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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.
These truly are the BEST fajitas!! Love them! I’ve made them many many times and it’s always my go-to recipe for when company is coming over, I want to impress, have something kid friendly, and easy. Great recipe!
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 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
Equipment
Ingredients
Steak Marinade:
- ⅓ cup lime juice freshly squeezed
- ¼ cup pineapple juice no sugar added
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon 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)
Optional:
Instructions
- STEAK MARINADE: Combine the ingredients for the marinade in a large shallow bowl or zip-top bag. Give it a taste to check for seasonings and 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 (or see notes to freeze.) Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes prior to grilling.
- COOK: Set a large cast iron skillet or grill 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 it to rest for several minutes, tented with a piece of foil.
- FAJITA VEGGIES:Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan over high heat, and 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.
- SLICE: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. Add it back to the veggies if you'd like.
- ASSEMBLY: Serve fajitas in corn or flour tortillas or with cilantro lime rice, topped with your favorite toppings!
Notes
- Freeze: If you aren't planning on making the fajitas right away, marinate the meat in a zip-top bag and freeze immediately. Let the steak defrost in the refrigerator overnight, and you're ready to grill!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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How much is a serving based on your nutritional facts?
In place of the pineapple juice I tried orange juice and it was delicious
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?
Amazing! Absolutely loved this recipe
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.
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!
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! 🙂
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 🙂
These were excellent! I let them marinade for over 24 hours. This will be my new go to faijtas marinade!
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.
Made this tonight and it was a hit with my family! Even my husband who can be picky about recipes that I find. I marinated the meat over night and it was so good!!! I used flank steak and grilled it. The flavor was incredible! For those who worried about spice, this was not spicy at all. I eased up a bit on the red pepper flakes and didn’t have cumin, but other than that I followed the recipe. I did use fresh lime juice as well. This is definitely a keeper!!
Hi! I don’t have low sugar or sugar free pineapple juice. Will just regular work?
Thank you,
Kim
Regular juice will work!
DELICIOUS! Just the right amount of spice. And I used the same cast iron skillet (which still had some of the marinade flavor) to heat the flour tortillas.
I’m excited to try this recipe and the steak is marinating now. I bought the pre-cut sirloin from the store. Will that change the cooking time since they are already sliced? Thanks!
Hi Emy! Yes, pre-cut sirloin will have a different cooking time than the whole skirt or flank steak. Unfortunately, it’s difficult for me to say how long it’ll take as I’ve only tested the recipe as written. I’d just monitor for doneness (to preference) after the first 2-3 minutes.
I’ve got the steak marinating and the veggies prepped. I couldn’t find poblanos at my grocery store so I subbed a couple of Anaheim peppers hoping it won’t be too spicy. I haven’t cooked with much except bell peppers and jalapenos, so we’ll see!
My san antonio college labmate had me over one weekend and got to see a large family version. Using canned pineapples chunks liquid and canned grapefruit juice. Drained Pineapples where used in a sheet pan version of upside down cake. Beef started afternoon Saturday, drained then dry spices added Sunday before Mass, after Church grilled at nearby park.
Does the 3 tablespoons of olive oil go in with the other ingredients to make the marinade or is it just 1 tablespoon for the marinade, 1 for the steak and 1 for the veggies?
It’s listed separately. So you’ll need the 3 tablespoons for the marinade portion and the last tablespoon (listed under ‘fajitas’) is for the veggies. If you feel the steak will stick to the skillet, you can add a small drizzle before cooking it.
Absolutely, hands down, the BEST fajitas I have ever made. I used skirt steak and marinated for about 5 or so hours. The meat was melt-in-your-mouth tender. Beautiful clean flavors. My only regret was that my supermarket was out of poblanos, but there will most definitely be a next time, so I’m anxious to see how the poblanos peppers are in this recipe. As the meat was resting, I cooked the veggies in the same skillet and splashed some of the marinade in for flavor. Even the picky 4 year old ate some, and the fiancee went back for seconds. Thank you for a DELICIOUS recipe.
Made these for dinner tonight. Could possibly be the best fajitas I have ever eaten. Store did not have flank or skirt steak, so. I used sirloin steak. Did not have pineapple juice so I used orange juice. I let it marinate overnight (it really marinated for about 20 hours) and during the day. Was not spicy and husband loved them. Will make these again. Yummy!!!!! Thanks for the recipe.
I would like to try this recipe for a family that I am making a meal for, but one of the family members has an allergy or some health issue with pineapple. Can you recommend another juice or acid to use in the marinade instead that will not compromise the flavor?
Orange juice would be a good alternative. You may want to let the meat marinate for at least 6 hours though (pineapple tenderizes the meat so it can be used as quickly as 2 hours, orange juice won’t do that). Hope everyone enjoys it! 🙂