Chicken Wonton Tacos
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Make a perfect Applebee’s copycat recipe for Chicken Wonton Tacos with only 7 ingredients. You can recreate this restaurant favorite at home in just 30 minutes, for an easy party appetizer! The tacos are made with baked wonton shells, filled with sweet chili chicken and coleslaw, for a delicious combination of flavors and textures.
Why you’ll love this recipe
I love a good homemade copycat recipe. It’s like bringing your favorite menu item from a restaurant right into your own kitchen. It also gives you the opportunity to make them a little lighter, but just as delicious!
For these chicken wonton tacos, I baked the wonton shells instead of deep frying them. This lightens up the recipe, but it also makes the wonton taco shells so much easier to make, with less mess.
After trying out several different ways to make the wonton shells, including in the oven and in the air fryer, on a muffin tin and around the edge of a baking dish, I finally found the perfect way to make wonton taco shells at home. Fold them over a wire rack that’s propped up with two bowls on a baking sheet.
This allows you to make all of the wonton shells at one time. Clean-up is a breeze, and all of the shells are equally crispy on all sides! It’s a winning combination, and one of the reasons I know you’ll love this recipe. Here are some of the other reasons!
- You only need 7 ingredients. Between the shells, sauce, and fillings, this recipe could get complicated. But I kept it simple with just 7 ingredients that still achieve the same taste as the original Applebee’s chicken wonton tacos!
- It’s easy to make in 30 minutes. Preparing the coleslaw and wonton shells, while the chicken is marinating, means that you can make this recipe start-to-finish in just 30 minutes.
- It’s filled with so many delicious textures. From the crispy wonton taco shells, to the tender chicken, to the crunchy coleslaw, these wonton tacos are like a party in your mouth!
Ingredients
Here I explain the best ingredients for this chicken wonton taco recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For the exact ingredient measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or chicken thighs) – if you want a leaner option, go with the chicken breasts. If you’d like a richer flavor, go with the chicken thighs. With either one, you want to make sure they’re boneless and skinless, so you can easily dice them into half-inch pieces.
- Sweet chili sauce – this Asian-style chili sauce is made with red chili peppers and sweetened with sugar to make a delicious sweet and slightly spicy sauce. This is the sauce we’ll use to marinate the chicken, and we’ll save some extra to drizzle over the tacos at the end.
- Soy sauce – to add some salt and umami flavor to the marinade with the sweet chili sauce.
- Coleslaw and coleslaw dressing – I used store-bought slaw mix and coleslaw dressing to keep this recipe simple. You can click the link above for my homemade coleslaw and dressing recipe, if you prefer to make it from scratch.
- Fresh cilantro – this is the ingredient that makes Applebee’s coleslaw different. They mix fresh cilantro in with the shredded cabbage and carrots. So we’re doing the same in this copycat recipe! We’ll also sprinkle some on the tacos at the end as a garnish.
- Wonton wrappers – these are available in the refrigerated produce section of most major grocery stores, near the tofu. Square wonton wrappers are best for this recipe, so you can fold them into a triangle to make the wonton taco shells.
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe super easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Marinate the chicken. Add diced pieces of chicken to a large bowl with sweet chili sauce and soy sauce. Toss until the chicken is completely coated in the marinade. Place the chicken mixture in the fridge to marinate for 20 minutes. You can also cover it and marinate it for up to 8 hours in the fridge.
- Make the coleslaw. Combine coleslaw mix with fresh cilantro and coleslaw dressing. Place in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the tacos.
- Set up the baking sheet for the wonton taco shells. Grab the largest wire rack that you have available. You want the wire rack to have rows, not square grates. This wire rack is similar to the one that I used in this recipe. Place two oven-safe bowls on a large baking sheet, then place the wire rack on top. You want to make sure that the bowls are tall enough so the wonton wrappers can hang freely without hitting the baking sheet.
- Bake the wonton shells. Spray both sides of each wonton wrapper with cooking spray, then lay them over the wire rack. The cooking spray will prevent the wonton wrappers from sticking to the wire rack, and it will help them get browned and crispy on the outside. Place the wonton wrappers in a preheated oven at 375°F and bake for 8-10 minutes, on the middle rack (or lower) in the oven. If the wonton shells are too close to the heat source at the top of the oven, the bottom of the shells will burn, before the rest of the wonton shells crisp up. Watch the wonton taco shells carefully in the oven during the last two minutes to make sure they don’t burn. You want them golden brown and crispy.
You can easily make the wonton shells ahead of time and store them in an airtight container (like a gallon zipper bag) on the counter for up to 5 days.
- Cook the chicken. Heat a large skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. Add the chicken with the marinade to the skillet and cook for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the chicken is cooked evenly on all side.
- Assemble the tacos. Remove the wonton shells from the baking rack and place them on a plate. Use tongs to place a few pieces of chicken in the bottom of each wonton taco shell. Use a small spoon to spoon the coleslaw over the chicken in the shells. Top with an extra drizzle of sweet chili sauce and garnish with fresh chopped cilantro.
Storage and reheating
I recommend only assembling as many wonton tacos as you plan to eat in that setting. Once assembled, they won’t reheat well.
You can, however, store each of the components separately to make more tacos with leftovers anytime in the next 4-5 days. Store the cooked chicken in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat the chicken in a skillet on the stove for 4-5 minutes before assembling the tacos.
Store the coleslaw covered in the fridge in a separate container, and store the wonton shells at room temperature in an airtight container.
More copycat recipes
If you like the idea of recreating your favorite restaurant dishes at home for a fraction of the price, you have to check out these other easy copycat recipes!
Chicken Wonton Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breast, finely diced (about ½ inch cubes)
- ¼ cup sweet chili sauce, plus more for topping
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 cups coleslaw mix
- ¼ cup cilantro, plus more to garnish
- ¼ cup coleslaw dressing
- 18 wonton wrappers
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken. Toss the diced chicken with the sweet chili sauce and soy sauce. Place in the fridge to marinate for 20 minutes. You can also cover it and marinate it for up to 8 hours in the fridge.
- Prepare the coleslaw. While the chicken is marinating, combine the coleslaw mix with cilantro and coleslaw dressing. Transfer to the fridge to allow the flavors to combine.
- Prepare the wonton shells. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray wonton wrappers on both sides with cooking spray. Drape them over a wire rack that’s held up by two oven-safe bowls on a baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes on the middle rack of the oven. Watch carefully during the last 2 minutes to make sure they don’t burn.
- Cook the chicken. Heat a large skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. Once the skillet it hot, add the marinated chicken and cook for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the chicken is cooked evenly on all side.
- Assemble the tacos. Place the cooked chicken in the wonton shells, top with coleslaw and garnish with additional cilantro and sweet chili sauce.
Notes
- You can easily make the wonton shells ahead of time and store them in an airtight container (like a gallon zipper bag) on the counter for up to 5 days.
Nutrition Facts
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