Not just another grilled beef steak fajitas recipe…..made extra juicy and extra tasty with a wicked marinade! Clocking in at just 130 calories per taco, these are super easy, healthy, and made for summer grilling. PS I’ve also provided my faster recipe for those days when you don’t have time to marinate. 🙂
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
I’m going away tomorrow for a beach escape with my girlfriends and in usual form, I piped up straight away and said “bags taking care of the food!”.
No one complained. Everybody wants a proper break. Me? Relaxing = cobbling around in the kitchen with many mouths to feed. 🙂
But it is, after all, a holiday, and I don’t plan to spend hours upon hours making complicated fussy things. Being summer in Sydney, the instant thought that came to mind was grilling. Then second to that?
Crowd pleaser. MEXICAN.
Hello Beef Fajitas. I had to do a trial run to make sure you really are good enough for my friends. YES you are. Especially because you’re so tasty and juicy from the yummy marinade. 🙂
PS Note the pink. Pink = perfectly cooked beef. 👍🏼 No pink = overcooked beef. 👎🏼
PPS Note the juices soaking into the wooden cutting board. Extra juicy from the marinade!
I don’t know about you, but when it comes to anything in taco/burrito/roll form, I always overstuff.
Self control issues. I can honestly say that I have NEVER bundled up a taco and thought “Oh, there’s room for more stuffing”.
You too?
That photo above might look like a sensible amount, but here it is folded up.
See? I have no ability to judge the right amout.
Overstuffed taco. Again.
Maybe it doesn’t LOOK overstuffed. But I can tell you that when I picked it up 2 seconds after I took that photo, it required both hands and when I took a bite, filling squirted out the other end. 😂
Slopping up taco filling from my plate with my hands (Cutlery?? What’s that??) is all part of the Mexican Fiesta experience in my books.
And honestly, when it comes to a fast midweek meal or feeding a crowd? These Fajitas. SO good. So easy.
Go wild with the fixings. Don’t hold back. But I promise you, even if you forgo all the fixings, the BEEF is so juicy and full of flavour, you won’t miss them. – Nagi x
Watch How To Make It
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Beef Fajitas
Ingredients
Marinated Beef
- 1 lb / 500g beef steak (rump and skirt are ideal) (Note 1)
- 4 tbsp / 1/4 cup orange juice , fresh (1 orange)
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder (optional)
- 1 tsp chipotle powder (Note 2)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Fajitas
- 2 – 3 tbsp oil
- 2 bell peppers/capsicum , sliced (Note 3)
- 1 large onion , halved and sliced (brown, yellow, white)
- Salt and pepper
Fixings
- 12 tortillas , small
- Avocado
- Cilantro/coriander
- Sour cream
- Lime wedges
- Tomatoes , sliced, or Pico de gallo
Instructions
- Place the Marinated Beef ingredients in a ziplock bag, massage to coat then refrigerate for 2 hour to overnight.
- Remove beef from marinade 30 minutes prior to cooking (to bring to room temperature) and pat dry with paper towels. Discard marinade.
- Drizzle 1/2 tbsp of oil on each side of the beef (1 tbsp in total).
- Heat the BBQ or a skillet on high heat. Cook beef to your liking. (Note 4)
- Remove beef onto a plate and cover loosely with foil.
- Return skillet to stove, still on high heat, and heat 1/2 tbsp oil. Add onions, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook until soft and charred. Remove onto serving plate.
- Heat remaining 1/2 tbsp oil in the skillet. Add bell pepper/capsicum, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook until charred. Remove onto plate.
- Slice beef thinly against the grain (Note 5).
- Serve with warmed tortillas and fixings of choice. (Note 6)
Recipe Notes:
– Avocado: Dice and toss with lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, chopped cilantro/coriander, and finely chopped chilli.
– Pico de Gallo 7. If you don’t have time to MARINATE, just rub the beef with a spice mix as follows then cook: 1/2 tsp chipotle powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/8 tsp EACH smoked paprika, cumin and coriander powder, 1/4 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp salt, black pepper. Rub it on and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes. This will yield a fairly thick spice rub crust that will add loads of flavour to compensate for not marinating. Then follow the recipe. But note: If using skirt steak, the beef will not be as tender because the OJ and lime tenderise the beef. Not as important for more tender cuts of beef like rump, scotch fillet etc, but it makes quite a difference with skirt steak! 8. Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings INCLUDING flour tortillas (3 each) but excluding other optional Fixings (as listed in the recipe).
Nutrition Information:
The meat in this is absolutely fantastic. I will be making this again and again.
I made this, marinate the meat overnight in the fridge as recommended. The meat is tasty, juicy and tender. The marinade is really good.!!! Thank you. I have made other recipes by you and they are all successful.
