Leftover steak fajitas are a delicious and easy way to use any extra steak or leftover roast beef. Cook up some peppers and onions, briefly heat the leftover steak with some fajita seasoning, and you are ready to enjoy your fajitas! You can easily have this meal on the table in 30 minutes.
OK, with a teenage son in the house, we don’t have leftover steak too often! But when it does, we like to have some good leftover steak recipes ready to go.
Our Leftover Steak Pasta has been a popular go to option, but we were ready to spice things up a bit! The result is this delicious Leftover Steak Fajitas recipe.
Onions cook up until they are nice and caramelized, followed by bell peppers. Once the peppers are nice and soft, the leftover steak slices get added along with some fajita spices.
Ingredients
Leftover steak is of course a very important for this recipe! We used sirloin steak, but you could use other cuts. For instance, flank steak is often used for fajitas. Tip: slicing the extra steak the night you first cook it makes the fajita prep easier! Slice it about ½ inch thick.
If you are looking for a good recipe for the initial steak dinner, try our Oven Roasted Sirloin Steak with Onion Sauce!
We have also made this recipe with leftover roast beef, such as our top round roast recipe.
Chopped onion: Slice up an onion thinly for making fajitas.
Bell peppers: Using a combo of two bell peppers makes for a nice presentation, but you can just use one kind if you like. Green bell peppers are probably the most common for fajitas, but I gravitate toward red, orange and yellow peppers – they bring a bit of sweetness to the dish.
Fajita spice blend: We made our own spice blend, as we tend to do. But you can purchase premade fajita spice blends, such as this one available via Amazon (affiliate link included).
Tortillas: While you could certainly serve the steak fajita combination of steak, peppers and onions directly on the plate, typically fajitas are served in tortillas. We used small fajita style tortillas, but other sizes are ok.
Toppings: There are a variety of toppings that work well with steak fajitas. Some good toppings to offer include:
- Sour cream
- Guacamole or sliced avocados
- Shredded cheese
- Salsa
- Lime wedges
- Coarsely chopped cilantro
Recipe tips and steps
Below is a visual overview of how to make these leftover steak fajitas. Head down to the recipe card for all the details.
Make the fajita spice blend (skip if using prepared spice blend). In a bowl combine the dried spices — ½ teaspoon each of garlic powder, cumin, paprika, salt and oregano plus ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon.
Set the fajita seasoning aside.
Start cooking the onions in a skillet with the olive oil on medium high heat.
When the onions start to get brown as shown above, you are ready to add the peppers.
Stir to combine the onions and peppers.
Add the fajita seasoning after the peppers start to brown.
Add the slices of leftover steak to the skillet after stirring in the spice blend.
Stir the steak to combine with the onions and peppers, along with a bit of broth, if using. Lower heat to medium, and heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until just warmed through.
Remove the steak fajita skillet from the stove, and prepare to serve.
Assemble the steak fajitas. Spread out your toppings, tortillas and the steak fajita beef mixture.
Place a scoop of the steak fajita mixture on top of a tortilla. You can let each person add the toppings they would like. Fold up the tortillas, and enjoy those fajitas!
Note: Someone mentioned they thought the fajitas looked dry in one of the photos. We took the pics of the completed fajitas before adding toppings like sour cream and salsa which balance things out.
Wine pairing
In terms of wine pairing for steak fajitas, you want a red wine that is big enough to match the steak, along with some flavor notes that will go along with the spices.
I went with the OVR Old Vine Red from Marietta Cellars to pair with this recipe. Inky purple in the glass, violets on the nose. Cherry fruit and strawberry jam on the palate, with a touch of chocolate.
The OVR is a red blend, predominantly Zinfandel sourced from Sonoma and Mendocino County. It worked pretty well with the leftover steak fajitas. It is also good with our Pulled Pork Risotto (which also makes use of leftovers!).
I’m thinking another good options could be the 2020 Camins del Priorat ($25, 14.5% ABV) we had recently with our steak with carrot top chimichurri. This red wine from Spain’s Priorat region is a blend of Syrah, Garnacha, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Cabernet Franc, with its classic bell pepper notes, could also be a good option to try given the ingredients in fajitas.
