Baked Chicken Fajita Roll Ups (Printable Version)
Chicken breasts rolled with sautéed peppers, onions, and melted cheese for a healthy Tex-Mex dinner.
# What You Need:
→ Meats
01 - 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1.1 lb)
→ Vegetables
02 - 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
03 - 1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
04 - 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
→ Dairy
05 - 1¼ cups shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese (about 4.2 oz)
→ Spices & Seasonings
06 - 2 tbsp olive oil
07 - 1 tsp chili powder
08 - 1 tsp smoked paprika
09 - ½ tsp cumin
10 - ½ tsp garlic powder
11 - ½ tsp onion powder
12 - ½ tsp salt
13 - ¼ tsp ground black pepper
→ Garnishes
14 - Fresh cilantro, chopped
15 - Lime wedges
# Method:
01 - Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with olive oil or cooking spray.
02 - In a small bowl, combine the chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper. Mix thoroughly and set aside.
03 - Place each chicken breast between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet to approximately ⅜ inch uniform thickness.
04 - Drizzle the flattened chicken breasts with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then evenly sprinkle half of the seasoning blend over both sides of each breast.
05 - Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced red and yellow bell peppers along with the red onion. Sauté for 3 to 4 minutes until just tender but still slightly crisp. Remove from heat and toss with the remaining seasoning blend.
06 - Lay each seasoned chicken breast flat. Distribute the sautéed pepper and onion mixture evenly across each breast, then sprinkle generously with the shredded cheese.
07 - Roll each chicken breast up tightly, starting from one end. Secure each roll with 2 to 3 toothpicks to hold its shape. Place the rolls seam side down in the prepared baking dish.
08 - Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F and the juices run clear.
09 - Remove from the oven and let the roll ups rest for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the toothpicks, slice each roll into pinwheels, and garnish with fresh cilantro and lime wedges before serving.
# Expert Tricks:
01 -
- Everything you crave about fajitas gets neatly tucked inside tender chicken, so there is no fork required and no tortilla needed.
- The presentation alone makes people think you spent far more effort than you actually did, which is the best kind of weeknight trick.
02 -
- Do not skip pounding the chicken thin because thick breasts will not roll properly and the outside will dry out before the center cooks through.
- Toothpicks are your best friend here, so use two per roll at minimum because one always seems to vanish into the cheese during baking.
03 -
- Let the sauteed vegetables cool for a few minutes before filling the chicken because piping hot peppers will start melting the cheese before you even finish rolling.
- A toothpick inserted at each end of the roll prevents the filling from escaping out the sides during baking, which is a small detail that saves a lot of mess.