Air-Fryer Steak Fajitas

The beef fajita (the OG fajita — the chicken version is a later adaptation) traces back to ranch hands in South Texas in the 1930s, who were given the cheap skirt-steak cut as part of their wages and figured out it tasted better than its price suggested if you marinated it heavily, grilled it hot, and sliced it thin across the grain. The dish has evolved from there into a restaurant standard, but the home version is genuinely close to the ranch-hand original.

The cut matters. Skirt steak (the traditional choice) or flank steak (more available, slightly less flavourful) are the right cuts — both are thin, deeply flavoured, and benefit from quick high-heat cooking. Don't use ribeye or sirloin; they're too thick for fajitas and the wrong shape for slicing.

The marinade is straightforward: lime juice, olive oil, soy sauce (the umami component that pushes this above plain Tex-Mex), garlic, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika. The acid in the lime breaks down the surface of the meat so it cooks tender; the soy adds salt-and-umami; the spices give it the colour and flavour that distinguish fajita meat from generic grilled steak.

The cook is short — about 10 minutes in the air fryer for a 1-inch flank, which gets you medium-rare. The slicing is the most important step: thin (¼-inch) across the grain (perpendicular to the long fibres). Slice with the grain and you get chewy, ropey fajitas; slice across the grain and you get tender, melt-in-the- mouth slices.

The photo shows the family-style platter: a white rectangular plate piled with charred onion-and-pepper strips, sliced flank steak fanned across, avocado slices tucked between, with warm flour tortillas in a stack at the edge and a small bowl of bright red pico de gallo. This is what good Tex-Mex looks like.