Grilled Chicken Fajitas

Learn how to make delicious and easy grilled chicken fajitas where the secret is in the marinade.

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Marinate the Chicken 6

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 8 people

Calories 350 kcal

4 cups Orange Juice
3 Jalapenos, cut into ½ inch chunks
½ Onion - remove skin and ½ inch dice Yellow, white, sweet, whatever your preference.
3 tbsp Salt

12-15 Small Red, Yellow, Orange Peppers Cut off top ¼ inch, including stem - you should get rid of most of the seeds this way, too.
4 lbs Chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, fat trimmed off, marinated for at least 4 hours Leaving on too much fat will cause flare-ups in grill
½ Onion, skin removed
3 Large jalapenos, tops removed, cut into ½ inch strips lengthwise If you like some extra spice (I do!)
2 tbsp olive oil (I use an olive oil spray) To oil the grill grates

Add orange juice, jalapeno chunks, onion chunks, and salt into blender, food processor, or large mixing bowl.
Blend mixture or use immersion blender and blend until big chunks are gone and you have a lot of pulp in the orange juice.
Add chicken to large glass or stainless steel mixing bowl and pour marinade over chicken then stir so marinade is distributed throughout.
Cover and put bowl in refrigerator for at least 4-6 hours or overnight if possible.

Heat grill to medium high
Cut tops off of small peppers about ¼ inch from the top. This will leave the peppers whole without tops but remove most of the seeds. Doing this keeps the peppers from falling into the grill.
Remove skin from onion but leave the half intact.
Cut off tops from jalapenos and then cut them in half. Using tip of knife, carefully cut out pith and seeds.
Put all the veggies on a platter to make it easier to take to the grill.

Once grill has heated for about 5-10 minutes, clean the grates and turn the heat down to half or raise the grate on a charcoal grill and push some of the coals to one side so you can control the cooking a little easier.
Remove marinating chicken from refrigerator and take over to the grill
Oil the grill gates by spraying with olive oil or by soaking a paper towel in the oil and running it on the grates with tongs.
Immediately remove chicken thighs from marinade, shake off excess marinade and add to the grill grate.
Add all the veggies to the remaining grill grate space (you may need to reduce the heat a little).
Cook chicken about 12 minutes or until done (internal temp should be 165°), turning every 4 minutes. Watch for flare-ups and fires and move chicken out of any fires. The sugar from the marinade can blacken quickly.
Cook veggies about 8 minutes, turning once. Skin should have grill marks but should not be completely black. I like my veggies to have a little "tooth" to them and not be too floppy.
Once done, remove all grilled items and return to clean platters.
While chicken is resting slice veggies lengthwise into ½ inch strips

Serve with your favorite tortillas and toppings, including sour cream, shredded cheese, avocado slices, salsa, etc.
I like to set this up like a buffet so people can just grab what they want and make these to their taste.
Slice the chicken thighs into ½ inch stips (this is the perfect time to sample some of this delicious chicken!)

Keyword chicken, easy, fajitas, grilled, inexpensive, mexican, vegetables