This is the perfect busy weeknight meal: It relies on hands-off cooking in the oven, it’s on the table in thirty minutes, and it has minimal cleanup. It doesn’t get any easier than this! We’ve packed these fajitas with extra bell peppers but kept the spices mild to make it family friendly.–Jessica Beacom and Stacey Hassing
Sheet Pan Steak Fajitas FAQs
If you’re meal prepping in advance for a quick-fix dinner, cut your veggies, shred your cheese, chop your cilantro, and place everything in air-tight containers until you’re ready to begin cooking. Make the marinade, then slice your steak and toss the steak slices into a zip-top bag with 1/3 of that delicious mixture. Close the bag, smoosh the steak around gently so it’s all evenly coated, then place it in the fridge until you’re ready to start dinner. Put the other 2/3 of the marinade in an air-tight container to use with your vegetables later on. With all the prep work out of the way, you could have dinner on the table in less than twenty minutes!
There are so many options! Grate some more cheese and make a quesadilla. Chop your meat and veggies into smaller pieces and make an omelet, incorporate them into scrambled eggs, or sprinkle all over nachos. Toss your leftovers into chili or tortilla soup. Serve leftovers over rice. You really can’t go wrong.
Again – so many options. Guacamole is a favorite, simple side dish. Margaritas are fantastic with fajitas. Mexican-style street corn is traditional and delicious. We love serving plenty of toppings, allowing each of our diners to customize their own meals. Lettuce, cheese, guacamole, black olives, pickled onions, hot sauce and salsas, crema, sour cream, fried eggs, cilantro, limes, pickled or raw jalapenos are all great options. You can even throw down some roasted zucchini, squash, mushrooms, or other favorite veggies seasoned similarly to your peppers and meat. Anything goes, and fajitas are a fantastic way to get creative with dinner!
Sheet Pan Steak Fajitas
Ingredients
For the steak fajitas
- 1 1/2 tablespoons avocado oil or extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon (1/2 medium lime) fresh lime juice
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 to 2 pinches cayenne pepper (optional)
- 3 medium (1 pound or about 4 cups) bell peppers (any color), thinly sliced
- 1/2 medium (3 oz or about 1 1/4 cups) onion, thinly sliced
- 1 pound flank steak, patted dry, sliced lengthwise, then sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch (6 mm) thick strips
- 8 corn tortillas
For serving (optional)
- Pico de gallo
- Shredded cheese
- Sour cream
- Hot sauce
- Chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- Lime wedges
Instructions
Make the fajitas
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, combine the avocado oil, lime juice, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and black pepper. Add the cayenne pepper, if desired, for spicier fajitas and stir to combine.
- Scatter the bell peppers and onion on one of the prepared baking sheets. Drizzle with 2/3 of the oil mixture, and using your hands or tongs, toss to coat. Spread the vegetables in a single layer.
- On the other baking sheet, toss the steak with the remaining dressing and arrange in a single layer.
- Transfer the sheet pan with the vegetables to the oven and roast for 5 minutes. Place the sheet pan with the steak in the oven and continue to cook until the steak is done to your liking and the vegetables are just tender, 9 to 10 minutes more.
- To warm the tortillas, place a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add one to two tortillas and cook 30 seconds per side. Transfer the tortillas to a plate and cover with a clean kitchen towel to keep them warm. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
Serve
- Serve the fajitas immediately with the warm tortillas and your desired toppings. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
My oil and spice mixture was more of a paste, so there wasn’t going to be any drizzling onto the loaded sheet pan. I simply added everything to the bowl and tossed well to coat. I put out sour cream, guacamole, pico, chopped cilantro leaves, Cotija, lime slices, hot sauce, and warmed flour tortillas for the kids to create their own fajitas and they loved it. Obviously, this isn’t going to pack the punch of grilled steak, but the flavors of these easy steak fajitas were lovely and not too overpowering for a family meal, and the leftovers were delicious!
Despite busy weekday nights, I have relatively few 30-minute meals in my routine. In our family fajitas have become a meal that usually only happens during the summer grill season when beef, chicken and shrimp can get that addictive char that reminds you of the sizzling plates you get in a Mexican restaurant. To me, the indoor grill pan never has the same flavor and it always is a mess to cleanup. I was very excited to see an oven baked version of beef fajitas to bring back fajitas outside of the summer.
This sheet pan steak fajitas recipe couldn’t be any easier. I am slower with prep but it could be done in 30 minutes if you are organized and fast. You chop, spread the beef and vegetables on the sheet pan, mix in the oil mixture, and roast. I did use one less bell pepper. As I was chopping, I realized a third would just overcrowd the pan.
The steak and peppers were well seasoned despite no marinade time. The slice size recommended for the steak and peppers allowed for the perfect cook. In my opinion, the onions were chopped too thinly but next time I would make them closer to the size of the peppers or a little larger since they cooked faster than everything else. You can’t get the same char as the grill in the oven but no one even noticed.
Normally, I warm up tortillas in the oven or microwave. Warming the tortillas individually made the tortillas puff up and get a few golden spots. While this step took longer, it did make the tortillas taste better. Everyone in the family was excited for fajita night. With all of the toppings, everyone was able to customize the final fajita to their preferences. But most importantly, it was delicious, fast, and the clean-up was super easy. This recipe lived up to its promise of everything you need in a weeknight meal. It will definitely enter the rotation for our household.
What beef cut would be suitable to use other than flank steak?
Sandra, I’ve made them with skirt steak and with sirloin tip with good results. Just keep the beef sliced thin.
Could chicken be substituted for the beef?
Yes, Julie, I think you could easily substitute chicken here. Just keep in mind that the cooking time for the meat may need to be adjusted.