Honey Lime Chicken Fajitas are the most flavorful way to enjoy chicken fajitas! Made with grilled marinated chicken breasts and a sweet and spicy corn salsa, this recipe for chicken fajitas combines ingredients to create an explosion of flavors and textures that work perfectly together.
Honey Lime Chicken Fajitas are easy to make, full of flavors, and relatively light in calories. Serve the grilled honey lime chicken on Homemade Flour Tortillas and top with Homemade Salsa Verde, for a fajita recipe that is sure to wow!
These Honey Lime Chicken Fajitas are seriously the BEST version of Chicken Fajitas. PERIOD.
Instead of seasoning chicken with fajita seasoning and pan-frying with onions and peppers, as is traditional in most fajita recipes--like my recipe for Steak Fajitas and Veggie Fajitas, these Chicken fajitas have a unique twist.
The layers of flavors created from the marinated grilled chicken, the sweet and slightly spicy corn salsa, and the tangy salsa verde, create a balance in flavors and textures that is hard to beat. These grilled fajitas are a bit sweet, a bit spicy, a bit tangy, and a bit smokey and everything works together to create a fajita that leaves you left feeling satisfied.
Notes on Ingredients
- Chicken: Use boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs for this recipe, as they both are a blank slate for the marinade and grill up fast.
- Honey Lime Marinade: The stars of this marinade are the honey and fresh lime juice. It is balanced out with a bit of hot sauce and minced garlic. Whatever you do, DO NOT use bottled lime juice--only fresh lime juice will do for the best flavor!
- Corn Salsa: I love topping this recipe with a paired down version of my Grilled Corn Salsa. It is made with corn, a bit of honey, and a bit of hot sauce. Simple, yet so flavorful and the texture it adds to the Honey Lime Chicken Fajitas is key.
- Salsa Verde: You can use your favorite store-bought salsa verde or use homemade salsa verde for the freshest of flavors.
- Tortillas: Use any tortillas you like, homemade flour tortillas, corn tortillas, or your favorite store-bought version.
- Cheese (optional): If desired, top these fajitas with crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese.
How to Make Grilled Chicken Fajitas
- Prepare the honey-lime marinade by mixing together the honey, lime juice, lime zest, and salt until well combined.
- Place your chicken in a large gallon size storage bag and pour over the marinade, tossing to coat the chicken evenly with the mixture.
- Place the chicken in the refrigerator and let it marinate for 30 minutes up to 2 hours. You don't want to marinate longer than 2 hours because the acid from the lime juice will start to break down the chicken.
- After marinating the chicken, preheat an outdoor grill or indoor grill pan to medium-high heat and lightly grease the grates with oil.
- Once the grill is heated, remove the chicken from the marinade, discarding the marinade, and place the chicken onto the grill.
- Add husked corn cobs to the grill as well to grill alongside the chicken.
- Grill the chicken for 5 minutes per side, or until chicken reaches 160 degrees.
- Remove chicken from grill, placing on a cutting board or plate and tent with foil.
- Let rest for 10 minutes, or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees.
- Remove the corn from the grill once the kernels are slightly charred--after about 10 to 12 minutes of grilling.
- Slice the corn kernels off the cob. I love to place the corn in a bundt pan and then slice off the kernels. This lets the corn fall into the pan and not all over your kitchen while keeping the corn cob steady.
- Toss the corn with the honey and hot sauce to form the sweet and spicy corn salsa.
- To serve chicken fajitas, slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Layer on tortillas and top with the fresh corn salsa, salsa verde, queso fresco, and additional hot sauce if desired.
Storing Leftovers
If you happen to have any leftover grilled chicken or corn salsa, store them separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Recipe FAQs
For the best flavor, you really want to marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes prior to grilling. Skipping this step could result in bland fajitas.
No! If you don't have a grill, or the weather is not cooperating for you, simply use a grill pan on the stove. Alternatively, you can pan-fry the chicken in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat in a bit of oil for 4-5 minutes per side. For the corn salsa, you can use Air Fryer Corn on the Cob, Instant Pot Corn on the Cob, or steamed or defrosted frozen corn to make the corn salsa if desired.
Not at all. I love the flavor and texture it adds to these grilled chicken fajitas and highly recommend you give it a try, but you can opt to skip the corn topping if desired.
They have a mild kick to them. You can lessen the level of spice by omitting the hot sauce from the corn salsa and omitting the cayenne pepper from the marinade.
Serving Suggestions
- Pair with Salsa Verde, Homemade Salsa or Guacamole and tortilla chips.
- Skip the salsa verde and corn salsa and top the chicken fajitas with Pineapple Salsa.
- Serve Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice or Instant Pot Mexican Rice on the side of the fajitas for a complete meal.
If you enjoyed these Grilled Chicken Fajitas, please take the time to leave a comment and a 5-star review. I truly love hearing from you!
Honey Lime Chicken Fajitas
Ingredients
For the Honey Lime Chicken
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- ½ cup fresh lime juice
- zest of 2 limes
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
For the Corn Salsa
- 2 ears of fresh corn
- 2 teaspoons honey
- ½ teaspoon hot sauce
- pinch of salt
For the Fajitas
- ½ cup feta or queso fresco optional
- 12 tortillas
- 1 cup Salsa Verde homemade or store bought
Instructions
Grilled Chicken
- Whisk the ½ cup lime juice with the honey, cayenne, minced garlic, and ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Place the chicken and marinade into a sealable storage bag or bowl with a lid. Toss to coat and then refrigerate for 30 minutes and up to 2 hours, turning the chicken, once halfway through marinating.
- Preheat a grill to medium-high heat and lightly oil the grates. Alternatively, heat a greased grill pan over medium-high heat on the stove. Remove chicken from marinade, discarding the marinade. Grill the chicken on each side for about 5 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes before slicing into thin strips.
Corn Salsa
- Place corn cobs on the grill at the same time the chicken is being grilled. Grill the corn until the kernels bit charred and soft, turning frequently, about 10-12 minutes.
- Carefully cut off the corn kernels from the cob. A great tip is to rest the corn in the opening on a bundt pan and use a knife to carefully remove kernels.
- Mix the corn kernels with the honey, hot sauce, and pinch of salt.
Assemble Chicken Fajitas
- Top a tortilla with sliced grilled chicken, salsa verde, a hefty scoop of corn salsa, and feta or queso fresco cheese if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in 2016 but was updated in 2020 with new pictures and a video.
cindy
I love chicken fajitas, and it's my first time to try honey lime flavor. It's so good!
Kristen Chidsey
Wahoo! I am so glad you gave this a try and enjoyed.
Renee Goerger
The flavor and textures of these honey lime chicken fajitas are out-of-this-world! I loved each and every bite!
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you enjoyed Renee!
Jennifer
I would love to make these but my husband can’t take sweet corn
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Jennifer! We make these all the time for my extended family and my nephew can not have corn either. Just leave it on the side (or omit) and I promise they are still SUPER delicious! I hope you give them a try 🙂
Jim Dandy
A honey lime marinade looks great for fajitas. Corn salsa not so much. As someone who grew up on ninfa's and the original tex-mex fajitas, corn salsa is not an option but if you enjoy them go for it. My preference is a real salsa and grilled onions and/or peppers.
Kristen Chidsey
You are correct, that the corn salsa is optional. I love the flavor it adds, but not traditional.
Brandi
It was delicious!I added a bit more honey, just right for my sweet tooth!
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you enjoyed Brandi!