When I got my cast iron skillet a few weeks ago, one of the things I was most excited about was to make fajitas. I’ve tried in the past, but with a non stick pan you just can’t get any good sear on the vegetables or the meat, and it comes out soupy and yucky.

Not so last night. They came out blackened, charred, full of flavor and crunch. Something about the cast iron just makes them perfect! Here’s my recipe for chicken fajitas (you could easily swap out the chicken for more vegetables or another kind of meat if you want–mushrooms and red bell peppers would be good). You could also do this in a non-cast iron pan, but it won’t come out as well…trust me, I’ve tried many times.

Two good size chicken breasts

3 green bell peppers

1/2 white onion, the ones with the big rings

Tortillas

Can of refried beans

Shredded cheese

Salsa if you have it

First, make your marinade. Here’s what you need:

Honey

Soy sauce

Lemon/lime juice

Olive oil

Worchestershire sauce

Hot sauce

Combine all ingredients in the marinade into a plastic bag–you’re using about half a tablespoon of honey and hot sauce, a few drops of soy sauce and the worchestershire, and a tablespoon of lemon juice and olive oil. Add lots of garlic powder and cumin, salt and pepper. Slice the chicken into thin strips and add to the bag with the marinade. Let sit in the fridge for anywhere from 1-4 hours.

In the meantime, slice your peppers and onions into big strips. I like them very chunky. Seperate the rings of the onions so they’re not stuck to each other. I recommend saving some of your marinade from the chicken and letting the veggies marinate for about half an hour; mine needed some flavor, and I think that would help.

Preheat your cast iron skillet, get it very hot. Add a good amount of olive oil and start cooking your chicken. Be sure to shake off as much of the marinade as possible–you want the meat dry before it goes in the pan, otherwise it won’t sear right. The tip is to not crowd the pan; you want each piece to have a nice char on it, and they need plenty of room for that to happen. As each piece cooks, take it out and add another. Set cooked chicken aside for now.

Keep your skillet on the heat, and add your veggies. If you marinated them, shake off the excess moisture but keep the marinade. Stir them as they cook, and each piece will absorb the chicken goodness that’s left in the pan and also get a good char on it. When they’re almost finished (about 6-8 mins, depending on how crunchy you want them), add the chicken back to the pan and add a few tablespoons of the marinade, not too much.

Warm up your tortillas, add some beans and cheese, and top with your delicious chicken veggie mixture. Add salsa if you’re not as lazy as me and actually have it. Enjoy!