An Unbelievably Easy Chicken Fajita Bake That’s On Your Plate in 30 Minutes Flat {Gluten-Free, THM E, FP, or S}

Inside: Love chicken fajitas? This chicken fajita bake will have them on your plate in 30 minutes flat! It’s a Trim Healthy Mama E meal (with FP and S options), and it’s gluten-free! 

I thought you might appreciate a quick and easy gluten-free chicken fajita recipe that will only take 30 minutes to cook–from start to finish!

I’ve been using Jessica Fisher’s Good Cheap Eats: Everyday Dinners and Fantastic Feasts for $10 or Less and Good Cheap Eats: Dinner in 30 Minutes (or Less!) for many years, and I’ve been thrilled to find real food recipes that are both fast and frugal.

Plus, many of Jessica’s recipes are compliant for the Trim Healthy Mama eating plan (usually with just a few modifications)–of which I follow, through which I have successfully maintained a 30-pound weight loss, and it’s the program where I am now a certified coach.

Some of my favorite meals from the books include Jessica’s arroz con pollo (her twist on a classic Latin American dish that my husband and I fell in love with when we were living in Costa Rica back in the early 2000s!), shrimp and cilantro pasta, vegetable alphabet soup, zesty baked shrimp, and no-bean spicy chili.

(All of those links go to pics in my Instagram feed. You can follow me there to check out what we’re eating for dinner several times per week. I usually post what I eat in Instagram Stories.)

I was thrilled when Jessica agreed to let me share one of the recipes from her cookbook, Good Cheap Eats: Dinner in 30 Minutes (or Less!).

I choose her chicken fajita bake, and I hope that you will enjoy this delicious dish that will take you mere minutes to prepare! 

Print

Chicken Fajita Bake {Trim Healthy Mama E, FP, or S}

Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken tenders
• 1 (15.25-ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced from root to blossom end
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and sliced
• 1/2 cup favorite salsa, plus more for serving
• on plan (if following THM) tortillas, for serving*

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Distribute the chicken, beans, onion, and bell pepper evenly in the pan. Spoon the salsa over the top. Stir gently.
3. Bake until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

*To stay in THM E mode, be sure that the tortilla you use is sprouted or a low-fat corn tortilla. You can also serve with brown rice to keep in E mode. Alternately, keep the beans to a garnish amount, use an on-plan low-carb/low-fat wrap or serve over cauli-rice, and this meal could actually be a FP! Or, you can make it a S Helper by keeping the beans to no more than 1/4 cup per serving. Make this meal a S by eliminating the beans, using a low-carb wrap, and topping with a lavish amount of sour cream, guacamole, and cheese! This dish is truly versatile.

I love that Jessica includes cooking tips throughout her cookbooks.

Related: Mediterranean Quinoa with Shrimp

This is super helpful to a humbled homemaker like me who didn’t grow up cooking. It took me years to feel comfortable in the kitchen, and cookbooks like Jessica’s have been an invaluable resource in my journey.

Below is an example of a tip that might give you a dose of sanity:

Download Your Free Menu Planner Cheat Sheet

Tracking your food & water intake is vital to healthy weight loss & maintenance! As a bonus for signing up for my weekly newsletter, I’ll send you my weekly menu planner to help you stay on track–for FREE!

1. Download the free cheat sheet. Join my weekly-ish newsletter and as a bonus, you’ll get the printable! Just click here to download and subscribe.
2. Print. Any paper will do the trick. You’re going to want to print a fresh copy each week to stay on track.
3. Hang your cheat sheet somewhere handy like the fridge–so you’re more likely to use it throughout each day.

Download now: 7-Day Menu Planner for Daily Food & Water Tracking

Do you like chicken fajitas? Have you ever made a chicken fajita bake before? This easy chicken fajita bake can be a Trim Healthy Mama E, FP, or S meal.