If you’re a Mexican food fan, there’s nothing like a sizzling plate of fajitas to get your mouth watering. It’s easy to find a good fajitas recipe, and by using frugal tricks, you can make them cheaply too. Here I’ll share some tips from our Fajitas recipe, and some cheap ways to serve fajitas.
Frugal Fajitas (a two-person serving – we double this recipe – and triple the tortillas – for our family of six – the kids don’t eat as much as Rick and I do)
1 or 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced thin (we used pork in this recipe because it’s all we had in the house. Now, that’s true frugalism. 🙂 )
1 green pepper, sliced the long way
1/2 red onion, sliced
4 flour tortillas, warmed
olive oil
For the seasoning, we use ground cumin, ground chili pepper, salt and garlic powder to taste
In a heated pan, pour a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil. Add the sliced chicken breast and cook thoroughly seasoning it when it’s almost cooked. In a second pan, add two tablespoons of olive oil and begin frying the green peppers and onion on medium to medium-high heat. The trick to getting fajita veggies just right is to not overcook them. You want them a bit crunchy, but not too crunchy, and overcooking takes away the crunch. When the veggies are done right, they should be browned on the edges, but not too limp. You’ll also want to season the veggies when they’re about half-way finished.
Now, here’s where it gets good. Fajitas can be spiced up and changed up a number of different ways.
You can spice it up by adding:
Cheese, sour cream or homemade guacamole
Other veggies, such as chopped green chilies, jalapenos, zucchini, pico de gallo or corn salsa.
Black beans, refried beans or pinto beans
Homemade rice similar to that served at Chipotle
Other spices such as Ancho Chili Pepper or Chipotle Pepper
You can also experiment with different types of meat like steak or pork, or skip the meat altogether.
Or you can substitute the tortilla for a big slice of lettuce, or simply make your fajitas fixins into a salad
You can also frugal it up by:
skipping the meat
using your garden veggies
making homemade tortillas. Once you go homemade with flour tortillas, you’ll never go back, and you can make a bunch of them for less than a buck.
So, try them today. These frugal fajitas are sure to be a regular part of your dinner meal planning.
What are some of your favorite frugal Mexican dishes?
I’m sure that’s very delicious! We also try to lessen eating pork and more on vegetables, aside from being healthy, we can also save more money.
So true, Clarisse! I’m excited for our veggie garden to get in so we can scratch those costs from our grocery list. Have a great day! 🙂
These look awesome Laurie and now I’m hungry. 🙂 We’re Mexican fans ourselves and looking forward to getting something much closer to actual Mexican when we go back to San Diego this summer. 🙂 We love fajitas as well, especially when we can pull the veggies right out of the garden. Other than that we like enchiladas and chicken mole.
The authentic stuff is the best!!! We used to have an extended family member who was Mexican, and we’d head over to her family gatherings, complete with an abundance of authentic Mexican food – yum! Chicken mole was her signature dish, and I miss it to this day. That, and those homemade refrieds with the bacon fat.
yum yum yum! We love Mexican food. We take black beans mix them with spicy salsa and cheese and then serve in tortilla as a burrito. So good, frugal and usually we make enough so that we can bring leftovers for lunch.
That sounds delish, Liz!! We’ll have to try that here. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
My kids love fajitas so these would go over really well. We are usually adding cheese and sour cream and on a splurge might do steak fajitas also.
Yeah, steak fajitas are the best. A splurge for us too, but when we have them, we sure do enjoy them. 🙂
I am going to try this! Currently, I’m trying to get my grocery bill lower, so I look forward to using your recipes to help me. Thanks for sharing!
You can do it, Natalie! Keep checking back: we’re planning to add more frugal recipes! 🙂
I LOVE when we make fajitas at home, and it’s true you can dress them up or down depending on where your food budget is for the month.
That’s one of the things we love about them, Shannon – they can be simple or extravagant. 🙂
Nice! We do something like this, except with refried beans. Sometimes I make homemade guacamole too.
LOVE homemade guac. Avocados are on sale here this week; 3 for 99 cents. We’re going to load up big time!
