Fajitas are one of those meals where everyone ends up standing around the kitchen. Ramsay leans into that in Fast Food, writing to “get everyone involved” by laying out the beef, peppers, soured cream and guacamole and letting people build their own. His version uses beef tenderloin with a three-spice mix and takes about 20 minutes.
He does something with the spice mix that most recipes skip: he splits it in half. One portion goes on the sliced beef, the other on the peppers, so both come out of the wok carrying the same cumin, chilli and paprika punch. He then tells you to “make up a quantity and keep in a sealed jar, ready to use for fajitas or a spicy stir-fry whenever you fancy.”
Two minutes in the wok is all the beef gets. Ramsay specifies a wok rather than a frying pan because he needs that blast of concentrated heat to char the outside while the centre stays pink. Tenderloin is the only cut that works at this speed, since tougher beef would seize up before it had time to pick up any colour.
Gordon Ramsay Fajitas Recipe
Course: DinnersCuisine: MexicanDifficulty: Easy4
servings10
minutes10
minutes420
kcal20
minutesBeef fajitas from Fast Food where Ramsay splits the spice mix between the meat and the peppers so both carry the flavour. Tenderloin seared for 2 minutes in a wok. Served with his guacamole, soured cream and warm tortillas.
Ingredients
- For the spice mix:
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp hot or medium chilli powder
½ tsp paprika
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the fajitas:
600g (1 lb 5 oz) beef tenderloin, sliced into long thin strips
1 red pepper, halved, deseeded and sliced into strips
2 yellow peppers, halved, deseeded and sliced into strips
3 tbsp olive oil
6 to 8 plain flour tortillas
6 to 8 tbsp soured cream
Fresh coriander leaves, roughly torn
Directions
- Make the spice mix: Combine the cumin, chilli powder, paprika, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Add half the mix to the beef strips and toss to coat. Add the other half to the sliced peppers and toss separately.
- Sear: Heat a wok over high heat and add the olive oil. When smoking hot, tip in the peppers and sauté until slightly soft. Toss in the beef strips and cook for 2 minutes, stirring and tossing frequently, until just cooked. Remove from the wok and keep warm.
- Warm the tortillas: Heat each tortilla in a dry frying pan for about 10 seconds on each side.
- Assemble: Place some beef and peppers along the centre of each tortilla. Add a dollop of soured cream and some guacamole. Scatter over torn coriander and roll up. Serve immediately.
FAQs
Can I make this with chicken instead of beef?
Yes. Swap the tenderloin for boneless, skinless chicken thighs sliced into strips. Thighs stay juicy in the heat because the fat keeps them moist, while breast dries out before it picks up any char. Ramsay uses thighs for his shawarma chicken wraps in Ultimate Cookery Course for the same reason.
Keep the same spice mix, split the same way. The only change is time: chicken needs 3 to 4 minutes in the wok because it has to cook through completely. Cut into the thickest strip to check there is no pink before serving.
Why does Ramsay split the spice mix between the beef and the peppers?
The book does not explain why, but having cooked it both ways the difference is obvious. When only the beef is seasoned, the peppers taste like filler and the last few bites of the tortilla are flat. With both components spiced, the cumin and paprika hit you whether you catch meat or vegetable first.
The peppers also caramelise differently once they are coated. The sugar in the paprika catches on the hot wok and creates charred spots that give the vegetables their own smoky sweetness.
What does Ramsay serve with his fajitas?
In Fast Food the full spread is his guacamole with shallot instead of red onion, soured cream, warm flour tortillas and torn coriander. Everything goes in the middle of the table and people build their own. For a bigger Mexican night, add his beef empanadas on the side.
For dessert he follows with melon in tequila and lime dressing from the same menu plan: honeydew scooped into balls, tossed with cold tequila, honey, lime zest and mint.
Can you make the spice mix in advance?
Ramsay says to “make up a quantity and keep in a sealed jar, ready to use for fajitas or a spicy stir-fry whenever you fancy.” Triple or quadruple the recipe and store in an airtight jar. All three spices are dry ground, so the mix keeps for months without losing potency.
Having the jar ready turns this into a 10-minute midweek dinner because the only prep is slicing. For another use of the same spice family, his steak marinade builds on the same cumin and paprika base with the addition of balsamic and garlic.
Why a wok and not a frying pan?
A wok concentrates the flame at the base and gets hotter than a flat pan on the same burner. At those temperatures the beef chars on contact, which is how Ramsay gets colour on the outside while the centre stays pink in just 2 minutes. A frying pan spreads the heat across a wider surface, so the beef steams instead of searing and comes out grey.
If you do not have a wok, use the widest frying pan you own and cook the beef in two small batches. Crowding a flat pan drops the temperature and you lose the sear entirely.
