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I’ve been making homemade spice blends my whole life, and this Fajita Seasoning recipe is the most popular one on the site. With nearly 500 5-star reviews, commenters can’t stop raving about how delicious this blend is!
As a classically-trained chef, I’ve perfected the art of creating spice blends that are full of flavor and properly-balanced. You always have the option to make them spicer if you love that, but they are family-friendly as written.
Put this Fajita Seasoning to work as a dry rub, a marinade, or even as a substitute for taco seasoning. Make a big batch and keep in the pantry because trust me, you’ll reach for it again and again!
Table of Contents
What is in Fajita Seasoning?
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
- Paprika: Both sweet and smoked paprika work here.
- Sugar: Leave this out if you want to.
- Cayenne pepper: Add more if you like spicy food, omit entirely if you don’t.
How to Make Fajita Seasoning
- In a small bowl, combine chili powder, cumin, paprika, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper to taste (I like ½ teaspoon), and salt to taste (I like 1 teaspoon). Store in an airtight container.
Should I use a spice grinder?
I HIGHLY recommend using a spice grinder if you want the freshest flavors for your spice blends. They’re not too expensive and make a tremendous difference in your cooking! The KRUPS Fast Touch Electric Grinder is my favorite one because it’s powerful and easy to clean. You can get it at Walmart for $19.98 but I recommend a few others in my best spice grinder roundup!
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes ¼ cup fajita seasoning which is enough to season 4 pounds of beef, chicken, or shrimp.
- Storage: Store this spice blend covered in the pantry for up to 6 months.
- Making chicken fajitas:
- In a plastic bag, add 2 pounds chicken (breasts or thighs), ¼ cup minced cilantro, 3 tablespoons lime juice, and 2 tablespoons of fajita seasoning. Mash until evenly coated. Marinate at least 30 minutes (room temperature) or up to 1 hour (refrigerated).
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil until shimmering. Add chicken and cook until crispy and browned on one side, about 8 minutes. Flip and cook until browned on the second side and chicken registers 160 degrees, about 8 to 10 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and rest for 5 minutes before cutting into strips (do not discard fat in skillet).
- Meanwhile, to the skillet with the fat over medium-high heat, add 3 bell peppers (sliced) and 1 red onion (sliced) and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Push peppers and onions to one side and add sliced chicken back to skillet for serving. Serve with tortillas, avocado, cilantro, and sour cream (or your favorite toppings).
How to use Fajita Seasoning
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Fajita Seasoning Mix
Ingredients
- 4 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons paprika (see note 1)
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar (see note 2)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- cayenne pepper to taste (see note 3)
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine chili powder, cumin, paprika, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper to taste (I like ½ teaspoon), and salt to taste (I like 1 teaspoon). Store in an airtight container.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Paprika: Both sweet and smoked paprika work here.
- Sugar: Leave this out if you want to.
- Cayenne pepper: Add more if you like spicy food, omit entirely if you don’t.
- Yield: This recipe makes ¼ c. fajita seasoning which is enough to season 4 pounds of beef, chicken, or shrimp.
- Storage: Store this spice blend covered in the pantry for up to 6 months.
- Making chicken fajitas:
- In a plastic bag, add 2 pounds chicken (breasts or thighs), ¼ c. minced cilantro, 3 Tbsp. lime juice, and 2 Tbsp. of fajita seasoning. Mash until evenly coated. Marinate at least 30 minutes (room temperature) or up to 1 hour (refrigerated).
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil until shimmering. Add chicken and cook until crispy and browned on one side, about 8 minutes. Flip and cook until browned on the second side and chicken registers 160 degrees, about 8 to 10 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and rest for 5 minutes before cutting into strips (do not discard fat in skillet).
- Meanwhile, to the skillet with the fat over medium-high heat, add 3 bell peppers (sliced) and 1 red onion (sliced) and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Push peppers and onions to one side and add sliced chicken back to skillet for serving. Serve with tortillas, avocado, cilantro, and sour cream (or your favorite toppings).
