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.

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 – my Instant Pot steak fajitas are my favorite way to make beef for fajitas.
• shrimp – use my shrimp fajita recipe to add some seafood to your fajita platter!
• vegetarian – keep it meatless with my vegetarian fajitas recipe, which are a mixture of mashed and whole beans.

The Easiest Way to Make 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 your favorite 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.

How to Build a Fajita Toppings Bar

1. BOWLS. Select a large platter and fill bowls and ramekins with things that are best served in bowls, like refried beans, sauteed peppers and onions, rice, salsa and guacamole.

2. MEAT. Add the warmed tortillas and meats to the platter. Place the meats on top of butcher paper if you’re worried about staining a wooden platter.

3. GARNISHES. Add any loose garnishes that don’t need to be in bowls, like cilantro and chopped onion.

4. FINISHING TOUCHES. Fill in any remaining space with lots of lime wedges and sliced avocado.

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.