Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Try fajita stuffed chicken, with peppers, onions, and cheese stuffed inside tender chicken breasts, breaded with a crispy coating of crushed tortilla chips. Enjoy all the flavors of fajitas in an easy baked dish!
How long it takes: 45 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: 9 x 13 inch pan, large skillet, sharp knife
Servings: 4
Flavorful Fajita Stuffed Chicken
These tender chicken breasts are stuffed with all the fixings of fajitas, coated with salsa and crushed tortilla chips, and baked until golden and crispy. Fajita stuffed chicken is a great way to enjoy fajitas all in one dish.
Fajitas are always a hit! Even though my husband is a traditionalist and doesn’t always like it when I mess around with his favorites (sheet pan shrimp fajitas or easy steak fajitas), he’s a fan of fajita stuffed chicken and I think you will be, too! Another one of our favorites is chicken fajita stuffed spaghetti squash.
Less last minute prep. When you think of traditional fajitas, you probably think of soft flour tortillas stuffed with loads of sizzling hot meat and veggies. So yummy, but there’s lots of last minute preparation with a dish like that. In this recipe, the tortillas take the form of crushed tortilla chips, providing a crispy coating for the chicken. The fajita fixings are stuffed inside the chicken.
Makes a nice presentation. This fajita stuffed chicken is a little fancier, perfect for serving to guests. Anytime you have something “stuffed”, it just seems a little more special, don’t you think? One of my favorite recipes for dinner parties is feta stuffed chicken breasts with sun-dried tomato and kale. It always turns out so well and guests really love it. This fajita stuffed chicken falls into the same camp. Keep reading for what to serve with fajita stuffed chicken.
No bread involved. Don’t be misled by the word “stuffing”. This isn’t a traditional bread stuffing. The stuffing is merely peppers, onions, and cheese and the “breading” is crushed tortilla chips.
Ingredient Notes
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts: This cut is pretty much the only type of chicken that works for this recipe. It would be difficult to stuff a chicken drumstick!
- Bell Peppers: Any color will do. Mix and match for a more colorful presentation.
- Red Onion: If you prefer a sweet onion like Vidalia, that’s fine, too.
- Taco Seasoning or Fajita Seasoning: Make your own blend or buy a commercial blend.
- Cheddar Cheese: If you prefer, choose a Mexican blend, pepper jack, or any kind of cheese you like.
- Salsa: Mild or spicy, choose whatever type you like best. Shelf stable salsa from a jar works better than the refrigerated fresh salsa for this recipe because it’s thicker and not as watery.
- Tortilla Chips: Crushed chips make up the crispy breading on the chicken.
How To Make Fajita Stuffed Chicken
There are two steps to this recipe: preparing the fajita stuffing and baking the stuffed chicken
Sauté the peppers and onions. They should be sliced into strips that are about ¼ inch wide. Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet. Cook the onions and bell peppers until they are softened. Onions and bell peppers are traditional fajita fixings and they constitute the stuffing of this recipe.
Make a pocket for the stuffing. You need to create a pocket or a place in the chicken breasts to put the stuffing. This isn’t difficult to do. Find a very sharp knife for this job because a dull knife makes it way harder to do. Carefully slice into the side of each chicken breast, making sure of two things: one, that you don’t cut all the way through and slice it in half; and two, that you don’t cut yourself!
If you’ve cut your chicken correctly, you should be able to open it like a book connected in the middle. Picture a butterfly. Did you cut it all the way through? Don’t worry, it will still work.
Season the chicken. Sprinkle both sides of each piece of chicken with taco or fajita seasoning, inside and out. The more you use, the spicier it will be.
Stuff the butterflied chicken breasts. Arrange the pepper/onion mixture on one half of each chicken piece; sprinkle with cheese and fold the top half over (close the book). If all of the peppers and onions don’t fit into the chicken, no problem, they make a great side dish. In fact, you may want to make extra just for that purpose. (But make sure you’re not touching them with hands that you’re touching the raw chicken with! Set aside a few in a bowl or leave them in the pan if you think you’ll have extras.)
Add salsa and tortilla chips. Place each stuffed chicken breast into a baking dish, slather on salsa, and sprinkle crushed tortilla chips over each one.
Bake. Pop the dish into the oven and bake until the chicken is cooked through, only pulling it out of the oven to sprinkle more cheese on it right before it finishes cooking. So yummy!