I made this recipe last night, and the only negative thing I could say, was I didn’t have Margaritas to go with it. I’ve made fajitas before, and it always lacked something, but using this fajita seasoning mix, and marinating the chicken in the fridge for an hour, made all the difference in the world. Initially the chicken (which I cut and tasted) seemed spicy, but wasn’t, once sour cream, cheese, lettuce, some salsa, onions, peppers and tortilla were added, and so I will increase the chilli next time. There was a beautiful sear on the chicken, and the onions and peppers added after, absorbed all the bits left on the bottom of the pan, and tasted great. I will make this for friends and family as soon as I get a chance. Thank you for posting this recipe, and if I may make one suggestion, put a note somewhere to add Margaritas to the meal, as these are restaurant quality fajitas, and would go superbly with it.
Hello,
I made this seasoning recipe tonight for fajitas, and I noticed four teaspoons are a lot but I added it in thinking it would be ok. I only added half of the seasoning recipe, and all I can say is it was super spicy and my whole dinner was ruined. Did I do something wrong? If so please fix the recipe so more people don’t ruin it like me:(
Sincerely Charlye
Hi Charlye, I really want to figure out what went wrong for you. I just made this 2 days ago. So first – did you use 2 pounds of chicken? And you marinated it with the spices, the lime juice, and the cilantro? When you made the seasoning, did you use the 1/2 teaspoon (which would be 1/4 teaspoon if you only used half of the spice mix)? The only thing I can think of is that you either didn’t have enough chicken or somehow used too much cayenne. I’m going to change the recipe so cayenne is listed as “to taste” with no amount given. Like I said I made this 2 days ago and my 5-year-old daughter ate some of the chicken and she didn’t have any issues. If you write me at meggan @ culinaryhill.com, I’ll send you a gift card to Amazon to help make up for this. I’m really sorry. -Meggan
Great recipe! My husband come home with a packet of store bought fajita seasoning (Gross, thick and sticky). I searched the web and found this recipe. I didn’t change a thing except I used enough cayenne pepper to taste.. This one is a keeper. Sooo good.
Delicious recipe! My new go-to seasoning for fajitas!
Hooray! Glad you like it Sophia! -Meggan
Great stuff!
Used it as a dry rub and upped the Cayenne because it needed a little more heat. Awesome seasoning.
Holy Smoke Batman. My wife is a bit of a Wuss when it comes to spicy food. I like spicy but even I thought this was quite the bit over the top with the heat. Tell me if I was wrong but I made the recipe and I put the whole thing in the frying pan and then added 1/3 cup of water. With peppers and onion and leftover pork tenderloin. I actually only put in a 1/4 tsp of Cayenne Powder, 1/2 tsp sugar. Was I not supposed to put all of the seasoning that the recipe made. Thank you Richard
Hi Richard, I’m really sorry. It’s only supposed to be HALF the seasoning blend, not the whole seasoning blend. I actually completely reworked this recipe last month so it be flawless, but I apparently only updated it on the Chicken Fajitas post, not the Fajita Seasoning post. The blend is still the same, but the instructions within the seasoning post don’t say to use half the seasoning amount. I’ll send you an Amazon gift card to make up for ruining your food, just send me an email and let me know where to send it. You can reach me at meggan@culinaryhill.com. I’m really sorry again. And my apologies to your wife! -Meggan
So easy, so good! This is all I will ever make again for my fajitas!
I tried this seasoning and it was actually really good! It was a little too strong, I’m guessing due to the chili powder but still, 5 stars. I would definitely do this again. Thanks so much!!
Made it with sweet paprika and sugar! Made it awesome. Sweet and spicy. I’m a light weight with spices, and my lips are of fire, but it was so good! Don’t change a thing….other than maybe if you use sweet paprika you can omit the sugar if you want.
Well done. Was going to use a package, but was complaining I’d have to use two with so many ingredient..and I only had 1. Thank God! I’ll just throw the package out and book mark this!
Thank you!
Brad
Not the first fajita seasoning recipe I’ve tried, but definitely the last. Five stars!!! Perfect amount of heat, without making you sweat 😓. I also used two lbs of chicken, 2 bell peppers, 1 lrg onion, 1 zucchini and a lrg handful of cherry tomatoes… the amount of seasoning was perfect for all the chicken and veggies.