The Best Steak Fajitas
The absolute BEST Steak Fajitas you’ve ever had! This is my take on the Tex-Mex steak fajitas. Marinated for hours in lime juice, garlic, and cumin — so good you’ll never use another recipe again!
Holy Guacamole!
And I’m not just saying that because steak fajitas NEED guacamole. I’m saying it because you need these homemade fajitas. And I actually can’t believe it took me this long to make them for us. I mean, beef fajitas are a classic, and quite possibly the most delicious thing we’ve eaten around here. Hands down. Like EVER. So it’s totally my food blogging responsibility to bring these to you right now because they couldn’t possibly taste better than they do right now.
These fajitas were gobbled up quicker than anything I’ve ever made before – that’s saying a lot because I feel like I’m ALWAYS cooking. And these make A LOT, enough to feed 4-5 people! We enjoyed them in tortillas the first day and turned them into Chipotle-style fajitas bowls for lunch the next day, and we still had some leftovers! And nope, I’m not even complaining about them. I’ll definitely be making these over and over again on repeat.
Watch how to make the best steak fajitas video (57 sec.):
You’ve probably made steak fajitas with store-bought fajitas seasoning a million times before. But I’m kind of reinventing this a little because my recipe is less focused on spices and more focused on overall ingredients that marinate, tenderize, and flavor the fajita meat. Because no one likes fajitas that are bland. What’s the point in that?
But this marinade! Oh my Lanta! It is unlike anything you’ve ever tasted before. I was never convinced you could make restaurant-style steak fajitas at home and make them taste better, but this totally does it. They are absolutely are the BEST steak fajitas of your life. The ingredients are simple and straight forward. Also, this isn’t a Harry Potter potions class – you don’t need anything super fancy to make the best fajitas of your life. There is one ingredient in particular that I use that isn’t a typical ingredient one sees in a fajita recipe but give it a try, I promise you, it’s a GAME CHANGER.
I like to use a colorful array of veggies for my fajitas.
You can do with the regular red and green peppers if you’d like, but I love the color and the flavor that yellow and orange peppers add to this recipe. I’m one of those people that eat with my eyes first. I also like to add in a BIG poblano pepper. Remove all the ribs and seeds, so the spice is gone. We just want the nice smokiness of the poblano sizzled with the onions and bell peppers — the flavor is out of this world. I can’t believe I had been making fajitas without poblanos for so long before this. I almost feel like I cheated myself out of the best fajitas.
And the secret ingredient in my steak fajitas is…
Okay, let’s do a quick walkthrough on the ingredients and how you’re going to make the marinade for the fajitas. Without any further suspense let me share with you the ONE ingredient that makes my steak fajitas better than the rest — PINEAPPLE JUICE. Um, yup. You read that right. Pineapple juice, the stuff that comes in a small/large cans in the juice aisle. I use the stuff that is 100% juice with no additional sugars added.
If you’re wondering what the function of pineapple juice is for fajitas, allow me to explain. Store-bought fajita seasonings usually contain enzymes that help tenderize the meat. So to mimic that same tenderization without any weird ingredients, we use pineapple juice. There are people that argue that fresh pineapple juice (that hasn’t been heated) works best. But honestly, for our recipe, canned pineapple juice works just fine! No need to grab a fresh pineapple and make fresh juice, unless you’d like to that is.
What else do you need to make the best steak fajitas:
The other ingredients are simple! A little lime juice, some Worcestershire sauce (this is Tex-Mex style fajitas after all!), garlic, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, a little olive oil, chopped cilantro, and a little salt and pepper. That is it! No cornstarch or sugar or a million other ingredients. These are simple, flavorful steak fajitas that shine on their own. You don’t need to put a million ingredients in them to taste good.
How to make the best steak fajitas:
Now the instructions – combine the ingredients for the marinade and let marinate. It’s that simple. I like to let fajita meat marinate for at least 4 hours and ideally sometimes, overnight. The longer you let them sit, the tastier they are.
I made these indoors on a large cast iron skillet. You can grill the meat out on the grill in the summertime if you’d like. I know we definitely will once it stops raining here EVERY SINGLE DAY and once we purchase a grill. In the meantime, the cast iron skillet is making them just perfectly. ?? I use one large skillet to sear the meat, and while the meat is resting, I add in another tablespoon of oil and allow the veggies to sauté. I love the little bits of the charred marinade to coat the peppers and onions. If you don’t want that, use a separate skillet to make the veggies. Make sure to season them with a hint of salt and pepper.
Be prepared to make this meal on a weekly rotation, served both inside warm homemade flour tortillas and over a bed of cilantro lime rice.
