All the smoky, sizzling flavour of chicken fajitas, none of the calorie-heavy wraps — this fajita salad is one of my favourite ways to enjoy a takeaway classic while keeping things lean. Spiced chicken and charred peppers and onions piled onto crisp leaves with beans, avocado and a squeeze of lime deliver 36g of protein and 8g of fibre for around 400 calories. It is a proper Friday-night feeling dinner that keeps you firmly on track.
A quick word first: I am not a doctor or a dietitian, just someone who lived this. None of these foods or supplements are medication, and if you are on a GLP-1, check anything new with your GP or pharmacist. Right, let us get to it.
For more evening ideas, see my high-protein dinner ideas, and for hitting your protein, how much protein per day.
Why the salad version wins
Turning a wrap-based dish into a salad is a simple swap with a big payoff.
36g of protein and 8g of fibre. The chicken and beans together bring a big hit of both, so this eats like a proper, filling meal rather than a light salad.
You lose the carb-heavy wraps. Fajita fillings are lean and healthy; it is the tortillas that pile on the calories. Serve it over leaves and you keep all the flavour and cut the carbs right down.
Charred peppers and smoky spice bring the flavour. The sizzle and smoke of proper fajita seasoning make a lean, healthy dinner taste like a treat.
The wrap-to-salad swap that saves hundreds of calories
One of the easiest and most effective tricks I learned for eating well is deconstructing my favourite dishes and losing the least useful, most calorie-heavy part. Fajitas are the perfect example. The genuinely good stuff — the spiced chicken, the charred peppers and onions, the beans, the salsa — is lean, nutritious and packed with flavour and protein. The tortilla wraps, on the other hand, add a big chunk of refined carbs and calories while contributing very little you actually want. So the obvious move is to keep everything good and simply serve it over a bowl of crisp leaves instead of in wraps. You lose nothing you care about and save yourself hundreds of calories.
This same thinking works across loads of meals. A burger without the bun, over salad. A curry with cauliflower rice instead of a mountain of white rice and naan. A jacket-potato filling piled onto a smaller potato or some veg. In each case you keep the flavourful, satisfying part and drop the calorie-heavy carb vehicle that you were only eating out of habit. On a GLP-1, where your appetite is smaller anyway, this is a genuinely smart strategy — it lets you enjoy the dishes you love in a form that fits your goals, without feeling deprived. Learn to spot the calorie-heavy carrier in your favourite meals and swap it for something lighter, and you can keep eating what you love while the weight comes off.
The macros that matter
Here is roughly what one serving gives you. Treat these as a guide rather than gospel, since it depends on your exact ingredients and portions:
| Approx per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Calories | ~400 kcal |
| Protein | 36g |
| Carbohydrate | 24g |
| Fat | 16g |
| Fibre | 8g |
The protein figure is the one I watch on a GLP-1. As a rough guide I aim for somewhere around 1.2 to 1.6g of protein per kilo of body weight across the day to protect muscle while losing fat, and I judge every meal by how much of that it contributes. I log meals like this in Cronometer (it is free) so I know I am actually hitting my targets rather than hoping. The first time I tracked properly I realised I was eating far less protein than I thought, so if you have never done it, give it two weeks.
What you need (serves 1)
- 2 chicken breasts (about 300g), sliced into strips
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 1 yellow pepper, sliced
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- 1 tin black beans, drained
- 2 big handfuls of crisp salad leaves
- ½ avocado, sliced
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Juice of 1 lime, fresh coriander
- Optional: a dollop of Greek yoghurt or salsa
How to make it
- Toss the chicken strips with the smoked paprika, cumin, chilli powder and a little olive oil.
- Heat a large pan or griddle until hot and cook the chicken until charred and cooked through, then set aside.
- In the same pan, char the peppers and onion until softened and slightly blackened at the edges.
- Pile the crisp salad leaves into a bowl as the base.
- Top with the black beans, charred chicken and peppers, and sliced avocado.
- Squeeze over the lime, scatter with coriander, and add a dollop of Greek yoghurt or salsa if you like.
- Serve straight away while the chicken and peppers are still warm.
Adjusting it to your goals
This is high in protein and fibre, and flexible:
Make it a bean-only version. Leave out the chicken and double the beans for a vegetarian fajita salad with plenty of plant protein and fibre.
Add a carb if you need it. A little rice or one small wrap on the side rounds it out for a hungrier day.
Load up the veg. Extra peppers, tomatoes and leaves add fibre and volume. See fibre on GLP-1.
