These Easy Steak Fajitas are juicy, tender, flavorful and way better than the ones at your favorite Mexican restaurant! Served with a healthy dose of peppers and onions, these fajitas are gluten free, low carb and paleo.
Steak fajitas are one of my favorite easy Mexican dinners of all time. They’re great for summer grilling, perfect for celebrations like Cinco de Mayo and make a wonderful addition to your weekly meal prep routine.
They’re incredibly versatile. You can serve them as tacos with guacamole and sour cream, as an entree with Mexican rice and refried beans or as a low carb lunch with a healthy avocado salad and cilantro lime cauliflower rice.
The secret to flavorful steak fajitas
The secret to getting the meat irresistibly flavorful and juicy is marinating the steak for at least 2 hours up to 8 hours.
This helps tenderize the meat and infuse all the good flavors that are in the actual marinade. I know the marinating process requires planning, but the end result is so worth it.
Once finished, remove the meat from the marinade and place on a surface covered with paper towels. Pat the steak until completely dry and generously season with coarse sea salt and crushed black pepper.
Pro tip: Using coarse sea salt is very important. It helps to further tenderize and break down the fibers of the meat, making the steak super juicy and melt in your mouth delicious.
What kind of beef do you use for fajitas?
Flank steak and skirt steak are the best cuts of beef for fajitas. I prefer to use flank steak (pictured above). Whichever cut of beef you use, make sure to cut it as thinly as possibly to prevent it from being too chewy.
How to cook steak fajitas
To cook the flank or skirt steak, heat a large skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat the skillet or grill with a bit of oil and cook each side of the steak for about 3-5 minutes, depending on how thick it is.
My husband is a master at using the finger test to check for doneness, whereas I prefer to use a meat thermometer.
This is the meat thermometer that I have and I use it all the time.
They’re inexpensive and take all the guesswork out of knowing whether something has reached a certain temperature or not.
More Mexican recipes you’ll love:
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Ingredients
For the meat and marinade
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 2 tablespoons lime juice (juice of 1 lime)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 2 pounds flank steak or skirt steak
- coarse kosher salt and black pepper
For the pepper and onions
- 2 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
- 2 medium white onions, sliced
- 1 large large poblano pepper, sliced into strips
- 3 large bell peppers, sliced into strips
- 1 pinch salt
Optional toppings
- guacamole, sour cream, cilantro, flour tortillas, corn tortillas, lettuce cups
Instructions
- In a large resealable plastic bag (or a large mixing bowl) add all the ingredients except the coarse sea salt and black pepper and toss to combine.
- Cover and marinate in the fridge for 2 hours up to 8 hours.
- Remove the meat from the marinade, transfer to a clean large surface or cutting board and pat dry with paper towels. Generously season both sides of the steak with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil. Add the steak to the skillet and cook on each side for about 3-5 minutes, depending on how thick the steak is and how “done” you want it to be. I recommend using a meat thermometer for this step if you have one.
- Remove the steak from the skillet, transfer to a cutting board to let it rest and lightly cover with aluminum foil.
- While the meat is resting, add the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of cooking oil to the skillet. Add the onions, peppers and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes, until the veggies are soft.
- Uncover the steak and slice it against the grain and at an angle into thin slices. Serve along with the fajita veggies in tortillas, on a salad or in lettuce cups and enjoy!
Isabel’s Tips:
Nutrition Information
Update Notes: This recipe was originally posted in 2018, but was updated in April of 2019 with new photos and tips.
I made these for Christmas Eve and they were amazing! The marinade is super easy and flavorful. We had flank steak & marinated overnight. I also made a half batch of the marinade for the veggies. I will definitely be making this again.
Hi Ann! That sounds like a great dinner!
I am not the primary cook in our home and this was fun. This recipe is fantastic! I served it to my wife and she loved it so much she asked that I cook it for the whole family on Christmas.
Sorry, forgot to rate my comment… please give it 5 stars.
Great recipe! I’m a fairly experienced home cook but it is always nice to have a starting place, get some ratios and maybe learn something new. As soon as I saw the ingredients list (simple but adequate), I knew this recipe was a winner, and it didn’t disappoint.
I make halibut ceviche from my own recipe regularly, and the trick is to use OJ and LJ in the same ratio you use in your marinade so it doesn’t overpower the delicate fish. Thank you Isabel!
*(pro tip) Everyone make sure to use fresh squeezed citrus, it makes all the difference…
My four grandchildren, my daughter and her husband all absolutely loved this recipe and insisted I keep it and promise to make it again!
Thank you so much for these recipes I do appreciate
Can you use a more tender cut of meat? What kind?
Hello Lynn! We recommend using flank or skirt steak for this recipe!
I am new to your site and want to say so far Everything I have tried has been great. The food is easy to make and tasted wonderful. Thank you.
Will try, have flake salt so that’s what I will use.
Please send us your tortilla soup recipe(s).
Here’s a link: https://www.isabeleats.com/mexican-chicken-tortilla-soup/
Cooked on stove top and marinaded over four hours. Tough as nails with NO flavor. Will never cook with this recipe again. Wasted money and time
This recipe is awesome. Not only is it simple to prepare and serve, it has become a fav for our family. Thank you Isabel for sharing some of your heritage with us! If you fix these, don’t plan on having left overs!
We used tenderloin steaks and cooked them on the gas grill. I served them with a simple guacamole made of lime juice, a acids, onion, a Serrano, and cilantro. Absolutely the best fajitas we’ve ever had! Much better than any restaurant fajitas!
This recipe is delicious! But wow did it make a mess of my kitchen. The next time I make this I’ll save it for the grill where the smoke from the meat can make the neighbors jealous 🙂
Just made the steak fajitas last night – they are DELICIOUS! Thank you for this easy wonderful recipe! My husband and I love authentic Mexican food and your site is a treasurer trove of excellent recipes.
Love the marinade. Love fajitas!
Love the steak fajita recipe. So delicious.
These fajitas were awesome. I marinated skirt steak for 8 hours
I was afraid maybe I did that too long and meat would be mushy, but it was fabulous and tender. As you advised, slice meat as thinly as possible. Si, so good. Definitely my fajita recipe from now on.
In Texas, Christmas time it is Tamale time. For a solo Christmas during COVID I made your fajitas instead. Yummy! The marinade is tasty. I might add Kosher salt in the marinade next time to penetrate the meat even though I seasoned with Maldon salt before grilling. I used a Chuck Flat Iron steak. The leftover meat was used in a steak, onion and cheddar cheese sandwich the next day.
BTW, on your site in the 5-Star Faves, the link for the Borracho Beans actually goes to a Queso Dip recipe.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Scott! And thank you so much for letting me know about the wrong link – I’ll go fix that right now!
I didn’t have any steak, but I shot a few raccoons digging in my trash last week so had some leftover thigh meat I marinated with this recipe. It turned out fantastic! Next time I will cook the meat instead of eating it raw….I don’t feel that great today.