The Best and Easiest Garlic Lime Steak Fajitas

The Best and Easiest Garlic Lime Steak Fajitas - these steak fajitas are easier to make than you think and absolutely delicious! Tender marinated flat iron steak served with sautéed bell peppers, onions, and a creamy Cilantro Lime Avocado Mash. Get restaurant style fajitas without the additional oil from frying and lower in sodium - at home and on your table in 30 minutes!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 30

Servings fajitas

Calories 331kcal

Ingredients

Marinade:

1/4 cup Lime juice approximately 2 limes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic 2-3 cloves
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp salt more or less to taste
1 tsp black pepper more or less to taste
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes more or less to taste
1/2 tsp oregano
2 tbsp freshly chopped cilantro optional, but tasty

Additional Ingredients:

1 lb flat iron steak or flank, hanger, skirt steak
3 bell peppers, stem and seeds removed, sliced thinly any color; red, green, and yellow
1 medium onion yellow, red, or white
1 tbsp olive oil
8 fajita flour tortillas

Cilantro Lime Avocado Mash: (optional - not included in the nutrition information)

2 medium avocados peeled and pitted
pinch crushed red pepper flakes more or less to taste
1 tbsp Lime juice or juice of 1/2 lime - more or less to taste
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Pinch of salt to taste
Pinch of pepper to taste
1/2 tbsp freshly chopped cilantro to taste

Garnishment: (optional - not included in the nutrition information)

freshly chopped cilantro
Limes to squeeze over tacos
Sliced jalapeno
plain greek yogurt or sour cream
Your favorite salsa
Cheese cheddar, mexican, etc

Instructions

Marinade:

Add all ingredients for the marinade into a sealable bowl or large ziploc bag. Whisk/mix together very well and then add the steak.
Toss to fully coat the steak. Seal and place into the fridge to marinade a minimum of 1 hour or overnight.

To Cook:

When ready, remove the steak from the fridge and leave on the counter (or in your sink) to come to room temperature - approximately 20-30 minutes.
Place a cast iron pan or large non-stick pan over medium heat with olive oil.
Once olive oil has heated, add the sliced peppers and onions. Saute until the peppers have softened just a bit and the onions are translucent. Remove from heat and cover with foil to keep warm. If you're going to use the same pan to cook the steak, remove the vegetables to a separate dish and cover to keep warm.

To Grill:

Place a grill pan (or the same pan from above) over medium heat. Add a little olive oil to coat the pan.
Once heated, remove the steak directly from the bag or container and add it to the pre-warmed pan. Allow the meat to cook evenly on both sides until it reaches desired doneness. I prefer medium to medium-rare, so I allowed it to grill for approximately 6-8 minutes. My flat iron steak was cut on the thicker side, though. See Notes below for additional tips.
When the steak is cooked to your liking, add the peppers and onion back to the pan to warm.
Slice the steak across the grain into thin strips.
Serve with warm tortillas with plain greek yogurt, cheese, your favorite salsa, a squeeze of lime juice, or your favorite taco/fajita stuffings.

Warming Tortillas: (no oil needed)

Place a small nonstick pan over medium-low heat. Warm each tortilla in the pan, flipping from one side to the next. About 20-30 seconds per side.
You can also preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, wrap the tortillas in foil and warm them for 10-15 minutes.

Notes

You can either grill the flat iron steak on your outdoor grill or inside on a grill pan. If you're looking for a remarkably impressive and sturdy grill pan, then I highly recommend this Cast Iron Square Grill Pan. It comes pre-seasoned and helps to give meats and vegetables that charred, grilled taste and texture.
I also use this Cuisinart Cast Iron Pan for meats and vegetables (which you see pictured above). It works very well. I don't think I'll ever be without it or a cast iron pan for that matter.
Be sure to remove the marinated steak from the fridge and allow to sit out 30 minutes prior to grilling.
If you're not a fan of steak, you can easily replace this with chicken breast.
Cilantro is optional, but if you're not a fan - you can omit.
Be sure to cut the meat across the grain to retain as much juice and flavor.

How long to grill the steak will depend upon two things: how thickly cut your steak is and how well-done you prefer your steak. For tender steak, I prefer mine cooked medium to medium-rare. This is approximately 6-8 minutes. My cut of steak was on the thicker side, though.

Rule of thumb: Use the finger to thumb method to test how well cooked your steak is. If you're not sure of what this means - google has some wonderful images to explain and show you. Super easy rule of thumb (pun intended).

Nutrition