These Applebee's Chicken Wonton Tacos are the perfect copycat, filled with honey-garlic chicken and zesty slaw in a crispy wonton shell.
Ingredients and substitutions
Chicken
- Chicken breasts – if you prefer dark meat, you can use boneless chicken thighs instead.
- Hoisin sauce – if you don't have hoisin sauce, you can use bean paste or 2 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp soy sauce mixed together.
- Sesame oil – you can try using a neutral cooking oil like olive oil or avocado oil instead.
- Soy sauce – tamari or coconut aminos are the best substitutes for soy sauce.
- Garlic – freshly minced garlic is best but the jarred variety will work as well.
- Ginger – use 1 tsp. of ground ginger powder if you don’t have any fresh ginger on hand.
Asian-inspired slaw
- Coleslaw – chop up some red or green cabbage instead (although buying the bagged coleslaw is easier).
- Green onions – chives or shallots would be the best substitute here.
- Sesame oil – swap out for a neutral oil like avocado or canola oil.
- Rice vinegar – white wine vinegar or apple cider would also work.
- Soy sauce – tamari or coconut aminos are the best substitutes for soy sauce.
- Honey – try using agave syrup or brown rice syrup instead for a bit of sweetness.
Toppings
- Wonton wrappers – if you want to make these tacos low-carb, use lettuce wraps instead.
- Sweet chili sauce – make your own using a blend of hot sauce and honey.
- Chopped cilantro – leave this out altogether if you don’t have any cilantro.
- Sesame seeds – both white and black sesame seeds would work here.
How to make Applebee's chicken wonton tacos
Step 1: Make the coleslaw.
Mix ingredients for coleslaw together in a large bowl.
Step 2: Prep the wonton wrappers.
Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray wonton wrappers with cooking spray or brush with a bit of olive/canola oil, then drape over the side of a 9×13 baking dish.
Step 3: Bake until crispy.
Bake for 7-8 minutes, watching closely so they don't burn. Take wonton shells out of the oven, then gently pull them apart while they are still pliable so that they are more easily filled with toppings. Bake another 7-8 minutes until crispy.
Step 4: Marinate the chicken.
Mix diced raw chicken in a large bowl with hoisin sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic and ginger.
Step 5: Cook the chicken.
Heat a large skillet over high heat and saute chicken for 7-8 minutes, tossing frequently until cooked through.
Step 6: Assemble your tacos and serve!
Add chicken mixture to wonton shells, then top with coleslaw, drizzle with sweet chili sauce and sprinkle with cilantro and sesame seeds. Serve and enjoy!
Topping ideas for wonton tacos
These Applebee’s wonton tacos are appetizer-sized, but if you have a sharp kitchen knife and are good at mincing, consider adding some of these other toppings:
- Minced mushrooms
- Minced bamboo shoots
- Grated carrot or parsnip
- Kohlrabi (German turnip) cut into matchsticks
- Plum sauce
- Sriracha sauce
Frequently Asked Questions
There are just 350 calories per serving in this chicken wonton tacos recipe, significantly less than at Applebee’s! One serving is made up of four tacos so you’re looking at just 88 calories per taco. If you were to order the original dish at Applebee’s, you’re looking at 570 calories per serving – and the serving size is likely smaller.
If you shop at an Asian market, wonton wrappers will be easy to find for your wonton tacos. They are usually in the refrigerated foods section. At traditional grocery stores, they are typically in the refrigerated section of the ethic food aisle. Otherwise, look in the produce section. They might be near the spice roots (like ginger), or near the refrigerated salad dressings.
These Applebee’s wonton tacos have 33 grams of carbs per serving. The wonton wrappers are part of what make these tacos so delicious, but if you’re looking for a low-carb option, you can always swap out the wonton wrappers for lettuce wraps.
Storing and reheating
Anytime you combine hot and cold foods together, it can be tricky to reheat them without losing some flavour, texture or both. Because of this, these Applebee’s wonton tacos are best eaten on the day they are made.
If you do have leftover chicken that you want to keep to enjoy later, store it in a covered container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. You can always bake the wonton shells fresh again in the oven.
Freezing this recipe
Unfortunately, fully assembled, chicken wonton tacos do not freeze well. However, you can definitely freeze the chicken by itself!
After cooking the chicken, be sure to allow it time to cool down before you transfer it to freezer-safe storage containers. Once frozen, the chicken will last in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight then reheat it in the microwave or in the oven before assembling your fresh tacos.
More Applebee's copycat recipes
Meal Prep Tools
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on storing any leftover chicken.
