Chicken Fajita Salad
with bell peppers / pepitas / avocados
For contrast in textures and temperatures, cook the chicken, peppers, and onions fajita style and finish the salads with fresh elements like avocados and tomatoes.
Smarts: Tex Mex salads like this one are great for customizing. Set out all of the toppings and let everyone build their own bowl at the table.
Ingredients
- Lime juice - 1 Tbsp
- Vinegar, red wine - 2 tsp
- Honey - 1 Tbsp
- Mustard, Dijon - 1 tsp
- Oil, cooking - 3 Tbsp
- Coriander, dried - 1/2 tsp
- Paprika - 1/2 tsp
- Cumin - 1/2 tsp
- Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
- Salt - 1/2 tsp
- Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
- Chicken breasts, boneless and skinless - 1 lb, thinly sliced (sub thighs)
- Bell peppers, any color - 2, sliced
- Onions, medium and red - 1, sliced
- Lettuce, romaine - 8 oz, chopped
- Tomatoes (opt) - 1, chopped
- Avocados - 1, chopped
- Oil, cooking - 2 Tbsp
- Pepitas / pumpkin seeds - 1/4 cup
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Bell peppers / Onions - Prep as directed and combine. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make vinaigrette - Whisk together lime juice, vinegar, honey, and mustard. Add oil (portion for vinaigrette) while whisking. Season with some salt and pepper. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make spice mix - Combine dried coriander, paprika, cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Prep chicken - Thinly slice chicken. Toss with spice mix and tenderize with a fork. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Lettuce / Tomatoes / Avocados - Prep as directed.
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Make
- Heat a skillet or wok with oil (portion for salad) over medium heat. Add peppers and onions and saute until nearly tender, 5 to 7 minutes. (Note: Add a splash of water if the peppers and onions start to burn.)
- Move peppers and onions to one side of the pan and add chicken to pan. Sear chicken without stirring for 2 minutes. Toss everything together and continue cooking until chicken is cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes more.
- Assemble salads with a bed of lettuce and tomatoes. Top with avocados, peppers, onions, and chicken.
- Finish salads with vinaigrette and pepitas on top. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
Most Helpful
Easy and tasty, if not super exciting. :) Used cabbage instead of lettuce since that's what we had from our CSA. Upped the lime juice in the dressing and added some cumin to the salsa. When we had our leftovers for lunch we added avocado, which was a great choice.
1 Helpful18 reviews
This was solid. I wished I had a little more dressing, but I think that's probably because the proportions/sizes of the components are hard to standardize exactly.
0 HelpfulGood and easy to customize for different ages. Love that you can make ahead and reheat for a quick lunch.
0 HelpfulWe doubled the spices on the chicken and really enjoyed this salad. We will definitely mark it as a favorite.
0 HelpfulSurprisingly tasty! My kids only fought it a little bit. I would definitely eat this again!
0 Helpful