Fajitas - Awesome Four Meats Recipe
Fajitas
Do you like fajitas? Gosh, we sure do. We order them all the time at our favorite Mexican restaurant. If you do, I have a great fajita recipe you’ll love! I made it tonight for dinner, and it was a huge hit. My dish was like a combination of chicken fajitas, steak fajitas, pork fajitas, and shrimp fajitas – all rolled into one glorious dish. Two of the granddaughters were dining with us, so I separated the onions and peppers from the meats, as they don’t much care for onions and peppers. This recipe for fajitas is chocked full of flavors. It’s meaty, hearty, and savory, with a little heat and a little sweetness. I wasn’t sure how the sweetness would work with fajita recipes, but we loved it! Of course, you might not. If you don’t think you will, just leave out the sugar in the fajita marinade. You’ll still get some great flavors from the other ingredients. Our Mexican pals call these “fajitas Texanas,” but mine are a little different. They cook tomatoes with theirs, and I don’t. If you prefer, you don’t have to use all four of the meats that I used. You can mix and match, so to speak, depending on your personal preferences. I hope you like these fajitas!
Fajita Marinade
In my opinion, a good fajita marinade plays an important part in making fajitas. It tenderizes the meat, and it adds lots of flavor to the flesh. I marinate my chicken, pork, and steak together, but I wait before adding the shrimp. Shrimp doesn’t need to marinate as long, as the flesh is more delicate. My fajita recipe doesn’t require a marinade, and it will be tasty without using one. Your final product will be better, however, if you use the marinade.
For this recipe, I used a fajita marinade made with citrus juices, olive oil, sugar, garlic, crushed red pepper, and chipotle powder. The citrus juices are acidic and help tenderize the meats. They also add flavor, as do the sugar, garlic, red pepper flakes, and chipotle powder. The olive oil helps keep the meats juicy. Here’s my fajita marinade:
Fajita Marinade Recipe
Ingredients:
½ cup orange juice
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup lime juice
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Directions: Combine all ingredients in a glass or plastic bowl. Stir until sugar dissolves.
Fajita Seasoning
You can buy commercial fajita seasoning blends at practically any supermarket in the United States. Well, I’m assuming you can. Of course, I haven’t frequented every supermarket in the nation, but it’s readily available in all our local stores. It’s not usually expensive, but there’s no reason you can’t make your own. You just need a fajita seasoning recipe! It just so happens that I have one you can borrow.
Fajita Seasoning Recipe
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
2 teaspoons Lawry’s garlic salt with parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed fine
½ teaspoon cayenne
½ teaspoon chipotle powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions: Combine all ingredients. Store extra fajita seasoning in an airtight glass jar or plastic food bag.
Fajita Recipe
This fajita recipe is made with four different meats, onion, bell pepper, and Serrano peppers. Serrano peppers are hotter than jalapeno peppers, so if you want less heat, use jalapenos, or omit using any hot peppers at all. For the beefsteak, I used New York strip, but you can use any type of tender steak. For the pork, I used thin-cut boneless center-cut chops.
How does my fajita recipe sound?
Cook Time
Ingredients
- 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1/2 pound beefsteak
- 1/2 pound thinly sliced pork chops or steaks
- fajita marinade, from above
- 1 pound raw shrimp
- cooking oil, as needed
- 1 large onion, cut into strips
- 1 large green bell pepper, cut into strips
- 2 (or more) green Serrano chili peppers, seeded and diced
- fajita seasoning, from above
Instructions
- Pound chicken breast to even thickness all over – to about 1/3-1/2 inch. Cut into narrow strips.
- Slice steak, across the grain, into narrow strips.
- Slice pork into narrow strips.
- Place chicken, steak, and pork in a large zippered food storage bag. Make the fajita marinade from the recipe above and pour over meats in bag. Refrigerate for 1 ½ hours. Turn bag occasionally
- Peel and devein shrimp and remove tails. Cover and store in fridge.
- After the meats have marinated for 90 minutes, add shrimp and continue marinating for 30 minutes longer.
- Remove meats and shrimp from bag and place on several layers of paper towels to drain. Pour marinade into a small sauce pot and refrigerate for now.
- Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to large skillet and heat over medium heat until hot. Cook onion, bell pepper, and Serrano peppers until just tender. Remove veggies from pan and place in a large glass baking dish.
- If needed, add more oil to the skillet. Add pork and chicken and sprinkle with fajita seasoning, using recipe from above. Cook meat until done. Place in a large bowl.
- Cook shrimp and steak together, or separately. Sprinkle with fajita seasoning. Add to pork and chicken.
- To add an extra layer of flavor to your fajitas, use the leftover marinade. Since it held raw meat and poultry, it needs to be cooked first. Cooking will also allow it to thicken. Place pot with fajita marinade on stove and bring to a full rolling boil. Boil vigorously for one minute and then reduce to a slow boil. Cook for about eight or ten minutes or so, uncovered, until the marinade begins to thicken slightly. Pour over meats and toss to coat. Add meats to baking dish with sautéed vegetables. Reheat, if necessary. To make fajitas, serve meats and veggies on soft flour or corn tortillas. Warm tortillas, if you like. Add sour cream, cheese, and/or salsa or picante sauce. For more heat, use salsa verde. You might want to try using my avocado spread, instead of the traditional toppings. Click the link to get that recipe. The smooth, creamy spread is great on fajitas!