Make it a Sunday tradition, because I have a feeling that this recipe is going to get ten thumbs up.
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
- Cheesy Steak Quesadillas
- Homemade Carne Asada
- The Best Chicken Fajitas
- Shrimp Enchiladas in Poblano Cream Sauce
- Crispy Cheesy Chicken Taquitos
The BEST Steak Fajitas
The absolute BEST Steak Fajitas you've ever had! This is my take on the tex-mex steak fajitas. Marinated for hours in lime juice, garlic, and cumin -- so good you'll never use another recipe again!
Ingredients
Steak Marinade:
- ⅓ cup lime juice
- ¼ cup pineapple juice (no sugar added)
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoon EACH: ground cumin AND chili powder (or more to taste)
- 1 teaspoon EACH: kosher salt AND smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon EACH: black pepper AND red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
Fajitas:
- 1 ½ - 2 pounds skirt or flank steak
- 1 tablespoon oil (high heat)
- 2 medium white onions, sliced
- 1 large poblano, ribs and seeds removed then sliced
- 2-3 bell peppers, thinly sliced (any color you please!)
Optional:
- guacamole, salsa, cilantro leaves, salsa verde, sour cream, black beans, rice, tortillas, cilantro-lime rice, sautéed corn, tomatoes, lettuce, shredded cheese, etc.
Instructions
- STEAK MARINADE: Combine the ingredients for the marinade in a large shallow bowl. Give it a taste and check for seasonings, adjust to preference. Coat the steak with the marinade and let sit covered in the refrigerator for at least 2-4 hours and ideally overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minute prior to cooking.
- Set a large cast iron skillet or pan over high heat and let heat up for a couple of minutes. Add the steak to the pan and fry on each side for about 3-5 minutes or longer if you'd like it more done. Feel for desired firmness. The 3 minutes/side will yield a medium rare doneness. If the pan becomes too hot, reduce the heat to medium high. Remove the steak from the pan and allow to rest for several minutes tented with a piece of foil. Slice the meat against the grain into thin slices. I like to do so on an angle so the meat slices are tender and thin.
- FAJITA VEGGIES: Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan over high heat, add in the onions, poblano, and bell peppers. Let the veggies begin to sizzle and toss as necessary, cook for a total of 2-3 minutes or longer if you prefer them softer, season with a pinch of salt and pepper. If your pan is small, cook the veggies in a few batches so they don't steam.
- ASSEMBLY: Serve them in tortillas or on rice bowls topped with your favorite toppings!
Was wondering if there is a reason the peppers and onions didn’t get into the wonderful marinade also? I am getting ready to start marinading the meat for dinner tomorrow and thought it would be great to have it all chopped and sliced and together soaking up all the marinades flavors.
I personally enjoy the natural flavor of the peppers and onions, so I opted to leave them as is. I believe there’s a note that mentions you can allow the veggies to soak up the marinade flavors while you cook the steak if you’d like them to have that same flavor. Not too sure how well the veggies would hold up because of all the acid in the marinade if you were to marinate them overnight.
These were excellent! I let them marinade for over 24 hours. This will be my new go to faijtas marinade!
Hi-
I didn’t pay attention and used lemon juice instead. Is that a big deal?
I don’t see if being terrible or anything like that, just a little different! Limes are sweeter than lemons so you can add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to help balance if you’d like 🙂
I had never used smoked paprika before and was a little leary of its strong smokey smell so I just used a slightly rounded half teaspoon. Also, I like things on the hot side so I used a full teaspoon of red pepper flakes. These were by far the best steak fajitas I have ever made. I attribute the difference to the smokey paprika and the Worcestershire sauce. They were even more flavorful the next day. I used flank steak and yes the pineapple juice did help in tenderizing it. Thank you for a great steak fajita recipe!
Happy to hear you enjoyed the fajitas, Luanne! 🙂
Oh my…my there little lady… I love grilling, and cooking stuff like this.
I’ve NEVER made better fajitas in my life… now everyone wants the marinade recipe…
Should I give it to them?? lol
Thank YOU for this share!
Can you marinade pre-cut fajita steak for this?
Yes, but you won’t need to marinate it for too long as it’ll soak up the flavors quicker.
Amazing! Absolutely loved this recipe
So GOOD!!! My entire family loved it. I cooked it in a crockpot on high for 5 hours (4 pds steak strips). This will be one of my go to recipes from now on!
Hi! Did you put all the ingredients (steak and veggies) in the crockpot? Did you change anything?
In place of the pineapple juice I tried orange juice and it was delicious
How much is a serving based on your nutritional facts?
