If you're craving bold fajita flavors with the ease of a single baked dish, this chicken fajita casserole is your new go-to! Made with just 8 ingredients—including juicy chicken, bell peppers, onions, fajita seasoning, sour cream, and two cheeses—this high-protein, low-carb casserole is cheesy, creamy, and packed with flavor.
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The backstory.
I did it again. I forgot the tortillas.
I swear, every time I make anything remotely enchilada, taco, or fajita-related, I get all excited about the sizzling chicken, the melty cheese, the creamy goodness… and then, as I’m about to start making dinner, it hits me—I forgot the tortillas. Again.
I know you've heard this story before, at this point, it’s practically tradition. But honestly? This chicken fajita casserole is so ridiculously good that nobody even misses them.
xoxo Kori
One reader says:
This chicken fajita casserole recipe is easy and so delicious!! My whole family loved it. Thanks! 😍 - Shannon, Pinterest
The must-make chicken fajita casserole recipe!
Classic fajita flavor - but it's a casserole. This chicken casserole recipe brings the sizzling flavors of a classic fajita into a cheesy, baked dish. No tortillas required (but you can totally add them if you want!).
Quick and easy (one-pan meal)! From stovetop to oven, this fajita chicken casserole comes together in just one skillet (with only 8 ingredients)—which means fewer dishes for you!
It's a healthy chicken fajita casserole! This casserole is high in protein, gluten free (if you use my fajita seasoning recipe), low carb, keto-friendly, and has no added sugar.
- To lower the fat content: use chicken breasts instead of thighs, lowering the quantity of cheese used, and substituting a lower-fat cream cheese and sour cream.
What you'll need.
Here are the ingredients you will need to make this easy chicken fajita casserole:
- Olive Oil
- Chicken Thighs - boneless skinless thighs, but you can also use chicken breast too!
- Bell Peppers - use any favorite color. I love using different colors.
- Yellow Onion - While I used a yellow onion, you could also use a sweet, white, or red onion.
- Homemade Fajita Seasoning Recipe or Copycat Taco Seasoning Mix Recipe - you can use either fajita seasoning mix or taco seasoning. I highly recommend you make your own seasoning mix - it's easy, inexpensive, and much healthier than store-bought.
- Sour Cream
- Cream Cheese
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese - use mild or sharp shredded cheese - whichever you prefer. Substitute pepper jack cheese if you it spicy!
- Optional for Serving: avocado slices, shredded cheese, guacamole, fresh cilantro, or salsa. Don't forget hot sauce for the spicy lovers! 🙂
For exact ingredient quantities, please see the recipe card below!
Make it yours.
- Make it lighter: Swap boneless chicken thighs for boneless chicken breasts to reduce fat, or use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream for extra protein.
- Either taco seasoning or fajita seasoning can be used - use what you have on hand.
- Make this steak fajitas by using sliced sirloin steak, or a shrimp version by using large shrimp (tails removed).
- Cheese swaps: Love spice? Use pepper jack instead of cheddar. Want it extra gooey? Try Monterey Jack or a Mexican cheese blend.
- Dairy-free option: Use a plant-based sour cream and dairy-free cheese to make this lactose-free.
- Spice it up: Add diced jalapeños or a pinch of cayenne for extra heat.
How to make chicken fajita casserole.
You will be pleasantly surprised at how easy this chicken casserole recipe is to make! Here is an overview, for complete details, please see the printable recipe card below. Enjoy!
Cook the chicken
In an ovenproof skillet saute chicken until done. Remove from pan and keep warm
Cook the veg
Saute onions and peppers until tender.
Mix
Add chicken back to the pan. Stir in cheddar cheese, sour cream, and seasoning.
Sprinkle and bake
Sprinkle the top with the shredded cheddar cheese and bake in the oven until cheese is melted.
How do you cut chicken breast for chicken fajitas?
- The most common way is to cut the chicken breast into thin ½" strips sliced horizontally, cutting against the grain.
- Keep in mind that the smaller the pieces, the quicker they will cook so you may need to shorten your cooking time as recommended by the recipe instructions.
How to serve fajita chicken casserole.
Need ideas on how to serve this chicken fajitas casserole? Here are some tasty options:
- My favorite toppings for this dish is salsa and sour cream.
- Serve as-is for a low-carb, keto-friendly meal.
- Not low carb or keto? No problem! This chicken casserole recipe can be served with tortillas, rice, or beans for a meal the whole family will enjoy.
- Spoon over cauliflower rice for a light, grain-free option.
- Wrap in low-carb tortillas or classic flour/corn tortillas for a more traditional fajita-style meal.
- Add a fresh side salad with cilantro lime avocado dressing for a refreshing contrast.
Toppings to Try: Extra shredded cheese, salsa, chipotle crema, roasted chili corn salsa, or hot sauce for a spicy kick!
Love a good fajita? Be sure to try this Chicken Fajita Soup that can be made in your Instant Pot, crockpot, or on the stove. I also have this Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas recipe with delicious Mexican-style rice. Enjoy!
