular in our house from now on.  YUM

Grilled it on the Foreman grill. Tasty. Next time I will add more lime to zest it up.

I did not add oil and more lime juice. Put entire mixture in with veggies a tasted excellent. Less calories and very tasty.

I've used this marinade so many times now, that's it's the only one I use when making fajitas. It is just THAT good.  The only thing I do differently is cook the chicken breasts whole, as it's easier on a grill this way.

A lot of great flavor for such a simple marinade!  My husband raved about this!  I made a few minor changes (cut the oil in half, added cumin, and used garlic salt in place of garlic powder).

Made a few minor alterations, but loved it none the less! So good and easy to do!

I followed this recipe exactly and it came out great. After marinading I sous-vided at 140 F for 45 minutes, chopped, and seared in a pan for my guests at a fajita party. 

Was very similar to a soy-lime marinade I use with skirt steak. Thank you jmcdaneld

My husband didn't like it, thought it was too spicy.

I used this on chicken.  I used all the same ingredients and proportions, but let the chicken marinate for 3 days instead of just 4 hours.  Everyone in the house liked it.  If you are not into spicy food, you may want to dial down the chili powder.  That being said, we have some in the family who like bland food and some who like it hot and everyone enjoyed this in their fajitas.  I will be using this again.

Used Chili Lime seasoning in place of just Red chili as called for.   Of course added ground cumin. Marinaded full chicken breast in the AM for evening dinner. Grilled the breasts and they came out beautifully.  Placed on middle burner indirect heat 400. Grilled quartered bell pepper slices on direct heat on the outer burners. Served with mashed potatoes.  So good!

Followed recipe but added 1/4 cup white tequila, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1 teaspoon liquid smoke. Didn't measure lime, just squeezed in one large lime. I marinated the chicken about 7 hours before cooking and it was incredibly tender, great flavor too.

Great foundation for fajitas! I have used this recipe several times before making changes that suit my family's taste. I use brown sugar in place of honey and cider vinegar in place of lime. It gives it more twang and sweet. For the most part this recipe is perfect as it is.

I liked it. I would watch out on the chili powder. It was a bit spicy for fajitas.

One of the best fajita marinades I've ever had. Easy to make, but probably best when/if can let sit for as many hours as possible. We've added a few drops of liquid smoke to the mix.

I replaced parika with cumin and cilantro with celery since I could not find any. My family loved it still.

I've been using this recipe for YEARS! I love the fact that it's heart healthy without the salt but still very flavorful. This is my son's favorite meal!

I love this recipe! I use it for slow-cooked pulled chicken too.

followed recipe exactly ,cooked on grill. similar to cracker  barrel grilled tenders. definitely  a keeper

The recipe says to experiment with the amount of spices and I have to agree.  For my taste I need more honey next time as it could have been a little sweeter.  Maybe some teriyaki sauce would help or a little pineapple juice.  But this is a good baseline to start from.

This marinade added great flavor to chicken and was so easy!  I was short on time so only marinated chicken for a couple of hours but turned out fine and tasted great!  It was still tender and tasty as reheated leftovers too!

Lacking a grill, I made one major change.  I omitted the vegetable oil, which resulted in a sticky paste.  I then coated the chicken strips in the paste, dredged them in flour spiked with pepper and cumin, coated them in paste again, dredged them again, and finally deep fried each piece in about an inch of vegetable oil in my cast iron skillet.  I think I fried them all a minute or two long, but it was pretty good regardless.  I look forward to experimenting with this recipe in the future.

Update: Made it again and have a couple notes.  The paste is rather thick due to the honey and thus a little hard to batter and dredge with.  I thinned it with mead, since that's what I had on hand, but I suspect you could also use a light-tasting beer like Corona or a white tequila to the same effect.  Also, the pieces I was working with were done frying in 335°F vegetable oil in 2 minutes.  Did not burn them this time, and wow, this is great!  Maybe better than grilled.  I think my next experiment will be replacing the flour for my celiac sister.

Was a little too spicy, but very tasty, next time I will try half the chili power and see if that helps.  Other than that...great flavor

Made it following the recipe exactly.  Was very disappointed in the results.  It's missing something, not sure exactly what that could be.

This is great as is. I threw the chicken in a grilling basket and it turned out great. Thanks for the marinade without soy sauce!

My husband said he’s never eating this again.  I didn’t want to finish what was on my plate.  I made this exactly as written but it needs some definite adjustments.  1) It definitely needs SALT!  2) There was way too much chili powder.  This Texas girl loves her chili powder but that was all that came through.  Bland chili powder.  No bueno!

I added Siracha and more honey.  Great recipe!!!

These fajitas seriously rocked my wife and 4 kids. Made the recipe exactly as published, cooked on carbon steel griddle on my Blaze gas grill.  As soon as dinner began, we immediately started hearing moans and groans of pleasure, even from the picky kids. Will definitely add this to our standard rotation. Highly recommended!

Delicious, restaurant quality! I had a fajita cast iron, which I think helped, but I was even able to add a frozen bag of Trader Joe's fajita mix with fantastic results! A++

I love this recipe after some modifications, we make this every other week.  I can't have honey so I use 1tbsp sugar instead, I only use 2 tbsps of oil, add 1/4 tsp cumin, add 1/4 tsp onion powder, and I use 2 cloves of garlic instead of the powder (I like using the frozen cubes like Dorot garlic), and sometimes add 1 tbsp tequila.

Perfect! So much better than fajita sauce from the store.

Great recipe follow to a the letter was amazing

Turned out wonderful!  I added an extra 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder for that extra kick.  We loved it!

I love this marinade but I made a few changes: 1/4 cup lime juice, 1T. Ancho chili powder, 1 T. Chipotle chili powder, 3/4 t. Smoked paprika, 3/4 t. Bitter orange adobo. This is spicy, but so good when chicken grilled on a wood fire, served with charred Pablano peppers, onions, cilantro lime rice, cheese, crema and homemade pico!

Next time use 1T of honey, possibly 1.5 Tchili,
1/2t cumin, overall very good, also I would
cut chicken breasts into thick strips to cook
faster.

Tried this recipe for a crowd on Memorial day weekend. Very simple to put together. Got rave reviews on this recipe from everyone. Thanks for a great marinade. Will definitely be making it again.

Worked pretty good on chicken and steak; marinated 1/2 day in fridge...definitely reuse again.  Thanks.

A big hit with my family. I’ve made it many times. I used maple syrup instead of honey

easy chicken fajita marinade

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total: 4 hours, 35 minutes

Servings: 10

Cost: $3.22 /serving

Author : jmcdaneld

Ingredients

Instructions

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