Everything you love about classic chicken fajitas are piled into these chicken fajita rice bowls that are made on a sheet pan for less mess and easy to meal prep!
Everything you love about chicken fajitas piled into one glorious rice bowl! Dinner plans are permanently sorted.
You know those sizzling fajitas you get at Mexican restaurants? These rice bowls are kinda sorta like that only we’re SUPER simplifying things today and putting everything in easy rice bowl form.
Where you can pile all the toppings you want with no danger of overloading and breaking your tortilla. Major wins all over the place.
Did I mention this is a sheet pan recipe? And you can meal prep most of it in advance? No wonder these rice bowls are almost always on our weekly dinner menu.
Suffice to say, dinner is about to rock.
These Rice Bowls feature…
- A base of fluffy rice
- Juicy marinated chicken breasts and tender peppers and onions
- Tons of toppings including avocado, tomato, tortilla chips, sour cream, cilantro, and lime
Making the Rice Bowls
(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)
Ingredients You Will Need
- Garlic
- Lime juice
- Cumin
- Chili powder
- Vegetable oil
- Chicken breasts
- Sweet pepper
- Sweet onion
- Rice
- Avocado
- Tomato
Choosing Your Chicken
We recommend using boneless skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. This cut of chicken is fast to cook up in the oven and turns out super tender and juicy.
If you don’t have breasts on hand, boneless skinless chicken thighs will work great instead. Be aware, you may need to adjust bake time.
Tips for Perfect Chicken Fajita Bowls
- Use a marinade – a simple lime-and-spices marinade infuses so much flavor into the chicken breasts.
- Marinate chicken at least 2 hours – a good rule of thumb with marinating is 2 hours if you’re in a hurry and up to 12 if you’ve got some extra time.
- Marinate chicken on bottom shelf of fridge – it’s always a good idea to keep raw meats away from fresh produce and on the bottom shelf of your fridge to reduce risk of cross contamination.
- Thinly slice peppers and onions – thinly slicing them will ensure they get super tender and caramelized during baking.
Recipe Variations
Try these ideas for a different twist on these bowls.
- Grill chicken and peppers – you can easily convert this recipe to grilling instead of baking.
- Use different toppings – feel free to use different toppings such as salsa, green onions, shredded cheese, black beans, or corn.
- Bake chicken with other veggies – try using zucchini, mushrooms, or asparagus.
- Make it spicy – throw a minced jalapeno or serrano pepper in with the other peppers for roasting.
Meal Prep Instructions
Follow these instructions for time-saving meal prep tips.
- Make rice – cook the rice and store in refrigerator up to 6 days.
- Marinate chicken – the chicken may be stored in marinade in refrigerator up to 12 hours.
- Assemble in containers – bake the chicken/peppers according to recipe instructions and arrange in meal prep containers with rice
- Serving bowls – when ready to serve, reheat chicken and rice containers and top with toppings.
No way around it, these chicken fajitas are the dinner MOVE if you’re craving fajitas but want to do it the easy and mess-free way! The chicken and peppers roast up so incredibly tender on the sheet pan and it’s absolutely incredible piled over warm rice with alllll the toppings.
New dinner crush, indeed.
Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.
More Mexican night favorites to try next!
Chicken Fajita Rice Bowls
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Ingredients
- 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 medium sweet peppers, thinly sliced
- 1 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
- 4 cups cooked white or brown rice
- 2 avocados pitted and thinly sliced
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced
- Tortilla chips, sour cream, lime wedges, and cilantro for serving, optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk garlic, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Arrange chicken in marinade until evenly coated. Cover bowl, transfer to refrigerator, and allow chicken to marinate at least 2 hours or up to 12.
- Preheat oven to 400F and lightly grease a large sheet pan. Arrange peppers and onion on pan and toss with remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and salt and pepper to taste. Remove chicken from marinade and arrange on sheet pan with sliced peppers and onion.
- Bake chicken at 400F 20-25 minutes until chicken registers 165F and peppers/onions are tender. Allow to cool slightly, then thinly slice chicken into strips and toss back into peppers and onions.
- Assemble rice bowls by dividing rice between serving bowls and topping with chicken, peppers, and onions mixture, avocado, and tomatoes. Garnish bowls with tortilla chips, sour cream, cilantro, and squeeze fresh lime wedges over top. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
This post was updated with new recipe adjustments and photos on 4/18/24.
Sarah @ The Gold Lining Girl says
This feels like super easy Chipotle that I can easily make right in my house, but looks a million times better. YES!! I have major love for rice. How could you embarrass it so much on a public forum? Lol!!! You’re too funny – totally enjoyed that part of the story! 🙂
Sarah says
Step aside, Chipotle! LOL. And right?! I think these bowls convinced me to give rice another chance. 😉
Christin @ Blue Crab Martini says
Our Monday nights sound very similar lol! I also love rice bowls especially because you can customize them with ingredients that are in season 🙂 Pinned!
Sarah says
You just can’t beat a good ‘ol rice bowl, right?! 😉 Thanks for pinning, Christin!
Jess @ Flying on Jess Fuel says
These are so pretty and colorful!! They look so healthy but sound delicious!! Win-win!
Sarah says
Thank you so much Jess! Happy Friday. 😉
Amber @ Dessert Now, Dinner Later! says
This meal is speaking to my pregnant belly right now! NEED SOME!
Sarah says
Haha I wish I could send you a bowl!!
Margaret Anne @ Natural Chow says
All I’m saying is—I’ll come over as long as these fajita rice bowls are there! These look SOOO good, Sarah! *wipes drool off of laptop*
Sarah says
Thank you so much Margaret!
Gary says
This was delicious – thank you! I loved the blend of flavors, textures, and colors. I made a vegan version using Beyond Meat vegan chicken. (Our two non-vegan houseguests couldn’t tell the difference and loved it also.) Will make again.
Sarah says
I’m so glad you liked these bowls, Gary! So cool that you were able to make them vegan!