Instant Pot Fajitas

Our Instant Pot fajitas with are great and take just minutes to cook to tender perfection. Flavorful marinated beef in our fajita marinade with bell peppers and onions, this should be made for dinner tonight! 

If you’re looking for a low carb recipe using strips of steak cooked together with lots of vegetables that tastes great, you’ll love this idea meal! Made in just minutes without heating up the house, this is yet one more quick and easy Instant Pot recipe you can try at home right now.

We made this steak fajita recipe in our pressure cooker, others have used chicken instead. Just like any of our other high pressure recipes you can use any brand you have at home. Many times I’ll make this as a Ninja Foodi recipe because that pot will allow me to crisp the top at the end.

This time we are using the pressure cook function but with this machine you could make our air fryer fajitas recipe as well. A double win for the week. Both with different textures but still our favorite Mexican meal throughout the year.

What cut of beef is best for fajitas?

Traditionally flank steak or skirt steak is used but to make things easier you can just grab whatever type of steak you like. You are going to want to slice it into thin strips. I will say that is what we used here and since it doesn’t have as much connective tissues it came out more tender than the others.

I mean let’s be honest, I have used it all depending on what I have at home that needs to be used. It makes a great stew meat recipe too if that is what you have on hand. Just cut into bite size pieces.

Ingredient Notes

You can use a packet of store bought seasonings or this is How to Make Fajita Seasoning. Ok I mean if you have your own creation then by all means try that too. I prefer a dry rub vs. a lot of sauce for this because you don’t really need added liquid. The meat exudes enough of what you need to reach pressure for sure. We have used these same seasonings to make fajita soup and it is just the bomb.

Of course in true fajita tradition you will want to slice an onion (or two) into thick slices so they don’t completely disintegrate in the high pressure heat.

You are going to use lime juice as the liquid to cook. Of course you can use lime juice in a container but fresh is always best. You can also use broth instead of lime if you’d rather but this sure does give it a great added flavor.

Slice a few bell peppers about the same thickness of the onions, a variety of colors is nice but totally up to you. And you can add chili powder if you’d like to add additional spicy before pressure cooking begins.

Made with Chicken

You could use chicken breast sliced but cooking time will need to be adjusted to closer to 7 – 15 minutes depending on thickness.

Tips for Success

Make sure that you cut your beef strip steak into equal sized thinner strips, or buy it like this in the meat department. It is usually cheaper to cut it yourself (but that is just the cheapskate in me talking).

Note: Electric pressure cooker recipes need liquid. You don’t need a lot for this though because the beef and vegetables will create juices as well as they cook so the lime juice is enough.

We used this same method when we made our Instant Pot tacos too and it works great. If you’re using something other than lime juice I’d say you might need 1/3 – 1/2 cup or so but quite honestly I have never done it that way.

If you do have your own favorite dry rub recipe that you love then by all means use that. We have many on our site but this one is specific to this dish. My favorite add on top of my meat would be slices of fresh avocados. By far the best bites ever.

How do you make fajita meat not chewy?

Using high pressure like we do here is key. You don’t want to cook it too long though or beef can get tough. You want a bit of pink, if you wanted it even more on the rare side you really could even cut the timing in half. Marinating helps with keeping it moist too, and lastly you could pound before slicing like cubed steak. Using a fatty steak is better than flank or skirt too as it has less connective tissue to make it chewy.

Other fajita recipes you’ll love

If you only have chicken strips, we do have this crock pot chicken fajitas recipe we’ve made in the past. I will be honest it turns out much better in your IP, Crock Pot Express or Ninja Foodi. If you only have a slow cooker though this is an option. After you try this, try our steak fajita cups too! You can print recipe out below.