I am glad that you enjoyed it Helen! N x
Delicious! So easy, economical and surprisingly low calorie too! I’ll definitely make these again, I think I’ll try cook it on the bbq too. Thanks Nagi!
This is my first time reviewing a recipe, I used an already thinly cut eye of round steak but let it marinate overnight, served it on a keto tortilla with freshly grated queso fresco, salsa, and sour cream. The steak was still a little tough (probably because I used a cheap cut and avoided the rest time because it was hungry) but the fajitas were so delicious I had to give it a review.
I am glad that you enjoyed them Charlie! N x
Hi Nagi, would it be ok to marinate the steak 24hrs in advance?
BIG fan of your recipes Nagi. Quick question, I’m in a pinch and forgot to pick up an orange. Would this recipe work well with lemon juice or pineapple juice instead?
This was so tasty! Loved the meat cooked this way, just enough of the Mexican flavour without being overwhelming. Equally enjoyable as a veg option with those charred veggies 🤤. I served with the avocado/lime/olive oil and some sour cream. Easy and tasty Sunday night dinner. Thanks, Nagi and Dozer! PS where’s the Dozer update on this recipe? I might or might not scroll all the way down first to check out my favorite famous Goldie 😂🥰🐾
He is the star of the show! N x
This was so easy and so delicious, really tasty flavours. Loved every bite!! Made with leftover steak but still marinated it for 4 hours. Yum yum yum!! Thanks Nagi.
Easy and delicious! I like it best with hanger steak seated on the outdoor grill. This weekend, however, I’ll try a new twist: tomorrow’s entree is wild boar shoulder. I’ll make fajitas with the leftovers!
Sounds perfect Jeffery!!
Nagi, what an incredible recipe. It turned out gorgeous. We had an epic fajitas night! Only thing I didn’t do is let the steaks dry properly before cooking them in my cast iron pan (didn’t quite caramelize but was still perfectly pink inside). A tiny screw up on my part barely affected how great it tasted! Thanks for yet another great Mexican recipe.
Thanks so much!!!! I really appreciate the feedback!!
Hi Nagi, Love your recipes and have made many of them, all delicious. Also subscribe to your newsletter and must admit I always scroll to the bottom immediately to see the newest pic of Dozer 😁 A question about marinating the steak: You recommend 2 hours to overnight. Is there a problem with the citrus elements “cooking” the meat marinating overnight? Thanks! Love your work!
Hi Roger, so glad you love my recipes! No I don’t find the citrus doesn’t cook the beef at all!
PS Just to expand on that, it’s because the lime juice is diluted with the OJ and spices. Orange juice itself doesn’t “cook” meats like lime and lemon juice 🙂 That’s why this one can marinate overnight. N x
Made this for dinner tonight and it was a big hit. I made two versions – one according to your recipe and another substituting black beans for the steak, as we have a mixed vegetarian and omnivore family. I simmered the black beans with the same spices used in the steak marinade, and they were so good. Thanks for a delicious and easy solution to our dual dinner family situation!
I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed it Vivian, thank you so much for coming back to let me know!!! N x
Hey Nagi! I made fajitas for 30 people for Easter dinner yesterday and I made this recipe! It was great! My brother in law who is the ultimate steak critic ate FOUR 11-inch tortillas. I think we can call this a success.
Thanks so much!
Rachel! You made THIS for Easter?? What the…?? I had visions of you with real-deal-country-comfort food for Easter!!!! PS I think you are a mind reading, I was literally just browsing your site for autumn baking ideas 🙂 I am in need of crumble, pies etc etc!!!
The entire family defected this year! Usually we have meatloaf, ham, green beans, mashed potatoes…all that. This year they wanted Mexican so we had steak and chicken fajitas, Mexican rice, refried beans, guacamole, pico de gallo, tres leches cake and fruit pizza. It was a hit though!
And for baking ideas, I have a great apple dumpling recipe that’s AWESOME, and the cranberry apple cake is always a hit, there’s a blackberry cobbler recipe that you can adjust to any fruit, umm….oh and my apple pie has won like 6 or 7 blue ribbons. It’s always a good go-to. I forget that it’s fall for you all there. This whole flip flopped world thing….;)
OK, so I checked them all out and I want to make them ALL (I’m going into autumn comfort mode) but that applies pie…..I am tickled pink at the thought of making a Blue Ribbon Apple Pie!!!!! Hmm – wait. Rachel’s Blue Ribbon Apple Pie??
LOL I doubt you would rank very well with your SEO if you did that. And P.S. I answered your crust question over on the recipe. P.S.S. Apple crumb pie ranks pretty doggone good!!
SEO isn’t a always a priority!!! I am really keen to try your recipe 🙂 Thanks so much for letting me know, I couldn’t see where to subscribe to comments. Very clever, BTW 🙂 I LOVE that you don’t need to blind bake – you’re so smart! (I also love that’s the way you were taught to make it!)