Chicken Fajitas from Jamie Oliver's Minstry of Food

My shopping isn't arriving until Sunday, and I've been itching to get blogging. I'd planned to make these fajitas tonight anyway, so I thought it was a good place to start, seeing as I would go as far as saying these are the nicest fajitas I have ever had. Fajitas aren't the most challenging of dishes, but this recipe makes them.... just.... "wow". It's one of those things I always make, but as Jamie has asked us to 'Pass It On', I'm doing my bit...

Serves 2 (19 mins)

1 red pepper
1 medium red onion
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, preferably free range or organic
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
small pinch of ground cumin
2 limes
olive oil
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
4 flour tortillas [this means enough for 2 each, but I like to have one big fat one!]
1 x 150ml tub of sour cream / natural yoghurt [I use Sainsbury’s soured cream]
1 x 230g tub of guacamole
100g grated cheddar cheese

For the salsa

½ - 1 fresh red chilli, to your taste
15 ripe cherry tomatoes
a small bunch fresh coriander [I never add this as I don’t have a coriander bush and I forget to buy it]
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 lime
extra virgin olive oil


Put your griddle pan on a high heat [I always put it on low, then turn it to high once I start to make the salsa as otherwise it starts smoking], then halve and deseed your pepper and cut it into thin strips. Peel, halve and finely slice your onion, then slice your chicken lengthways into long strips roughly the same size as your pepper strips.

Put the peppers, onion and chicken into a bowl with the paprika and cumin. Squeeze over the juice of ½ a lime, drizzle over a lug of olive oil, season with a good pinch of salt and pepper and mix well. Put it to one side to marinade for 5 minutes or so while you make your salsa.

Finely chop your chilli. Roughly chop your tomatoes and the coriander, stalks and all. Put the chilli and tomatoes into a second bowl with a good pinch of salt and pepper and the juice of 1 lime. Add a good lug of extra virgin olive oil, then stir in your chopped coriander [I did mine without the coriander and is still very yummy and tasty].



Use a pair of tongs to put all the pieces of pepper, onion and chicken into your preheated pan to cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the chicken is golden and cooked through. As the pan will be really hot, keep turning the pieces of chicken and vegetables so they don’t burn – you just want them to lightly chargrill to give you a lovely flavour. Give the pan a little love and attention and you’ll be laughing! [In between these cooking and me tossing them I grate the cheese].


Warm your tortillas in up the microwave or in a warm dry pan.

Divide your warmed tortillas between your serving plated. At the table, carefully help yourselves to the chicken and vegetables straight from the hot griddle pan. Just be sure to put it down on top of something that wont burn, like a chopping board.


Halve your remaining lime and squeeze the juices over the sizzling pan. Serve with pots of sour cream and guacamole alongside your cheddar and lovely fresh salsa.