Quick Stove-Top Beef Fajitas

Beef fajitas
Strips of meat fried with peppers and onions: beef fajitas. Photo (c) Rainmax / Getty Images
  • 30 mins
  • Prep: 10 mins,
  • Cook: 20 mins
  • Yield: 3 to 4 servings
Ratings (13)

By Chelsie Kenyon

Updated 09/13/17

A classic Tex-Mex dish that became wildly popular outside its native area in the 1990s, fajitas are grilled strips of beef that are typically served with onion, bell pepper, and tortillas. Though the usual version calls for marinating the meat and cooking over an open flame, this pan fried recipe will serve you well when you don’t have the time or equipment for grilling.

  • Did you know? The term fajitas technically refers to only the beef version of this dish, since the name comes from faja, the cut of meat from which they are traditionally made. However, chicken, pork, lamb, fish, shrimp, and even vegetables prepared in the same manner are also popularly known as fajitas.

What You'll Need

  • 1 pound/450 grams skirt steak (or flank steak)
  • 4 bell peppers (red, green and/or yellow, stemmed and seeded)
  • 1 large onion (white, yellow, or purple, peeled)
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 10 to 12 tortillas (corn or wheat)
  • Garnish: 
  • Guacamole
  • Garnish: pico de gallo (or 
  • salsa, cream, bottled hot sauce, and/or Mexican table sauce)
  • Garnish: chopped lettuce and tomatoes

How to Make It

  1. Slice the steak into ½-inch strips, cutting against the grain of the meat.

    Slice the peppers and onions into ¼-inch strips.

  2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and begin to cook meat over medium-high heat. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper and continue to cook until the meat juices cook off.

  3. Add the sliced peppers and onions; cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and continue to cook until the juices have reduced, the beef is cooked and the peppers and onions are limp and translucent.

  1. Serve your delicious fajitas with tortillas and the garnishes of your choice. To eat, the strips of meat and vegetables are placed onto a tortilla and topped with one or more garnishes; the tortilla is then folded over or rolled up (depending on the amount of filling) and eaten with the hands.

Edited by Robin Grose

Nutritional Guidelines (per serving)
Calories 3422
Total Fat 95 g
Saturated Fat 34 g
Unsaturated Fat 24 g
Cholesterol 90 mg
Sodium 7,560 mg
Carbohydrates 515 g
Dietary Fiber 39 g
Protein 117 g
(The nutrition information on our recipes is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. Individual results may vary.)