Healthy Chicken Fajita Bowl

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This healthy chicken fajita bowl is the best weeknight dinner if you’re craving something satisfying and full of protein! It’s also easy to meal prep for the week ahead.

Servings bowls

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 25

Total Time 1 5

Equipment

Cast iron pan

Ingredients

Mexican Fajita Chicken

½ pound chicken breast
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup lime juice
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground red cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon cumin

Fajita Bowl Ingredients

2 cups Mexican rice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ medium bell pepper sliced
¼ medium red onion sliced
1 pinch salt
7.5 ounces canned black beans drained and rinsed
½ medium lime juiced
4 servings guacamole
4 servings pico de gallo
½ cup shredded Mexican cheese optional topping

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Start by marinating the fajita chicken. Combine the chicken, vegetable oil, lime juice, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, sea salt, cayenne, paprika, and cumin in a bowl. Marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Next, start making the rice. If you're using a store-bought microwave rice packet, skip this step and heat it up right before serving.
If you’re making homemade guacamole and pico de gallo, prepare those now and set aside.
Once the chicken is marinated, preheat a large cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Once it’s hot, add the chicken and cook until done, flipping every 3 minutes. Depending on how thick the chicken is, this should take about 9 to 15 minutes total.
Transfer the cooked chicken to a cutting board and let it rest while you cook the veggies.
Lower the heat to medium and add the vegetable oil to the pan. Then add the peppers and onions. Season with a pinch of salt and sauté until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Next, add the black beans to the pan and stir to combine. Season with fresh lime juice, stir to coat, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes to warm the beans through.
Transfer the cooked veggies and beans to a serving dish. Slice the chicken and set aside, or mix into the veggies and beans (see notes).
Assemble the chicken fajita bowls: add rice to the bowl, then veggies, beans, and chicken, and top with guacamole, pico de gallo, and cheese. Serve hot.

Notes

Notes on ingredients: You can stock up on fajita chicken with our freezer-friendly marinade recipe here, and then simply defrost it in the fridge before making this recipe to skip the 20 minutes of marinating time. We also like to make this Mexican rice, plus our homemade guac and pico, for these bowls so everything is healthy and fresh. You can of course use store-bought alternatives if you want to save yourself some time and effort.

Mixing chicken and veggies: You can make the chicken and veggies go a long way if you mix them all together before adding them to the bowls. This is a great budget-friendly option if you’re serving dinner to a larger family or meal prepping for the week.

Serving suggestions: Serve fajita bowls with tortilla chips for scooping up all that delicious flavor! You can also add other toppings like your favorite hot sauce, jalapeno slices, tortilla strips, or different kinds of cheese (like queso fresco or cotija) if you prefer.

Meal prep instructions: You can easily meal prep chicken fajita bowls for the week's lunches. Check out our blog post above for notes on how to prep and store everything properly.

Storing and reheating leftovers: You can store leftover chicken fajita bowls in the fridge for a few days. We recommend splitting each component into a separate airtight container, or combining the rice, chicken, veggies, and beans into one container (since these can be reheated together) and keeping the cold toppings separate.

The rice, chicken, veggies, and beans will stay good for up to 5 days. Fresh guacamole and pico de gallo will keep for around 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Note that the guacamole may turn brown - just scrape off whatever you don’t want to eat!

Author: Nicole Langdon

Calories: 682kcal

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: bell pepper, black beans, cayenne, chicken breast, cumin, fine sea salt, garlic powder, guacamole, lighter dishes, lime juice, lunch bowl, mexican, mexican cheese, onion powder, paprika, pico de gallo, red onion, vegetable oil

Nutrition