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
- **Get my full list of tools here**
Applebee's Chicken Wonton Tacos
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 chicken breasts, finely diced
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp minced fresh ginger
Asian-inspired slaw
- 1 (397g) bag coleslaw
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp honey
For tacos + toppings
- 16 Wonton wrappers
- Sweet chili sauce, to serve
- Chopped cilantro, to serve
- Sesame seeds, to serve
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray wonton wrappers with cooking spray or brush with a bit of olive/canola oil, then drape over the side of a 9×13 baking dish. Bake for 7-8 minutes, watching closely closely so they don't burn. Take wonton shells out of the oven, then gently pull them apart while they are still pliable so that they are more easily filled with toppings. Bake another 7-8 minutes until crispy.
- Mix diced raw chicken in a large bowl with hoisin sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic and ginger. Heat a large skillet over high heat and saute chicken for 7-8 minutes, tossing frequently until cooked through.
- Meanwhile, mix ingredients for coleslaw together in a large bowl.
- Add chicken mixture to wonton shells, then top with coleslaw, drizzle with sweet chili sauce and sprinkle with cilantro and sesame seeds. Serve and enjoy!
Comments & Reviews
Monique Palmer says
Delicious. Just made these tonight and they were a hit. I used the bottom of my muffin pans and placed the wonton wrappers in between the cups, (putting the pan in the oven upside down) so I could retain the taco shape. Still a bit narrow, but it worked. I mixed a tiny bit of sriracha with some plain greek yogurt and drizzled over them, and served them with sweet chili sauce. Very flavorful and I will definitely make them again.
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed them and thanks for sharing your tips on the taco shape!
Justin Thomas says
Recipe was delicious! Like most others though, I struggled with the wontons. I found that frying them gave me a texture and consistency closer to what you get at Applebees. Otherwise bravo.
Sandra says
I just made these tonight and they were delicious!!! I had some left over chicken and coleslaw so i decided to do a quick fried rice. I did this by throwing the slaw is a fry pan with some rice (leftover from previous nights dinner) and then throwing in the chicken. The coleslaw had enough dressing to lightly coat the rice and the chicken just enhanced the flavour some more. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. I will be definitely be making again.
Shasta says
Super yummy, but yes, Wontons over thin baking sheet makes for Super narrow area to fill..I broke many and actually ended up individually finger picking each piece of chicken into each shell so the shells didn’t break
Bobi says
I’m looking forward to making this! Your slaw dressing is almost exactly like my go to Asian dressing.
Leah says
This will be in rotation at my house for a long time! Thank you for an amazing recipe.
Just as an FYI I also had trouble with the Wonton shells, so I used my cupcake tin and made cups instead. Came out beautiful! Wish I could upload a pic.
Taylor Stinson says
What a great idea! I’m so happy you enjoyed!
IG@themilliondolargrillhut says
I ended up dipping my wonton wraps in this birria sauce I made for tacos turned out to be what I call an Awesome Accident now I have a new recipe for next week
Nik says
It was immediately obvious that the wontons were going to be nearly impossible to fill. I broke them in half and served like nachos. Delicious, thanks for the recipe.
Tammie branam says
I made this recipe today and it was delicious. I also had a hard time with the Wonton wrappers. So I decided to use street tacos the floured ones and fried them up and it worked out perfect. Thank you for the awesome recipe
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you enjoyed!! 🙂
Linda M. says
I made this recipe yesterday; it was delicious. But , I had a terrible time with baking the wontons. They would bake too narrow. When I tried to open them, ever so slightly, the wonton cracked and split. I ended up draping them over to slats in my air fryer oven. It gave me a wonton with a flat base. Any other suggestions.
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Linda – the wontons can be a bit tricky to get right. You can try experimenting with other types of baking dishes that may give you that larger opening.
Leah says
I used my cupcake tin and made cups! It was delicious!!!
cheryl Taylor says
What a fantastic idea, Leah. I’ve been sitting here wracking my brain trying to figure out what alternative I could use. And there you were!! Solved my problem. LOLOL Thank you very much for sharing. Can’t wait to whip these up for tonight’s cocktail hour!
Cheryl
TracyRodriguez says
Linda, I’ve used these in many recipes. I drape them over two of the metal slats on my oven shelf. This creates a flat bottom and they stay open better to fill. I can do two racks at a time. Watch them closely, they go from not done to burnt quickly. This was a wonderful recipe, we really enjoyed them, thx!
Lisa says
Hello, do you think you can make the chicken up ahead of time and put in a crock pot to keep warm?
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Lisa – I’ve never tried doing this before and don’t know what the food safety implications would be. You can definitely make the chicken up to 2 days in advance but the way I would do it is refrigerate and then heat back up in the microwave or in a pan on the stove.