The Best Fajita Bar Ideas and Toppings

This Fajita Bar is the most delicious build-it-yourself dinner that everybody from the pickiest kids to the hungriest adults will love.

We’re firmly in the “I do it myself!” stage of toddlerhood. Including at the dinner table, where my daughter insists on serving herself.

This is great, because this is how little humans learn table manners! So I definitely want to encourage it as much as I can. One of the best ways I’ve found to do this is by serving platter meals.

Things like a breakfast charcuterie board (my daughter LOVES prosciutto so so much) and an elote bar aren’t just fun for toddlers. They’re truly a great way to eat for all ages.

One of my favorite dinners lately is one of my unique food board ideas – a fajita bar. Whether you have multiple proteins and allllll the fajita toppings, or choose just a few that you love best, it’s a great way for everybody to customize their plate.

Instead of filling up your counter space, you can create a large board of all your favorite fajita staples and place it in the center of the table, and have everyone gather around.

Your taco Tuesday and fiestas will be forever changed after creating this fajita platter. It’s perfect for a weeknight, or a game watching party (maybe with a football charcuterie board or a crostini pizza bar too!).

Fajita bar ideas – proteins:

• chicken – probably the most popular fajita protein. These chicken sheet pan fajitas cannot be beat.
• steak – These flank steak fajitas make two servings, perfect for when the adults want steak but the kids want chicken. Or, make a batch or two of grilled steak using my flat iron steak marinade or balsamic steak marinade for more servings. I also love this steak on steak tostadas.
• shrimp – use my shrimp fajita recipe to add some seafood to your fajita platter!
• vegetarian – keep it meatless with my vegetarian fajitas, which are a mixture of mashed and whole beans.

The easiest way to make the meat for a fajita bar:

Did you know that many Mexican grocery stores will sell steak and chicken that is already marinated?

All you need to do is take it home and cook it (maybe add a sprinkle of my dry rub recipe if you want to take it to the next level), and add your favorite fajita toppings! It’s my favorite tip for making delicious fajitas for this fajita bar in the easiest way possible.

What to pair with fajitas:

Before we talk fajita toppings (my favorite part), let’s chat about the other fajita bar ideas that make this board a meal.

First of all, you will obviously need tortillas (unless you are serving this as a fajita BOWL bar, which is cool, too).

I definitely prefer flour tortillas for a fajita bar (I’ll either warm them quickly in the microwave or wrap them in foil to warm the in the oven).

But if you love corn tortillas, or have some left over from General Tso cauliflower tacos, you can certainly use those as well.

For fajita platter sides, I like to serve refried beans (buy a can and warm it up!) and Mexican rice (I usually buy a box but homemade is great when you have time) with the fajitas.

And if I’m feeling super ambitious, I’ll make my Mexican street corn salad recipe as a fajita side dish as well!

Don’t forget dessert! The easiest ever would be frozen churros (heated up, of course) and a batch of my microwave caramel sauce for dipping.

The best fajita bar toppings:

• vegetables – see my fajita veggie post for the best way to make them without a seasoning packet!
• pico de gallo or salsa – I usually just buy this, but sometimes I’ll get fancy and make the pineapple salsa from my grilled sockeye salmon recipe, because it’s good as a fajita topping, too!
• pickling jalapeños – spice things up, or not. These are an optional fajita bar idea.
• guacamole and/or sliced avocado – you can use my favorite roasted red pepper and onion guacamole recipe, use store-bought guacamole, or simply slice up some ripe avocado for fajita toppings.
• chopped onion – I know there are also onions in the fajita veggies, but we’re onion lovers around here, and I love a sprinkle of chopped raw onion, too!
• cotija cheese – Crumbly, salty cotija cheese is so good as a fajita bar topping, but shredded Monterey Jack is also a great choice for this fajita bar.
• cilantro – I love the herby freshness that cilantro adds to fajitas and Asian nachos. One of my favorite fajita toppings!
• limes – We always serve our fajitas with lots of lime wedges for squeezing lime juice over everything.

Make it extra festive with some fun drinks:

Even if it’s a weeknight, serving food in a build-your-own format FEELS like a party! Keep the vibe going with a round of lemon margaritas or tequila mojitos.

Keep it zero proof for the kids with sparkling mango lemonade or agave lemonade.