Copycat Applebee's Chicken Wonton Tacos— Crispy, crunchy wonton wrappers are filled with succulent teriyaki chicken and topped with sesame ginger coleslaw to create the best ever chicken wonton tacos! This is a homemade version of Applebee's wonton tacos, but fresher and tastier. If you love Asian-fusion recipes, you’re going to love these tacos! Note that the chicken should marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge but you don't really need to budget in 'extra' time for that, because it'll happen while you're prepping the slaw and baking the wonton wrappers.The recipe makes about 16 small wonton-sized tacos, therefore serves about 4 people, depending on appetites. If you're serving these with something else and each person eats only 2, then you can serve about 8 people. Nutritional stats below are based on serving 4 people (4 tacos each).
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time20 minutesmins
Total Time40 minutesmins
Course: Chicken
Cuisine: Asian
Servings: 4
Calories: 533kcal
Author: Averie Sunshine
Ingredients
Chicken Filling
1poundboneless skinless chicken breaststhighs may be substituted, diced into bite-sized pieces
2tablespoonsteriyaki saucehoisin sauce may be substitued
1tablespoontoasted sesame oil
1tablespoonlow sodium soy sauce
2 to 3clovesgarlicfinely minced
1teaspoongrated fresh ginger OR use 1/2 teaspoon dried ground ginger
Asian-Inspired Slaw
one 12-ounce bag coleslaw mixmixture of mostly green cabbage, a bit of red cabbage, and minimal shredded carrots; discard any dressing packets
1tablespoongranulated sugarhoney may be substituted
1 to 2teaspoonsfreshly squeezed lime juice
½teaspoongrated fresh ginger OR use 1/4 teaspoon dried ground ginger
Wonton Taco Shells
16wonton wrappers*See Tips below
Assembly and Garnishing
2tablespoonssweet chili sauceor as desired
¼cupfresh cilantrofinely minced; optional for garnishing as desired
2teaspoonssesame seedsoptional for garnishing as desired
Instructions
Marinating the Chicken - To a large bowl, add the all the ingredients, stir to combine, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate to marinate for about 30 minutes.
Slaw - To a separate large bowl, add the all the ingredients, stir and toss to combine and coat evenly. Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to sit on your counter while the chicken marinates and the taco shells bake in the next step. Tip - It may not look like enough 'dressing' to really coat the coleslaw mix properly, but between the sodium in the soy sauce and the lime juice and being kept at room temp, the coleslaw will wilt enough to be a great texture when it's time to serve the tacos.
Wonton Taco Shells - Place the wonton wrappers over a raised edges of a 9x13-inch baking pan and lighly spray them with cooking spray.
Bake in a preheated 375F oven for about 7 minutes, or unitl lightly golden and crispy. Repeat the process once more, or as needed until you've baked enough wonton shells for your needs. Tips - Wonton wrappers are sold in the Asian section of most well stocked grocery stores for much less than the price of these on Amazon; link is for reference. Make sure to buy wonton wrappers, and not spring roll wrappers (extremely thin and transparent) nor egg roll wrappers (larger, thicker) than wonton wrappers.
Cooking the Chicken - To a large, high-sided, nonstick skillet, add the chicken + marinade contents (just dump it all into your skillet), and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 to 6 minutes, or until chicken is done and cooked through (note - thighs take a bit longer than breasts to cook through if you're using thighs). Stir and flip very frequently to ensure even cooking. Tip - If for any reason the chicken is sticking, drizzle in a tablespoon of olive oil.
Assembly and Garnishing - Spoon a few pieces of chicken into each baked wonton taco shell, top with slaw as desired, evenly drizzle with sweet chili sauce (Trader Joe's brand or Thai Kitchen brand are my recommendations) as desired, and evenly sprinkle a bit of cilantro and sesame seeds to taste, and serve.
Notes
Storage - Leftover chicken and slaw will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days. Store them separately. Extra baked wonton taco shells will keep airtight in a sealed ziptop bag for up to 5 days, noting that they will lose crispiness as time passes and humidity enters.Make-Ahead recommendations are explained in the blog post.This isn't a recipe I recommend freezing.