When I make chicken fajitas for the family, I cook the vegetables and chicken at the very last minute. Maybe it’s not the sizzling skillet served table side but close enough. When I have a crowd to feed, I really want to have the dirty work finished way, way in advance. Here’s how I do it and still have super-moist yummy chicken.
1. Day before (early): Make marinade, Cut up onions and peppers, Marinate chicken for 3 hours.
2. Day before (later): Cook vegetables, Cook Chicken Breasts, Cool then refrigerate together, in a large pan, covered tightly overnight.
3. Day of party early: Slice chicken, mix with vegetables in large Pyrex dish or roasting pan and cover tightly with foil. Wrap flour tortillas with foil and set aside. Get condiments ready.
4. Party time: One hour before serving place Pyrex dish with chicken (still covered tightly) in 325 degree oven for 45 minutes then put the foil wrapped flour tortillas in the over as well to warm through…about 15 minutes.
PrintMake Ahead Chicken Fajitas for a Crowd
- Yield: serves 25
Ingredients
5 cloves garlic (minced)
3 tablespoons Lowry’s Seasoning Salt
3 tablespoons ground cumin
2 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
5 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 6 limes)
8-10lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (trimmed of any fat and pounded gently to create an even thickness)
4 Large sweet onions (sliced)
4 Large red bell peppers (sliced)
olive oil
flour tortillas (or corn tortillas for a gluten free option)
sour cream
salsa
lettuce (shredded)
cheddar cheese (shredded)
Instructions
Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in your largest, heaviest skillet, cast iron is best, over medium high heat. Saute onions and peppers, together or separately depending on the size of your skillet, until they are softened and just beginning to caramelize. Remove to a large pan or pyrex dish and let cool while you cook the chicken.
Add a bit more oil to the pan and cook the chicken in batches, until golden brown on both sides and just cooked through. I like to use an instant read meat thermometer to eliminate the guess work and I pull them off the heat between 150 and 160 degrees. Pile the chicken breasts, as they are cooked, on top of the vegetables and when they are all finished, let cool then cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Early on the day you plan to serve the fajitas, slice the chicken into pieces, 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick then return them to the vegetables and toss to combine all, making sure to coat the chicken with the wonderful juices that will have settled to the bottom of the vegetables overnight. Cover tightly with foil and return to the refrigerator until you are about an hour away from service. It will take 45 minutes to an hour to warm the chicken mixture slowly, and tightly covered, in a 325 degree oven.
Serve with warm flour tortillas, sour cream, salsa, lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese, avocados and any other condiments you might like to add.