Just made them. They were awesome, best I’ve ever made. Thank you for sharing!
Making it and preparing it now. Meat is marinating now
Can’t wait!!! Love fajitas!!!
Do you happen to know if any good substitutes for Worcestershire sauce? I haven’t been able to find one with clean ingredients that I can eat and would love to make this recipe! Just not sure if it will be the same without the sauce added. Thanks!
Hey Allison! I did a google search and found that you can make your own if you’d like! You’ll just need equal parts tamarind paste, soy sauce (or GF tamari), and white vinegar so in our case, it would be 2 teaspoons of each of these. Tamarind paste is usually sold in the international aisle of most grocery stores and you should be able to find it easily. Hope you enjoy the fajitas! 🙂
Yup, you’re right. I don’t think I’ll ever use another recipe for steak fajitas. This was fantastic.
Any recommendations for substituting the pineapple juice? My little one is allergic.
You can replace it with orange juice, others have tried that and have reported that it worked out well 🙂
Made these fajitas tonight for dinner and they were by far the best I have ever made. I couldn’t find flank or skirt steak at our supermarket so I used top round steak. Yummmm. This recipe will become a regular in our home. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
This is a very nice recipe – good flavour and a much healthier alternative to the packaged mixes for fajitas. I actually used this on some leftover steak – marinated for a few hours and reheated. Used the small amount of leftover marinade to coat the onions & peppers before cooking. Will definitely be using this recipe from now on.
Yes these were the BEST I’ve ever made and possibly eaten!! We loved it! I used flank steak and marinated for 24 hours! I used a fresh pinapple, blended it and strained out the puree’ for another use. so good!
Fabulous marinade. I have made this many times. I trying it with chicken tonight.
This recipe has become a family favorite! I have also made the recipe with chicken and it was really good.
I made this dish for a Friday meal; following the recipe, it turned out good! But Saturday I kicked it up a notch I added brown sugar. Accent. Seasoning salt, I doubled batched it, along with chicken breast, and shrimp, Jalapeno’s, oh it is fire. Love this recipe.
I love this recipe! I’ve made it twice – marinated once overnight (amazing) and the other time just for a couple hours (still amazing). I have a question though – I’m pretty new to my cast iron skillet and both times I made this the marinade hardened into a black gunk that was impossible to clean off the pan. I kept the meat and veggies on a minimal amount of time – the steak was rare and the veggies were tender but definitely not burnt, but I still got the burnt-on marinade! Is this happening to other people or am I doing something wrong with either the recipe or my pan maintenance? I love the grilled taste I get from my cast iron since I live in an apartment so can’t grill – I’d love any advice y’all have!
How new is your cast iron skillet? You may need to season it before you use it. I prefer to cook bacon in mine to season it, just cook an entire thing of bacon nonstop. You can use the bacon for breakfast burritos or something else. This allows the bacon grease to really soak into the cast iron. Never ever wash your skillet with anything other than water, and you shouldn’t have any more issues with stickiness.
This was SO good!! Only thing I did different was we grilled the meat and with the veggies we grilled them up in a grill pan.
It was fantastic! My 11yr old who is a picky eater came back for seconds. That’s saying something, lol.
I’m so adding this into the weekly rotation! Thank you for the best fajitas, way better then any restaurant.
My husband love it and I did too….!!! awasome
I had some cooked shrimp that I tossed into the marinade separately from the steak…This was amazing..Even better heated up on sheet pan in hot oven the next day..Sharing this with everyone!
I saw where you told someone to not marinate for longer than 14 hours; but before reading this, I mixed my marinade last night at 11:00 p.m. and didn’t cook everything until 6:00 p.m. tonight, so 19 hours. I didn’t have any pineapple juice, but the flank steak was very tender and the fajitas were the best I’ve ever eaten. I can’t imagine how these could be better than they were tonight, but I will use pineapple juice the next time. By the way, I like spicy, so I used 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes and increased the paprika to 2 tsp. I also had sliced the flank steak into strips before marinating. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Love this recipe, one of the things my picky husand will eat! I cut up the steak before hand and use mushrooms instead of onions being the hubby hates onions. I marinate the veggies in with the steak for at least 6 hours. We like it spicy also so we use more chilli pepper and red pepper flakes!
Delicious! I shared your link for this recipe on my blog 🙂 Thanks for posting!
Um yeah….. you cannot beat this recipe! Taco who?????
Could i use chipotle powder instead of smoked paprika?
Yes, chipotle powder would be a good substitute but keep in mind that it may make the fajitas a little spicier!