PrintRecipe card
Leftover Steak Fajitas
Leftover steak fajitas are a delicious and easy way to use any extra steak. Cook up some peppers and onions, briefly heat the leftover steak with some fajita seasoning, and you are ready to enjoy your fajitas!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 3 servings 1x
- Category: main
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
Fajita seasoning blend
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp oregano
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
Cooking the fajitas
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced (or ½ of two different color bell peppers)
- 10 to 12 slices leftover steak (about 8 to 10 ounces)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons beef or chicken broth (optional)
For serving
- tortillas
- cilantro, coarsely chopped
- shredded cheese
- salsa
- lime wedges
- sliced avocado or guacamole
Instructions
- Make the fajita seasoning (or if you have some on hand, you can skip this step) – In a bowl, combine ½ teaspoon each of the following — garlic powder, oregano, cumin, paprika and salt. Stir in ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon. Set aside.
- Start cooking the fajitas. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet on medium high. Add the onions, stirring occasionally. Let the onions cook until they start to get nice and brown, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Add the peppers along with the 2nd tablespoon of olive to the skillet, stir occasionally, and cook another 5 minutes until the peppers start to brown. Stir the fajita spice blend at this point, just before adding the steak.
- Stir in the steak slices to combine with the onions and peppers. Add the optional broth at this point. Lower heat to medium. Heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring fairly often. You want the steak to get heated up and get the flavors combining, but you don’t want to over cook the steak. Remove the skillet from the heat.
- Assemble the fajitas: Heat the tortillas — 15 seconds in a microwave works for 1 or 2. Place a tortilla on a plate, and add a scoop of the fajita steak mixture. Add the topping you would like, fold up the fajitas and enjoy!
Notes
- Preparation: Set out the toppings you plan to use before you start cooking. The fajitas cook quickly.
- Steak: We used sirloin steak, but flank steak is also a good option for fajitas. Slice the steak about ½ inch thick the night you originally cook it to make the steak fajita preparation easier.
- Broth: I list broth as optional, you could also add a similar amount of cooking wine. The idea is to add a bit of liquid to prevent the leftover steak from getting too dry.
Allyssa
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing leftover steak fajitas recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
Cooking Chat
Thanks Allyssa! Glad you liked it!
Wanda
This recipe was quick, easy and so flavorful! Thanks for sharing it!
Cooking Chat
Glad you enjoyed it!
Cathleen
It is rare that I ever have leftover steak in my house, but on the off chance that I do, I know that this recipe will be the first on my list! Bookmarking it for later 🙂
Liz
Whenever I see a recipe with “leftovers” in the title, I know this recipe is for me! Great idea to use up some leftover steak!
Cooking Chat
Alright, a fellow leftovers fan!
Madge
I have a stupid question, when do you put in the seasoning???
Cooking Chat
No, it’s a good question! Add the spice blend after the peppers start to brown. I see I mentioned it in the article portion with the photos but not in the recipe card. I will fix it now — thanks for the heads up!
Kristen Henderson
That fajita seasoning is exceptional. This recipe was a big hit and that speaks volumes in my house! Keeper for sure.
Cooking Chat
Glad it was enjoyed in your home, Kristen!
Ginger M Welch
I made this recipe exactly as written. I added cilantro and lime juice to the finished fajita. My husband and I enjoyed the immensely. And the left over steak found its purpose. Thank you for posting this recipe.
Cooking Chat
Thanks for the feedback, Ginger!
judy brocksmith
I tried your recipe and went EXACTLY by your homemade seasoning. I didn’t care for the Cinnamon taste in this recipe…used to more spicy taste. All in all, I thank you for your seasoning. But I will eliminate it the next time and put more of something else…Thanks so much.
Cooking Chat
Thanks for the the feedback Judy! Definitely always good to adjust seasonings to suit your taste. Our son likes the cinnamon flavor so I tend to use it liberally.