Getting a proper char without deep frying
The magic of fajitas is in the char — that slightly blackened, smoky, caramelised edge on the chicken and peppers that gives them their irresistible flavour. The good news is you get all of it with almost no fat, using nothing more than a very hot pan or griddle. The key is heat and patience: get the pan properly hot before anything goes in, do not overcrowd it, and resist the urge to keep stirring. Let the chicken and peppers sit against the hot surface long enough to develop colour before you move them. That blackening, technically the same browning reaction that makes toast and seared steak taste so good, is pure flavour, and it costs you nothing but a hot pan. A cast-iron pan or a griddle pan holds heat brilliantly and gives the best char, but any heavy pan will do. This is a genuinely useful technique across loads of healthy cooking — charred broccoli, blackened corn, seared halloumi, griddled courgette all taste incredible for barely any calories. So do not be afraid of a bit of colour and char on your food; embrace it. It is one of the best ways to make lean, healthy ingredients taste rich and satisfying without reaching for oil or frying, and it is exactly what makes this fajita salad taste like a proper treat.
Prep the parts, assemble fresh
This is best assembled fresh so the leaves stay crisp and the chicken and peppers are warm, but the components prep well — cook a batch of the spiced chicken ahead and it is a quick assembly. The spiced chicken and charred peppers are also brilliant cold in a next-day high-protein lunch salad or wrap. A vibrant, flavour-packed part of my meal prep ideas for Mounjaro.
How it fits a full day of eating
At 36g of protein and 8g of fibre, this is a genuinely complete dinner that does a big share of the day’s work. I still aim for a solid high-protein breakfasts and high-protein lunch, but a dinner this strong on both makes hitting my targets easy.
Being naturally low-carb once you lose the wraps, it suits an evening where I have had carbs earlier, or I add a little rice for energy. a protein shake covers any post-workout gap. This is exactly the kind of high-protein, high-fibre dinner that makes eating well feel like a treat — my complete GLP-1 guide explains the framework.
No appetite today?
On a low-appetite evening, you can just eat the chicken, beans and a bit of avocado and leave the bulk of the leaves — even a small portion banks serious protein. When cooking is beyond you, HelloFresh keeps proper meals coming so you do not skip dinner. More in what to eat with no appetite.
Supplements that pair well
With chicken and beans, this is high in protein and fibre, so a probiotic like Pre + Pro 15 complements the fibre well. I take a daily Super Supplemental for general cover. If you are increasing your fibre with dishes like this, build up gradually — see my constipation on GLP-1 guide. The free Lily & Loaf lifestyle analysis matches a routine to your goals.
Frequently asked questions
Is a fajita salad better than fajita wraps for weight loss?
Yes — the fillings are lean and healthy, but the tortillas add a big chunk of refined carbs and calories. Serving it as a salad keeps all the flavour and protein while cutting the carbs right down.
How do I get the smoky fajita flavour?
Smoked paprika, cumin and a little chilli powder are the classic fajita spices, and a proper char on the chicken and peppers from a very hot pan adds the smoky, sizzling flavour without any added fat.
Can I make it vegetarian?
Easily — leave out the chicken and double the black beans, or add a second bean like kidney beans. You keep the fibre and get a solid hit of plant protein. Charred halloumi also works brilliantly.
How do I get a good char without frying?
Get a heavy pan or griddle properly hot, do not overcrowd it, and let the chicken and peppers sit without stirring so they blacken. That char is pure flavour for no added fat.
Can I meal prep it?
Prep the spiced chicken and charred peppers ahead and keep the leaves separate, then assemble fresh. The cooked chicken and peppers are great cold in a salad or wrap the next day too.
The bottom line
Chicken fajita salad gives you all the smoky, sizzling flavour of the takeaway classic with none of the carb-heavy wraps — 36g of protein and 8g of fibre for around 400 calories. Learning to spot and swap out the calorie-heavy carrier in your favourite meals lets you keep eating what you love while the weight comes off. Make it bean-only for a veggie version, and embrace the char. To match your supplements to a high-protein, high-fibre routine, the free Lily & Loaf lifestyle analysis is a quick, no-pressure check.
The tools I lean on
If you are putting a GLP-1 routine together, this is the order I would do it in, free tools first:
- Track a fortnight of food in Cronometer so you can see your real protein and calories.
- Take the free Lily & Loaf lifestyle analysis to find the supplements actually worth buying.
- Start an Audible trial for something to listen to while you cook or walk.
- Keep HelloFresh on standby for the weeks cooking from scratch just is not happening.
- Batch-cook and freeze portions in a set of freezer-safe containers so there is always a healthy dinner a few minutes away.
A bit about me
I am Alan Spicer. I lost around seven stone on Mounjaro and filmed the whole thing, warts and all, on my YouTube channel. Simple, protein-first dinners like this were a real part of how I held onto muscle and kept the weight off.
This article shares my personal experience and general information only. It is not medical advice. Food and supplements support a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle and do not replace it or any treatment prescribed by your doctor. Speak to your GP or pharmacist before making changes, especially while on a GLP-1 medication. Nutrition figures are approximate and will vary with the exact ingredients and brands you use.
Inspired by the kind of fresh, wholefood dinners in the Lily & Loaf evening meals collection. This is my own version, written from my own kitchen.
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