Combining cut slices of well-seasoned and seared steak with bell peppers and onions, this Tex-Mex dish is clean eat and bursting with flavor. Served on our Whole Wheat Tortillas and topped with sour cream, tomato salsa, shredded cheese and our simple and delicious 5-minute Guacamole, this is a meal that will be on your weeknight rotation schedule.
Whether you serve them up in a single pan, sizzling style like they do in the restaurants or keep each element separate, these fajitas can be customized to suit your own personal taste and since it’s all freshly made using clean ingredients, you can be sure that your body will be thanking you too!
To make this recipe we’ll be using freshly cut strips of bell peppers and sliced onions that will be seasoned with salt, oil, garlic powder and dried oregano. For our meat, we’ll be using a cut of flank steak (skirt steak works great too!) and we’ll be seasoning it with a rub made of salt, black pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, chipotle powder, cayenne pepper, dried oregano and raw sugar (which is naturally brown sugar).
We’ll begin by combining the ingredients for the rub (excluding the sugar) and rubbing it evenly on both sides of the meat.
Next we’ll evenly distribute the sugar over both sides so that it sits as a top layer which will help caramelize and sear the meat and create a crust. The meat and it’s spices will sit for a few minutes so that the spices can soak into the meat.
Into a pan with some oil we’ll sear off the steak for 3-4 minutes for each side. (5 if you want it well-done).
Once the meat is done we’ll remove it and set it aside to rest. This is very important since the heat from cooking makes the fibers of the meat tighten up which forces the juices out, by allowing it to rest, the fibers “relax” and reabsorb its own juices which makes for a more tender and juicy steak.
While the meat rests, we’ll add some more oil to the same pan we cooked the meat in and add the onions, salt and oregano.
When the onions are semi-translucent we’ll add the bell peppers and toss it all together. Note that the color of the peppers don’t matter, they are for aesthetics.
The end result is soft and well-seasoned onions with semi-cooked peppers that still have a little bit of crispness to them.
Each piece of meat, once cut, retains a nice sliver of flavorful char that is perfectly complemented by freshly chopped cilantro and wedges of lime.
Nestled on a warm and soft Whole Wheat Tortillas, these fajitas are perfect hosts for whatever toppings you enjoy. I like mine with guacamole, sour cream, fresh tomato salsa and shredded cheese. What are some of your favorite toppings for steak fajitas?
Clean and Delicious Steak Fajitas
Ingredients
For Meat
- 1 lb steak (flank or skirt)
- 1 tsp Himalayan salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp chipotle powder
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp organic raw sugar
- 1 tbsp extra light olive oil
For Vegetables
- 1 tbsp extra light olive oil
- 1 whole onion (sliced)
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 medium bell peppers (sliced into strips)
Instructions
For Meat:
- Prep the meat by bringing it to room temp and trimming off any excess fat.
- Combine all spices (salt, black pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, chipotle powder, cayenne pepper, dried oregano) into a rub and evenly distribute it onto the steak being sure to press it into the meat to ensure that it sticks.
- Sprinkle the sugar over the front and back and press the large grains into the meat.
- Allow the meat to rest for 5-10 minutes so that the rub can be dissolved and absorbed into the steak.
- Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a saute pan until very hot. Add the steak and cook for 4 minutes. Flip the steak, lower the heat to med and cook for another 4 minutes.
- Remove the steak from the pan and place on a plate, allowing it to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
- After resting, slice the steak across the grain. This means that if the fibers of meat are running vertically || , you're going to slice horizontally. =
For Vegetables:
- Add oil and onions to the same pan that the steak was cooked in, ensuring that the pan is on med-med-high heat.
- When the onions become semi-translucent (approx 2 min), add the salt, garlic and dried oregano.
- Cook the onions for another 2 minutes before adding the strips of bell peppers and tossing to combine them with the onions.
- Turn off the heat and cover the pan for 3-4 minutes so that the peppers soften slightly.
- Serve the sliced meat and vegetables with flour tortillas or yellow rice. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat thoroughly before serving.
Notes
- You can check the internal temp of your steak to determine the doneness. For rare, check that it's at least 125F, for medium rare-130F, and for medium-135F. I personally prefer med-rare.
- Bell peppers take about 10 minutes to fully cook and soften so be sure to not exceed that time or you will have soggy peppers.
