Fajitas de Pollo en Adobo
A little sweet, a little smoky and with just a hint of spice. Our flavor-packed authentic chicken fajitas prepared with a guajillo chile adobo rub is the perfect dish for a weekend crowd. Three colors of bell peppers give it some visual pop.
Stuff some flour tortillas for the best chicken fajitas tacos ever!
The dish requires some work, but it’s worth it
This isn’t a dish that you can whip up in 30 minutes for an easy weeknight dinner. It’s not a difficult dish but you need some time to prep all of the different parts plus you need to allow time for the chicken to marinate. The effort you put into it is well worth it. Don’t be put off by the work required. Trust us!
How to Make Chicken Fajitas in Adobo
Preparation is divided into 4 main steps:
Step 1 – Prepare the Adobo Paste
Step 2 – Prepare the Chicken
Step 3 – Prepare the Vegetables
Step 4 – Serve the Fajitas and Enjoy!
1. Prepare the Guajillo Adobo Paste
This adobo is a wet rub prepared mild fruity tasting guajillo chile, tomato, onion, garlic, brown sugar, salt and, vinegar. The rub is what gives the chicken it’s rich taste.
Toast and Soak the Chiles
Toast the chiles for about 30 seconds per side. Just until they become fragrant and pliable.
After you have toasted the chiles and they have cooled to the touch use your fingers break them apart and remove the seeds and stems.
Soak the Chiles
Place the chiles in a pan and then add just enough water to cover. Bring the water to a boil and then turn off the heat. Allow the chiles to soak for 15 minutes until they have reconstituted and become soft and pliable.
Cut the onion and tomato into large pieces. Add them to a pan with 4 tablespoons of preheated oil. Cook the vegetables until they begin to char.
Blend the Chiles and Vegetables
Add the charred tomato, onion, garlic and soaked chiles to your blender with 1/4 cup of the soaking liquid.
Blend for 1 minute until the mixture is smooth but not liquified.
Cook the Adobo
After you have blended the adobo you must fry it. Preheat 4 tablespoons of cooking oil medium hot. Pour the adobo into the hot oil. Add the vinegar, sugar and, salt and stir.
Cook the adobo until most of the liquid has evaporated and peaks form when you pass a spoon through it and it has the consistency of a paste. Rest the paste for 2 hours while the chicken is marinating in the refrigerator.
2. Prepare the Chicken
Slice Chicken for Uniform Thickness
Slice the Chicken so that it is a uniform 1/2″ thick. This ensures that the chicken will cook evenly and some parts won’t be overcooked while other parts are undercooked. The presentation of the dish is also better because each slice of meat will be the same thickness.
Rub the Chicken with Adobo
Salt the chicken breasts on both sides then rub both sides of the chicken breasts with the adobo paste.
Be sure each chicken breast is covered with a good amount of paste. It’s what gives the dish its flavor.
Marinate the Chicken
In the refrigerator, allow the chicken breasts that have been covered in adobo rest for 2 hours to allow the chicken to absorb the adobo flavor.
Pan Cook the Chicken
Bring the chicken breast to room temperature before cooking. Preheat 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Place the chicken breasts into the hot oil. Don’t crowd the chicken breasts. Cook the chicken breasts in 2 batches.
Cook the chicken breasts on each side until a nice adobo crust has formed. Hungry yet?
Slice the Chicken
Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes after cooking then slice the chicken into uniform 1/4″ slices.
Variation – Grill the Chicken
Follow the same steps to prep the chicken then cook it on the grill over medium heat. Grilled it will be incredible. Allow it to rest 5 minutes before slicing.
3. Prepare the Vegetables
Slice the Vegetables
Cut the bell peppers and onions into 1/4″ strips. The more evenly you slice the vegetables the better your dish will be. All of the vegetables will be cooked evenly and will look great.
Stir fry the vegetables in 3 tablespoons of oil in a medium hot pan.
Cook the vegetables until they are just cooked through and are starting to blacken. Don’t cook them so long that they become mushy.
4. Serve and Enjoy!
Warm the fajitas just before serving. To serve, pile the chicken fajitas and vegetables on a platter. Serve with a stack of hot flour tortillas and your favorite salsas on the side.
We’re not fussy about plating them perfectly. This is a homestyle dish.
Guajillo Chile Adobo
Ingredients
- 4 roma tomatoes
- 4 guajillo chiles also known as chile cascabel ancho
- 1/2 medium white onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 4. tbsp. cooking oil
- 1 tsp. salt
Instructions
- Toast the chiles in a dry medium hot pan for about 30 seconds per side until they are fragrant and pliable.
- When the chiles are cool to the touch, remove the seeds and stems and discard.
- Place the toasted chiles in a pan and just barely cover with water.
- Bring to a boil the turn off the heat. Allow the chiles to soak for 15 minutes.
- Roughly chop the tomatoes and onion.
- In a preheated skillet with 3 tbsp. of cooking oil blacken the tomato, onion and garlic.
- To the blender add the reconstituted chiles, tomato, onion garlic and 1/4 cup of the soaking liquid.
- Blend until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Preheat a skillet with 4 tbsp. cooking oil then pour the blended mixture into the skillet.
- Add the vinegar and the sugar. Stir to incorporate.
- Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated from the adobo and it forms peaks when you pass a spoon through it.
- Allow it to rest for 2 hours while the chicken is marinating.
Nutrition
Chicken Fajitas in Adobo
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. of chicken boneless chicken breast
- 1 Large white onion
- 1 large green bell pepper
- 1 large yellow bell pepper
- 1 large red bell pepper
- 7 tbsp. cooking oil
- Adobo paste see recipe above
Instructions
- PREPARING THE CHICKEN
- Slice the Chicken so that it it a uniform 1/2″ thick.
- Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt.
- Rub both side of the chicken breasts generously with the adobo.
- Refrigerate the marinated chicken breast for 2 hours to allow the flavor to penetrate.
- Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before cooking.
- Preheat 4 tbsp. of cooking oil to medium hot in a wide skillet.
- Cook the chicken until a nice crust has formed on both sides. Don’t crowd the chicken in the skillet. It’s best to cook it in 2 batches.
- Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the skillet and allow it to rest for 5 minutes.
- Slice into even 1/4″ strips.
- PREPARING THE VEGETABLES
- Slice the onion and bell peppers into even 1/4″ strips.
- Preheat a wide skillet to medium hot with 3 tbsp. of oil.
- Add all of the sliced vegetable.
- Cook until the vegetables are just starting to blacken and are just cooked through. Don’t cook them until they are mushy. Cook them to “al dente.”
- Mix with a pinch of salt.
- SERVING
- Put the vegetables and chicken fajitas on a large serving platter. Serve with hot flour tortillas on the side.
Maggie Unzueta says
This looks incredibly delicious.
CJ says
I absolutely love your collection of recipes, beautiful photography and thoughtful instruction.. everything I have made has been delicious! Quick question in regards to the adobo paste above – how much oil should be used? The listed ingredients call for x4 tablespoons total, however the written instructions have you add 7-8 tablespoons in total – 4 tbs to fry the tomatoes/onions and an additional 3-4 tbs to fry the paste (the upper photographed instructions call for an additional 3 tbs to fry the paste while the lower recapped directions call for an additional 4 tbs to fry the paste).
Thanks so much!