Kori's tips.
- Don’t overbake—Since most of the recipe is cooked, you only need to bake the casserole to get the cheese bubbly and heat the inside. No more, no less. Technically, you don't even have to bake this casserole, but you won't have that nice ooey gooey melted cheese on top!
- Cut chicken into uniform pieces for even cooking.(approx 1" to 2" in size, or you can do 1½" strips if you prefer)
- Cook the onions and peppers to your desired tenderness. Some people love them crisp-tender; others love them completely soft.
- Cook the chicken to 165º - the safe internal cooking temperature.
- If you don't have an oven-proof skillet, just cook chicken, peppers, and onion according to the recipe. Stir in the dairy. Put the mixture into a casserole dish, then top with shredded cheddar cheese and bake.
FAQs
The USDA recommends that chicken should be cooked to 165º degrees. I always check the temperature of my chicken with an instant read thermometer. Here is a link to their Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart.
Chicken fajitas are very healthy! With plenty of nutrients, healthy fat, protein, and fiber you will feel satisfied long after your meal is over.
Amazingly, each serving of this chicken fajita bake (keto low carb) has over 100% of your day's vitamin C, 35% Vitamin A, 30% zinc, 23% calcium, and is loaded with Vitamin B's! 48% Vitamin B12, 45% Vitamin B6, 44% Vitamin B3, 41% Riboflavin B2.
Where are all these vitamins coming from? Well, the fats are coming from the chicken, olive oil, cheese, and sour cream. The calcium is mostly coming from the cheese and sour cream, but the bulk of the remaining B's, Vitamin A , and Zinc, are coming from the peppers.
Here's a super interesting article about peppers from WebMD:
Pepper Power: Nutrition and Other Benefits
Fajitas without tortillas and contains approximately 10 grams of carbs per 1 cup serving.
Store any leftover fajita casserole in an airtight container up to 3 days. This recipe does not freeze well as the peppers become very watery and the dairy often separates.
Sorry, you cannot freeze this casserole as the peppers will turn watery and the fats in the dairy will separate.
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📖 The recipe.
Chicken Fajitas Casserole (easy and cheesy!)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 (4 to 6 ounces each) boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts (cut into bite-sized pieces)
- 4 bell peppers (sliced; vary the colors to make it pretty!)
- 1 small onion (sliced)
- 1 recipe or package fajita seasoning mix (taco seasoning may also be used)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 cups cheddar cheese grated
- optional for serving: avocado, guacamole, sour cream, and salsa.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Over medium heat, saute the chicken in olive oil until chicken is done. Remove from skillet and set aside.
- Add onions and peppers and saute until desired tenderness is reached.
- Add chicken back to pan and stir in fajita seasoning, sour cream, and cream cheese. Mix well.
- Sprinkle with cheese and bake in oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Video
Kori's Tips
Nutrition
© 2025 Seeking Good Eats™
Keep the good eats going.
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- Birria Tacos with Consommé - serve this as a stew! So delicious.
- The Best Low Carb Keto Shrimp Tacos - Oh how I love these. Super easy and quick to make.
- Low Carb Chicken Enchiladas - these are a fun way to use up all the zucchini coming out of the garden!
- Taco Stuffed Peppers - one of my top recipes and a family favorite dinner idea!
- Green Enchiladas Chicken Soup (Keto Slow Cooker Mexican Soup) - the #1 soup on the website! 🙂
Samantha
This is SO good. One of my favorite dishes and super simple to make!! I don’t and my family don’t need low carb, so I just added some cooked brown rice as a base in the dish before putting in the oven. 10/10 recommend and I even topped with a little bit of salsa. Yum!!
seekinggoodeats
Thank you!!! This has been one of my go-to recipes for years as since so darn easy! 🙂
Amber Walker
Can you use a rotisserie chicken?
seekinggoodeats
Yes, sure! 🙂 Cook the onions and peppers until tender then add the seasoning, rotisserie chicken, and the rest of the ingredients. Enjoy!
Brittany
So glad I found this recipe! All of us loved it (including a picky husband and picky 5 yr old)! I chopped the onion and peppers really fine and used Perdue Fajita chicken (already cooked) and added some homemade fajita seasoning - perfection! We ate with just a spoon and on Tostitos!
Now my husband is asking me to try to make this but with buffalo chicken instead of fajita style to replace a different recipe we have for that...so we'll see how that turns out! Thanks again! 🙂
Hayley Gilchrist
Hi!! I’m trying to think of a veggie side that could go with this. What would you suggest?
Excited to try this for dinner this week!
Kori
Hope you enjoy! Green beans would go great! You can air fry them or even make these Mexican-style Green Beans 🙂
T.M.F.
I cook dinner for my mother every Monday so yesterday I chose to make her this dish. She loved it! Gave it a 12 out of 10 and almost even left me a tip. Thank you for the recipe, it was really delicious.
