This Citrus-marinated steak seared to perfection! Combined with tender-crisp bell peppers and onions, these fajitas make a restaurant worthy meal.
There are a million different fajita recipes out there, but this one is special to me. There’s a Mexican restaurant right around the corner from where Jeff and I used to live–the famous Veracruz. If you’re familiar with the South LA area, you’ve probably heard of it. The menus are hand-written and tied with yarn; the ceilings are decorated with colorful beads and napkins; and the margaritas are large and strong.
The food, though. THE FOOD. I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s the best Mexican food you can get around here, and that’s saying a lot from a gal who is SoCal born and bred.
But let’s talk about the dish that Jeff and I order every time we go, even though the menu is about 5 pages long (we’re talking small hand-written font). Fajitas aren’t the first dish that I would think to order at a Mexican place, but our server highly recommended the steak fajitas on our first visit, so we took the chance and haven’t looked back.
They are like nothing else I’ve ever tasted. Seared to perfection with the perfect amount of flavor so the steak really sings. I think the real secret though is in the citrus–they squeeze lemon into a cast iron skillet and saute the meat right in front of you! It’s like dinner and a show.
I tried to mimic that flavor profile with a citrus-heavy marinade to keep it simple for those of us looking for quick but complex-tasting meals like the ones we love at our favorite restaurants.
Serve these fajitas with tortillas, Easiest Refried Beans, and Simple Rice Pilaf or keep it low carb with Grilled Veggie Skewers with Balsamic Glaze.
more latin-inspired meals like Marinated steak fajitas
- The Best Carne Asada
- Citrus Marinated Chicken (El Pollo Loco CopyCat)
- Arroz con Pollo
- Slow Cooker Carnitas
- Green Chili Enchiladas
Marinated Steak Fajitas
Ingredients
- 2 lbs sirloin steak, cut into strips
- 2 large limes
- 2 lemons
- 1/4 cup olive oil*
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
- 3 bell peppers, sliced
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Combine juice and rinds of the lemons and limes along with the oil, garlic, onion, and spices in a large Ziploc bag. Add sirloin strips and marinate overnight or for at least a few hours.
- Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Spray cooking spray then sear marinated steak (discard marinade along with fruit). Remove from pan and set aside.
- In the same pan, add more cooking spray and saute bell peppers and onions until soft, about 5-10 minutes. Add steak back into skillet and heat through.
Hi! This sounds delicious, but not sure I see the citrus listed in ingredients? Is it just lemons and limes?
Sorry about that! Recipe updated. 🙂
But the list of ingredients does NOT list any citrus! The directions say what to do with it, but nothing about how many! Thx
Oops! Recipe updated. Thanks for letting me know!
Made this last night. It was a BIG hit in my house. Everyone loved it!!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Can I substitute chicken filet? It would make points go down.
Sure! It would be great with chicken.
So how much would the points go down with the chicken or maybe the shrimp?
Depending on how you like to count marinades, it would be 0-1 SP per serving. I don’t count points for this marinade since there is so little oil and most gets thrown away. But if you want play it safe, you can count the point.
These were so good and different then your average. I loved the lime in them! The whole family loved them, I had them with lettuce wraps and on some tortilla chips a few days later. A definite add to the rotation.
That makes me so happy! Great idea to make lettuce wraps with the leftovers, too.
I can’t wait to try this. I’ve had it marinating all day. But I just noticed in the ingredients you list “1 medium onion” twice. I added one to the marinade. Do I cook the one in the marinade or discard it and cook a new onion with the peppers? The instructions do not say. Thanks!!
Thanks for catching this, Sarah! I did discard the marinade and used fresh veggies. I’ll definitely update that. Hope you liked the recipe!
It was delicious, I’m actually making it for a second time already! My 4 year old even went for seconds! Thanks!!