Fajita Seasoning: What Is in It, Where Fajitas Came From, and How to Use It

Fajita seasoning is a dry blend for grilled or seared strips of meat, usually beef or chicken, served with peppers and onions in flour tortillas. Its core is chile, cumin, garlic and onion, plus something sour, such as lime or citric acid, which sets it apart from taco seasoning.¹² The dish it seasons began as grilled skirt steak on Texas ranches.³ There is no single recipe; this page sets out what named sources put in it, where fajitas came from, and how to use the blend.

At a glance

Where fajitas came from

Virginia B. Wood’s history of the dish in The Austin Chronicle draws on the first serious study of fajita history, done in 1984 by Homero Recio.³ Its main points:

• Ranch origins. Recio found anecdotal evidence of fajitas going back to the 1930s in the ranch lands of South and West Texas.³ Byproducts were given to Mexican vaqueros (cowboys) as part of their pay, and Wood describes skirt steak’s rise from throwaway cut to menu star.³
• The cut. Wood glosses fajitas, also called arracheras, as grilled skirt steak.³ The Real Academia Española defines arrachera, in Mexican usage, as a beef cut taken from the diaphragm muscle.⁴
• First commercial sales, 1969. Sonny Falcon ran the first commercial fajita taco concession stand, in Kyle, Texas, in September 1969.³ The same year, Otilia Garza’s Round-Up Restaurant in Pharr, in the Rio Grande Valley, put fajitas on the menu, served on a sizzling platter with warm flour tortillas.³
• Houston and Austin. In Houston in 1973, Ninfa Laurenzo’s restaurant sold fajitas as “tacos al carbon” and “tacos a la Ninfa.”³ Wood’s account continues in Austin with George Weidmann, opening chef of the Hyatt Regency there in 1982.³
• National spread. By the 1990s fajitas were a fast-food item at Jack in the Box and Taco Bell.³

Claims that skirt steak once counted as a “category” of cuts including hooves and tripe could not be traced.

What goes into fajita seasoning

Here is what three named sources list, side by side, with McCormick’s taco seasoning for comparison:

How to read this:

• The USDA list is a minimum. The specification says fajita seasoning should include, but is not limited to, these ingredients.¹
• The sour element is what changes. The USDA list and the McCormick packet include lime or citric acid;¹² the taco label checked has none.⁶ PepperScale’s recipe gets its tang a different way: it adds optional tomato powder, which it says brings color and a tang reminiscent of the lime in fajita marinades.⁵
• “Spices” on a label may hide more. McCormick lists “spices (including chili pepper, cumin, paprika)”,² so other spices may be present unnamed; a missing name does not prove an ingredient is absent.

Flavor

A good fajita blend tastes of chile and cumin first, then garlic and onion, with a sour, lime-like edge that reads well on charred meat. That description is editorial. A widely repeated claim says fajita seasoning is meant to recreate the flavor of a traditional lime marinade; no source opened for this page says so, though the USDA list and the McCormick packet above do include lime,¹² and PepperScale says the tomato powder in its blend gives a tang reminiscent of the lime used in fajita marinades.⁵ Likewise, the claim that vaqueros used citrus to tenderize skirt steak could not be traced.

How it is used

Fajitas. McCormick’s directions call for one packet, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 pound of chicken breast or beef sirloin cut into ½-inch strips, an onion and a bell pepper cut into strips, ¼ cup water and 8 small flour tortillas: brown the meat, cook the vegetables, then return the meat and stir in the water and seasoning for about 3 minutes.² Skirt steak, the original cut,³ works the same way.

Other uses. As kitchen practice rather than sourced findings:

• A dry rub for grilled chicken thighs, skirt or flank steak, and shrimp.
• Sheet-pan peppers and onions, or roasted potatoes.
• Black beans, rice and burrito bowls.
• In place of taco seasoning, accepting a tangier, less oregano-forward result; see fajita vs. taco seasoning.

Making your own

PepperScale’s recipe (Attributed): 3 tablespoons chili powder, 1 tablespoon each of salt, ground cumin and smoked paprika, 2 teaspoons each of garlic powder and onion powder, 1 teaspoon cayenne, and 1 teaspoon tomato powder (optional).⁵ It gets its heat from the cayenne and smoked paprika, and it is salted, so taste before salting the dish.

No federal or academic recipe with quantities was found, so the following is a Method starting point, our suggestion rather than a sourced ratio: build from the USDA list¹ with chili powder or paprika as the base, about half as much cumin, smaller amounts of garlic powder, onion powder, oregano and black pepper, and salt to taste. For the sour note, add dried lime zest or a little citric acid, or finish the cooked meat with fresh lime juice. Taste and adjust. For which spices do which job, see good spices for fajitas.

Buying and quality

• Read the label. Packet mixes contain salt and often sugar and corn starch.² A salt-free blend lets you season to taste.
• Check for the sour note. A blend with no lime or citric acid is closer to taco seasoning.
• Freshness. The blend should smell clearly of chile and cumin. A dull, dusty smell means it has faded. Kitchen judgment.

Storage

Keep it airtight, dark and cool. No shelf-life figure from a regulator or standards body was found for fajita seasoning. For its homemade blend, PepperScale says to store it airtight for up to 3 months.⁵

Nutrition and health

The amounts used are small, so the blend supplies little of any vitamin or mineral. Packet mixes contain salt.² Claims that the capsaicin in fajita seasoning treats or prevents prostate or breast cancer, or that cumin stimulates digestive enzymes, were not supported by any source reviewed for this page. No claim is made here that fajita seasoning treats or prevents any disease.

Safety

• Salt. Salt is listed in the USDA specification and on the McCormick label;¹² taste before adding more salt to the dish.
• Mycotoxins (EU). EU law sets maximum levels of ochratoxin A and aflatoxins for dried Capsicum spices such as chilli powder, cayenne and paprika,⁷ the chile in the blend.

Substitutes and comparisons

• Fajita seasoning substitutes
• Fajita vs. taco seasoning and taco seasoning
• Good spices for fajitas
• The single spices: chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, Mexican oregano
• Related blends: adobo seasoning