Yum! I haven’t had fajitas in forever but now I want to add them to my meal plan 🙂
We hadn’t either, but now that we’ve remembered how awesome they are, we’ll be making them a lot more. 🙂
Yum! I do love Mexican food. Thanks for sharing this frugal and easy recipe. Peppers and chicken are even on sale this week 🙂
Woohoo! Double bonus. Time to stock up! 🙂
I make black bean and rice burritos that I freeze and then whip out for an easy lunch.
Sounds like a great plan, Kara!! I’ll have to whip some of those up for hubby’s lunch! Thanks for the great idea. 🙂
My wife and I make something VERY similar and it’s one of my favorite meals! We actually just made it last night.
YUM! You’ll have to share how you guys make yours. 🙂
There are so many variations you can do with tortillas. We often do tacos or fajitas one night then quesadillas the next. You also don’t need nearly as much meat as you would if that was your main course. Great meal idea!
We do cheese and veggie quesadillas a lot. Bake them in the oven and they’re crunchy and delicious!
I agree about homemade tortillas – they’re not too hard, and doesn’t feel as plastic-like as some ready made ones! Great recipe, Laurie, not too much on the spices is key, I think.
I think so too. It’s good to give them a nice flavor, but not too much flavor. And yeah, those homemade tortillas rock! 🙂
Hi Laurie and thanks for sharing such a delicious recipe with us 🙂
I’ve been wondering what to make lately that would be different than my usual spaghetti or roasted chicken and this might just do the trick!!
I like the fact that it is easy to make, healthy, and ethnic. Plus, it’s fun enough for the kiddies to eat as well. Winner winner Mexican dinner 🙂
Thanks again Laurie and take care. My best to all.
Lyle
LOL, funny. 🙂 You’ll have to whip up some fajitas for yourself and let us know how it turns out. Have a great day, Lyle!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. We love Mexican food here, sadly, I only make tacos. This is so simple to make I will give it a try.
It really is easy, Brit! Try it and let me know how it goes.
Homemade tortillas? Oh, man, that sounds fantastic.
Fajitas are my wife’s go-to, and they’re always a good idea.
Oh, they’re yummy, DB40! It’ll spoil you, though, for the store-bought stuff. 🙂
I am not really sure what authentic Mexican is because all we have here is Taco Bell and some Old El Paso taco supplies at the grocery stores.
I make fajitas and tacos and I doubt if they would be anything like real Mexican.
LOL, funny. 🙂 Yeah, it is much different, not as spicy as the fake stuff here, but very good. I should see if I can find some of the stuff we used to have when I was a kid.
Yum, yum, yum! My favorite, Mexican food!
I love when you do these. Where do you get the recipes, or do you make them up?
Mostly I make them up. I’m one of those cooks that just has stuff in her head and I don’t do much in the way of recipes unless I’m baking. It makes for a great skill when the end of the month comes along and the food supply is getting to be slim pickins. 🙂
God, those frugal fajitas look really amazing. We have no pickles left soooo hungry! :)) Yum!
We’ve got several jars in the basement – we canned our own pickles this year – woohoo! 🙂
I love some fajitas and my fave is guacamole. When I was in Texas I had plenty, sooo good. I do think Chipotle makes a very good Guac, it’s one of my favorites. I’ll have to try this recipe.
Yeah, it’s good! Not quite Chipotle good, but good. Let me know what you think. 🙂
Fajitas are one of my absolute favorite dishes. LOVE them! And you are so right – the veggies need to still be a bit crisp! Living in LA, there are so many yummy Mexican restaurants that I have become a bit spoiled. Their homemade tortillas are heavenly, although I have tempted to make them at home yet. I’ve actually been craving fajitas (with a healthy dollop of guacamole) and I’m going to have to satisfy that desire pretty soon!
You should try the homemade tortillas, Tanya. They’re awesome, and easy to make!! Man, I’d love to have a good Mexican restaurant around here. We’ve got some decent chain places, but it’s not the same, I’m sure, as what’s out there.