Are chicken fajitas healthy

Theres no such thing as healthy or unhealthy food, but calculate what calories you have available and how much it is and fit it in
It doesnt have to be daily, use a weekly average

I like fajitas as a quick and fairly healthy meal for the family. We don't put cheese in ours at all, actually.

Wholemeal or sweet potato wraps.
Chicken, onion, pepper, mushrooms.
Spices to taste.
Proper sour cream.
Smashed avocado or guacamole.

Usually get 3 portions' worth of veg into the DC, plus protein.

Healthy. Or can be. I use baby gem lettuce leaves in lieu of flour-based wraps. Still use sour cream and cheese but I only enjoy these sparingly anyway.

Better to be cutting down on the white processed carbs than fats and protein.

Anything can be part of a healthy and balanced diet.

They absolutely can be! I have Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and use my own spices. I make my own guacamole and salsa, and I tend to eat with a bit of rice as opposed to tortillas but I give the kids the crosta mollica wraps as they have no upfs.

It's not a fajita if it's not wrapped in a tortilla, it's just fried chicken and veg with a salsa/sour cream.

A good trick that I have learnt from my vegan DD is adding nutritional yeast when frying cooking gives a cheesy taste without the calories

sour cream and cheese are going to add quite a lot of calories

I tend to have one wrap then a mix of chicken/veg/sour cream eaten with a fork. So two wraps worth but just one wrap.

I disagree with replacing the sour cream as low fat “diet” foods are less filling so a lesser amount of sour cream is more satisfying and, within your calorie allowance, a better option for a sustainable diet.

I don't think that sour cream or cheese are "unhealthy", but they aren't necessary for fajitas anyway. I never use them. Just chicken, spices, peppers, onions, and a dash of soy sauce that goes in near the end of stir-frying the veggies.

For spices I mix my own: ground cumin, ground coriander, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and cayenne pepper if you want heat. Experiment to get the right proportions, but start with twice as much cumin and coriander as the others. Much cheaper than the "kits", which are just a way to get you to pay £2 too much for a packet of flour tortillas.

Or a light grating of parmesan; it is strong so only a tiny bit needed.

Just eat one not two.
Everything in moderation.

I have sweet potato or butternut squash in mine, and roast everything in the oven. I also have a massive green salad in it.
doesnt help you with your cheese and sour cream love though.

There is nothing unhealthy about cheese or sour cream, chicken or spices, vegetables or rice.

I’d skip shop bought tortilla as they can seemingly survive a nuclear blast and that would tell me they have things in them I don’t really want to eat. But happily they are very easy and quick to make.

If I’m sitting down to eat a good meal I’m putting as much cheese and cream on there as I like and making sure to add extra olive oil to the wraps, so we will all be properly full after and I won’t be nagged into providing cake and ice cream for the kids.

'Healthy' and 'low calorie' are two completely different things.

Do you want a healthy meal, or a low-calorie meal? If it's the latter then yes, you are going to have to make some sacrifices in either quantity, taste or texture.

The only reason for choosing wholewheat wraps would be extra fibre which is healthy but nothing whatsoever to do with a calorie deficit.

The only reason for choosing lettuce leaves over wraps would be if you were eating low-carb, or if the rest of your day's eating had taken you to the brink so the 92 calories in a wrap would tip you over the edge.

The only reason for choosing greek yoghurt mixed with spices and lime juice over sour cream would be if you like it better.

Wholewheat wraps or big lettuce leaves as wraps. Greek yoghurt mixed with a few spices and lime juice rather than sour cream. Very strong cheese so you need less to taste.

If you're eating in a calorie deficit I really think you need to keep the meals you love and enjoy them. Just tweak the rest of the day to accommodate.

If it's home made and no UPFs. Yum yum

The difference between 30ml (2 tbsp) sour cream and yoghurt is absolutely negligible in the scheme of a full day's eating, look at the table. The difference between the highest calorie option and the lowest is 35 calories.

You can add extra veg and salad for nutrition but protein + veg + fat + carbs is a balanced meal so you can easily fit chicken fajitas into whatever your dinner calorie budget is e.g. 500-600.

I often make fajitas for a packed lunch (admittedly I'm not trying to lose weight) I mix my own spices , chicken and use frozen peppers because I can't be bothered to chop peppers before breakfast! I use a small amount of salsa and grated smoked cheese (the smoked cheese is a stronger taste so I have less) in a wrap. I recently bought low carb wraps they are fairly similar to tortillas

Yes Fajitas can be a very healthy meal.
Ditch the cheese…shouldn’t be there anyway.
Swap the sour cream for Greek yogurt. My lot didn’t even notice when I did that.
I just mash the avacado and we also have spicy salsa.
I preseason the chicken with cumin, organic, chilli flakes, hot paprika , salt and black pepper and garlic.
I then dry fry the chicken in a very hot wok (you can use a little bit of oil if you want to) and then add red peppers and red onions and fry them until they’re almost a little charred on the edges (I like them that’s way)
I use Tesco wraps. One of the easiest meals to make.

Is it healthy - yes sure. Have it alongside a salad including Spinach and watercress, or similar and tomatoes etc and you'll be boosting your vitamin intake even further.

Is it low calorie enough to keep you in a target calories deficit?? Probably not - especially if you "can't possibly ditch the sour cream and cheese". You can reduce the amount of calories by using a leaf of iceburg lettuce instead of a wrap and limiting the QUANTITY of it you eat.
If you eat a lot of anything - even "healthy" food you'll still gain weight.

You still need some fats in your diet. You just need to control how much.

guess the answer to your question is yes, depends how you prepare it. If you fry the chicken in a river of oil, no. If you bake it - sure. I for one don’t like ‘low fat’ alternatives as the fat content is usually subsidised with sugars which your body turns back in to fat. So full fat, just less.

I thought the advice nowadays was to use full fat things rather than low fat alternatives. Is that not the case?
genuine question.
its so hard to know. The advice seems to change

To be honest I found it a little bit confusing as well; "healthy" and "calorie deficit" are really two separate considerations. You could eat junk all day, as long as it fit in your calorie deficit, and still technically lose weight. If you're trying to eat in a calorie deficit then you just need to make sure that whatever you are eating fits within that deficit. Cheese and sour cream are not unhealthy, they just might have a little bit of higher calorie count than other foods that you could eat.