Jump to Recipe

Easy Chicken Fajita Bake is an easy Mexican chicken dish that’s moist and tender and smothered with onions and peppers all simmered in a deliciously seasoned sauce.  This is one of those easy baked chicken recipes that you can make any night of the week.

Easy Chicken Fajita Bake is a healthy Mexican chicken dish that's moist and tender and smothered with tomatoes, onions and peppers

This Mexican chicken dish has all the ingredients for traditional fajitas with the added benefit of simmering in an amazing sauce.  

Easy Chicken Fajita Bake is a healthy Mexican chicken dish that's moist and tender and smothered with tomatoes, onions and peppers

The sauce is made with fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro, a wee bit of chicken broth and some seasoning. It’s especially delicious if you add a touch of adobo sauce and a chopped chili for a slightly smokey flavor, or you can add a little jalapeño if you want to turn up the heat a bit.  

Mexican Chicken Recipe

Here’s what you’ll need to make the sauce:

  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • Fresh tomatoes
  • Yellow onion
  • Garlic
  • Fresh cilantro, chopped (about a fistful)
  • Ancho chili in adobo sauce (optional)
  • Adobo sauce (optional)
  • Ground cumin
  • Onion powder
  • Garlic powder

And here’s what you’ll need for the chicken fajita mix:

  • 4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 3 bell pepper (red, yellow and green), deseeded and thinly sliced
  • 1 yellow onion, peeled and cut into thin wedges
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend (cheddar and Jack)
  • 2 cups sauce (recipe above)

Find the printable recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Mexican Chicken

Here’s how to make the sauce:

  1. Add the tomatoes, onion, peppers garlic, cilantro, adobo chili and adobo sauce to a food processor and process until well blended.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large pan or Dutch oven.
  3. Add the tomato mixture to the heated olive oil and cook over low heat.
  4. Add the chicken broth.
  5. Add the cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper and cook for about ten minutes until reduced.  Stir frequently.

For the Chicken

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Add the chicken to the sauce already cooked in the pan.
  3. Distribute the onions and peppers evenly on top of the chicken.
  4. Drizzle the olive oil over the peppers and onions.
  5. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven and sprinkle the grated cheese over the top of the onions and peppers.
  7. Return the pan to the oven and continue to bake for another 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside.

This ingredients for this simple sauce are blended together in a food processor, then the mixture is fried in a little olive oil for about 10 minutes until it’s reduced and fragrant.

After the sauce is reduced, then the chicken breasts are added to the pan.  I let the chicken simmer in the sauce for about 5 minutes on the stovetop to get a head start in cooking.  Then we add the onions and peppers to the top and then the whole ensemble is placed in the oven to bake for about 15 minutes so the onions and peppers can brown a bit.

Then  sprinkle a bit of cheese over the top.  If you want to keep this on the low-fat side, you can easily omit the cheese at this step and just let the chicken continue to cook for the last 10 minutes or so in the oven.

Looking for More Mexican Chicken Dinner Recipes?

Favorite Mexican Side Dish Recipes

These are some of my favorite Mexican side dish recipes that go great with this dish.

Easy Chicken Fajita Bake
Yield: 4 servings

Easy Chicken Fajita Bake

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

The chicken in this Easy Chicken Fajita Bake is moist and tender, it’s smothered with onions and peppers and simmered in a deliciously seasoned sauce. This is one of those easy baked chicken recipes that you can make any night of the week.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 cups of tomatoes, cut into wedges (about 3 large tomatoes)
  • 1 large yellow onion, peeled and cut into wedges
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (about a fistful)
  • 1/2 ancho chili in adobo saucei, chopped (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon adobo sauce (optional)
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 3 bell pepper (red, yellow and green), deseeded and thinly sliced
  • 1 yellow onion, peeled and cut into thin wedges
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend (cheddar and Jack)
  • 2 cups sauce (recipe above)

Instructions

For the Sauce
  1. Add the tomatoes, onion, peppers garlic, cilantro, adobo chili and adobo sauce to a food processor and process until well blended.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large pan or Dutch oven.
  3. Add the tomato mixture to the heated olive oil and cook over low heat.
  4. Add the chicken broth.
  5. Add the cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper and cook for about ten minutes until reduced. Stir frequently.
For the Chicken
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Add the chicken to the sauce already cooked in the pan.
  3. Distribute the onions and peppers evenly on top of the chicken.
  4. Drizzle the olive oil over the peppers and onions.
  5. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven and sprinkle the grated cheese over the top of the onions and peppers.
  7. Return the pan to the oven and continue to bake for another 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside.
© Deborah
Category: Dinner