Kori
Awwww. Best compliment EVER! Super happy you and your mother enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for trying it out. 🙂
Garit
This is absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
I followed it to a T and used your recipe for the seasoning as well. Hubby and I had flour tortillas with it. 5 stars!!!
Kori
Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! It's delicious with tortillas for sure 🙂
Debbie
This was absolutely awesome. I followed the recipe exactly. I made my family tortilla’s and they made burritos out of it. I added cilantro and avocado to mine. Definitely will be making again.
Kori
Thank you! I love your idea of turning it into a burrito! That sounds delicious!!
Cathy
Can I freeze this since it’s only me.
Kori
Yes, absolutely you can freeze this! 🙂 Hope you enjoyed it
Cory
This was delicious! My husband said this will be our new taco Tuesday meal. Love it!
Kori
Oh yay! Thank you...I'm so happy you love it!! It's one of my go-to recipes 'cause it's so easy. When it cools down I have a soup recipe you might like. It's basically the chicken fajita bake recipe just turned into a crockpot soup....Crockpot Chicken Fajita Soup. 🙂
Carol
What size pan did you use to make this dish?
Kori
Hi, I use either a 12" skillet or (4) 6.5" individual-sized skillets. If you don't have a skillet you can transfer to a similar size casserole dish. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Taylor
When you add seasoning mix to the chicken and peppers, do you also need to add water according to the packet directions ? Or does the cream cheese and sour cream sub for the water you’d normally use ?
Kori
No need to add any additional water. The vegetables themselves have liquid in them. Give it a go as is, then next time if you want it more "saucy" you can always add a little water. I hope you enjoy! 🙂
Mary
I am thankful to the person who kindly shared the fact that she uses pepper flakes instead of real peppers. Unfortunately, since I have aged certain foods do Not agree with me.
Kori
Glad you found a solution for this recipe! Hope you enjoy
Steven Smith
It was delicious!! Made it with 3 boneless chicken breasts, 3 large red bell peppers, small onion, extra taco seasoning, hot sauce, all the cheeses, and sour cream. Did everything in a skillet and baked it in a glass 9 x 13 pan. Came out fantastic!! Definitely a keeper!! Thank you!!!
Kori
Thank you so glad you loved it!!! That sounds perfect! 🙂
Cindy
Do you happen to know how many calories is in a serving?
Kori
395 calories in a serving! Hope you enjoy the peppers!
Stephanie
Are you using 6 chicken breast?
That just seems like a lot for one skillet...
Kori
Use 4 to 6 oz chicken breasts. So in total around 24 to 36 ounces of chicken. I will clarify in the post. I used chicken thighs which I believe on average are around 4 ounces. It's a pretty flexible recipe so if you are over or under it's okay. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Stephanie
Ok thank you!
I definitely exited to try it!!
Kori
Great! Let me know what you think and have a good weekend! -Kori
Tess
Are you using six thin sliced chicken breasts? From the video it looks to be about 3 cups of uncooked chicken in 1" pieces. Do you have the measurements in cups so that I can make this with leftover chicken?
Kori
I vary between chicken breast or thighs. They are about 4 to 6 oz each. So in total around 24 to 36 ounces of chicken. I made it with pre-cooked chicken recently and used between 5 and 6 cups. It's a pretty flexible recipe so if you are over or under it's okay. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Aleta
This is delicious! My whole family loved it, which is significant because they are cooking aficionados. It is going into my regular dinner rotation
Kori
Thank you!! So GLAD the whole family loved it - especially the cooking aficionados. Phew! 🙂
Phyllis Ianniccari
You may need to correct the nutritional information. It says there are
439 Carbs with a Net Carb of 9.4.
seekinggoodeats
Hi there! 🙂 It's actually correct but it reads as sodium: 439mg, carbs: 9.4g, net carb: 7.6g. I think because it's such small print and sort of all runs together it can be hard to read. Enjoy the recipe and have a good day!
Suzanne
Simple to make and delicious
seekinggoodeats
Thank you! So glad you loved it!
Deborah D Lynch
Absolutely delicious. I'd never made fajitas before but took a chance and made this for company tonight. I've been following keto for 6 weeks, and this was a fantastic meal.
seekinggoodeats
Thank you! I"m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! 6 weeks on keto, that's so great! Stick with it you're doing great! 🙂
Jen
Would this taste ok with hamburger meat? Thanks!!! Can’t wait to try tonight.
seekinggoodeats
Yes, I think it would work well! Let me know this sounds like a new recipe version 🙂
Jen
Thanks for your reply! I sure will! ❤️
Carol
This was a hit for my family. Made it as instructed except I cooked in skillet then transferred to baking dish. Served it with homemade lo carb tortillas, salad, salsa and sour cream! Yum!! Thanks for sharing. We will make again!
seekinggoodeats
Thank you!! So glad you loved the chicken fajita bake recipe! 🙂 Great idea with the baking dish!