Smoked Chicken Fajitas
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Food:
Poultry
Serves:
4 to 6 people
Prep Time:
10 min
Cook Time:
25 min
Fajitas are just fun! There, we said it. But, but seriously, what's not fun about fajitas? A delicious sizzling platter of meat and grilled peppers and onions, and the ability to build your own fajitas on a soft flour tortilla with a mix of fresh toppings. What makes this chicken fajita recipe even more fun, is that the chicken is smoked and then stacked, skewered, and then you carve it off the skewer to fill your tortillas with the juicy, flavourful smoked chicken. Then you fill up that tortilla with charred red and green peppers, onion, and sweet, caramelized pineapple and top it all off with a fresh and bright lime crema. One step you definitely don't want to skip, is making the achiote butter for the chicken. The sauce is made of a simple mix of melted butter, lemon juice, achiote powder and a bit of hot sauce and then is drizzled over the smoked chicken as it sears on the plancha and then again after the chicken is skewered and plated on the hot skillet. This will be your favourite fajita recipe in no time.
By:Chef Matt Basile
Ingredients
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2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
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1 tsp paprika
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4 tbsp achiote powder
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2 tsp ground coriander
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2 tsp garlic powder
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Salt
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Hot sauce (couple dashes)
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½ cup lemon juice
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1 green pepper
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1 red pepper
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1 red onion
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1 pineapple, peeled and cored
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3 tbsp mayo
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3 tbsp sour cream
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Juice from half a lime
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Cilantro for garnish
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¼ cup butter
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Achiote powder
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Hot sauce
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Cotija cheese
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Flour tortillas
Instructions
Set smoker to 300F.
Butterfly the chicken breasts and season with paprika, achiote powder, ground coriander, garlic powder, salt, hot sauce and lemon juice. Place in the smoker for 20 minutes or until internal temp reaches 160F.
While the chicken smokes, slice the peppers and pineapple into rings. Slice half the ¾ of the onion into rings, then leave the last piece whole and place on the plancha to grill, flipping once. In a bowl, mix the mayo, sour cream and lime juice to make the crema, and set aside. Chop the cilantro for garnish, set aside in a bowl.
Add a flat cast iron skillet to the grill. Place the peppers, onion and pineapple on the grill with oil and cook until nicely charred and softened, flipping midway. Once done, pile onto the hot skillet. Add a small cast iron pan to the grill and add the butter, lemon juice, a sprinkle of achiote powder and a couple dashes of hot sauce, mix and let butter melt.
Remove the chicken from the smoker and place on the plancha to sear, drizzle with the melted, seasoned butter, flip and repeat on the other side. Stack the pieces of chicken and skewer them through the top, place them onto the skillet, making sure to skewer the ¼ grilled onion, to help keep the chicken standing. Pour more of the melted butter on top of the chicken. Sprinkle with fresh chopped cilantro and grate cotija cheese on top.
Build your fajitas by slicing the chicken off the skewer and placing in your flour tortillas with frill peppers, onions and pineapple. Top with the crema.