Serving Suggestions
Serve fajita stuffed chicken with traditional fajita toppings in the form of a salad or toppings for the chicken: lettuce, avocado, and tomato. Sour cream, pico de gallo (or restaurant style salsa), homemade guacamole and cilantro add a nice touch. Mexican rice or slow cooker refried beans make great sides, too. Maybe you’ll want to have a strawberry margarita or a spicy Paloma and have a little party!
Recipe Variations
- Substitute a different type of cheese. A Mexican blend is great! Pepper jack, cotija cheese, or even cream cheese are all good choices.
- Try breading alternatives (or no breading). If you would rather have more traditional breading, instead of the salsa and tortilla chips, mix one cup panko with melted butter and fajita seasoning. After stuffing the chicken, place it in the pan, and cover each piece with the panko topping. Bake as directed. We also tested this without chips or breading, just with a sprinkle of cheese, and that was also delicious!
- Skip the stuffing. If you are looking for a baked chicken recipe that doesn’t involve stuffing, try my easy bacon wrapped chicken breasts. Elegant and so delicious!
Get a head start: You can easily prep a large portion of this recipe at least a day ahead. Wash and cut the peppers and onions into strips. Store them in the fridge in a resealable bag or covered bowl. Shred the cheese if you bought a block of it. If you want, make the “pockets” in the chicken breasts so they are ready, too. The tortilla chips can be crushed and set aside. Make the seasoning if you don’t already have it hand.
You’ll be able to get this dinner into the oven in no time!
Refrigerate/freeze: Leftover chicken will keep in the fridge for up to three days. I haven’t tried freezing it but I think that should work just fine. Thaw overnight before reheating. The chips may not be as crunchy after reheating.
Reheat: The best way is to put them into the oven or a toaster oven for 10 minutes or so or until they are heated through. The coating tends to get soggy in the fridge so the oven will crisp it back up again. If you have leftover tortilla chips, sprinkle a fresh layer on top for the best results. Microwaving will heat up the chicken but you won’t get the crispy coating. If you have an air fryer, that would also be a great method to reheat. Try 380°F for 5 to 10 minutes.
If you have leftovers and you don’t want a repeat of yesterday’s meal, the stuffed chicken is really good wrapped in a warm flour tortilla with shredded cheese, lettuce and salsa. Chop it up into bite-sized pieces and reheat it before adding it to the tortilla.
Not into tortillas? Do the same thing but instead of wrapping the chicken in a tortilla, serve it on a healthy salad. Add chopped tomatoes, avocados, and a drizzle of this yummy sweet BBQ salad dressing with lime!
Southwestern Style Recipes
Fajita Stuffed Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ red bell pepper, sliced into ¼ -inch strips
- ½ green bell pepper, sliced into ¼ -inch strips
- ½ medium red onion, sliced into ¼ -inch slices
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (approx. 6 oz. each)
- 2 tablespoons fajita or taco seasoning
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
- ½ cup salsa (shelf-stable salsas works better than fresh salsa for this recipe)
- 1 cup crushed tortilla chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In large skillet over medium high heat, heat oil and sauté onion and peppers until tender, 10 to 12 minutes.1 tablespoon olive oil, ½ red bell pepper, sliced into ¼ -inch strips, ½ green bell pepper, sliced into ¼ -inch strips, ½ medium red onion, sliced into ¼ -inch slices
- Butterfly each chicken breast: split each chicken breast across, but not through, and open like a book (be careful, you can easily cut yourself doing this!). Season both sides of the chicken with fajita or taco seasoning.4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 2 tablespoons fajita or taco seasoning
- Arrange peppers and onions on one side of chicken, and sprinkle with a couple tablespoons of shredded cheese. Fold chicken breast over to cover fillings. Place in prepared baking dish. Repeat for each chicken breast, using ½ cup of cheese total. Reserve the remaining half cup to add later.1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
- Pour salsa over stuffed chicken breasts, and sprinkle with crushed chips.½ cup salsa, 1 cup crushed tortilla chips
- Bake 30 minutes, remove from oven, and sprinkle with reserved ½ cup cheese. Return to oven and bake for another 5 to 8 minutes or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 165ºF when checked with an instant read thermometer. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Cheese options: Mexican blend cheese, pepper jack, or Monterey jack cheese can be substituted for the cheddar cheese.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
sounds fantastic
Thanks Denise!
This is amazing! Just made it for dinner and it was such a hit! So delicious! Thank you so much!
Uhh yeah Autumn! Bring those precious girls and your husband and we'll make it a party! Tomorrow work for you? ;)
This looks great! Can I come over for dinner next time you make this?!!? :)
I think that's the most colorful plate of food I have ever seen! Nice job!