Spicy Chicken Wonton Tacos
Spicy Chicken Wonton Tacos are packed with spiced chicken, crisp coleslaw, toasted sesame dressing, and fresh veggies for the perfect crunch.
Craving Applebee’s Chicken Wonton Tacos? Whip up a similar, homemade version to savor all your favorite takeout flavors at home. These Spicy Chicken Wonton Tacos are the ultimate copycat recipe, packed with red pepper-spiced chicken, crunchy coleslaw, toasted sesame dressing, red onion, jalapeño, chopped cilantro, and more. These chicken tacos make a quick and delicious snack, lunch, or dinner, perfect any time of year.
SPICY CHICKEN WONTON TACOS
One of the best things about making this recipe at home is that you can easily adjust the spice to suit your taste. These spicy chicken tacos are packed with bold flavor, featuring savory chicken with a lively kick from jalapeños and red pepper flakes. The crispy wonton shell and crisp cole slaw provide a refreshing, tangy crunch in every bite, while fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime add a bright, zesty finish. Mix and match the filling each time, and you’ve got a versatile, unique taco recipe for your collection!
Find my expert tips on how to make homemade spicy chicken wonton tacos below! Don’t forget to tag me in all of your creations @lifeinthelofthouse on Instagram and Facebook. Let’s stay connected. ❤️
Why You’ll Love These Easy Spicy Chicken Wonton Tacos:
- Applebee’s Copycat: Get the flavor of Applebee’s chicken wonton tacos without leaving your kitchen. You can control the spice, adjust the toppings, and enjoy a fresh, homemade version anytime.
- Spicy & Crispy: The red pepper-spiced chicken paired with golden, crunchy wonton shells creates a satisfying combination of heat and texture in every bite.
- Customizable: Easily adjust the toppings to your taste—add extra jalapeños for heat, more coleslaw for crunch, or a squeeze of lime for brightness.
- Versatile: These crispy wonton tacos are perfect as appetizers, party snacks, or a main dish. Use leftover chicken for salads or rice bowls the next day.
- Fun For Entertaining: Crispy, handheld, and full of flavor, these tacos are a unique dish to bring to game days, potlucks, and family dinners.
Ingredients
- 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 package Cole slaw
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 1 can (4 ounces) diced jalapeño
- 1/2 Tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 bottle Asian dressing/marinade (I used Kraft’s Asian Toasted Sesame dressing/ marinade)
- 1 package square wonton wrappers
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- limes
Instructions
The Grilled Version
In a large bowl, mix the cole slaw, cilantro, and diced red onion.
Strain the can of jalapenos, and add the desired amount into the coleslaw mix. Note: I only used 1/4 of the can because I’m not big on spice. Use as much as you’d like for your own heat tolerance.
Pour the Asian dressing into the coleslaw mix. (I used about 1/4 cup). Mix well, cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Place chicken breasts in a large bowl and coat with the desired amount of Asian dressing/marinade. Cover and refrigerate for one hour. (Refrigerate both coleslaw and chicken breasts for the same hour).
Grill chicken breasts for at least 8 minutes or until thoroughly cooked, then cut into cubes.
Heat Sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once heated, add the cubed chicken and red pepper flakes. Stir fry for about 2 minutes or until chicken is hot. Remove chicken from the skillet and then set it on a large plate.
Add 1 cup vegetable oil to the same skillet and heat over medium to med-low heat.
Place a ‘strip’ of chicken down the center of two wonton wrappers. Note: I doubled the wonton wrappers because one didn’t seem thick enough. Fold up sides, like a taco.
Using tongs, fry the ‘taco’ for at least 1 minute, turning to make sure both sides are cooked. You want it to be golden brown and crispy.
Top each taco with the coleslaw mixture and a squeeze of fresh lime. Enjoy!
The Baked Version
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Fill the uncooked wonton wrappers with the cooked chicken.
Place in a greased 9×13 baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes or so, until wrappers are golden and crispy.
Fill tacos with coleslaw mixture and a squeeze of fresh lime! Serve and enjoy.
Servings
Serves 4-6.
Storage and Reheating
Store leftover chicken, coleslaw, and cooked wonton tacos separately in airtight containers. Refrigerate for up to 3 days. To freeze, place cooked chicken and baked or fried wonton tacos in airtight containers for up to 3 months. Keep the cole slaw fresh in the fridge. To reheat, place the chicken in a skillet or microwave until warmed through, and crisp baked or fried wontons in a 350°F oven for 5-7 minutes. Assemble tacos with fresh coleslaw and a squeeze of lime just before serving.
Holly’s Tips for The Best Copycat Spicy Wonton Chicken Tacos:
- Use High-Quality Chicken: Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, which are ideal for this recipe, but chicken thighs can add extra juiciness and flavor.
- Marinate: Let the chicken sit in the Asian toasted sesame dressing for at least an hour to allow the flavors to develop. The coleslaw also benefits from a quick chill to enhance the crunch and taste.
- Adjust Spice Level as Needed: Adjust the amount of jalapeño and red pepper flakes in the chicken and slaw to suit your spice tolerance; start mild and add more if you like it fiery.
- Double Up Wontons: Double up your wonton wrappers for thicker, sturdier tacos that hold without falling apart. Fry until golden brown, or bake, for a lighter, crisp option.
- Keep It Crunchy: Assemble tacos with coleslaw and lime juice just before serving to maintain texture and freshness.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes, prep the chicken and coleslaw a few hours in advance, but fry or bake the wonton shells just before serving to keep them crispy.
Reduce the amount of red pepper flakes and jalapeños in the chicken and coleslaw, or omit them entirely for a milder flavor.
Fry or bake the shells just before assembling the tacos. Top with coleslaw and lime right before serving to maintain crunch.
To make Spicy Chicken Wonton Tacos gluten-free, use wonton wrappers and check that your Asian dressing/marinade is gluten-free. The remaining ingredients are naturally gluten-free.
Similar Recipes
Craving something similar? Make my Baked Chicken Tacos.
Looking for more delicious copycat recipes? Try my Crunchwrap Supreme (Taco Bell Copycat), Chick-Fil-A Chicken Sandwich (Copycat), Alice Springs Chicken (Outback Steakhouse Copycat), and Copycat Winger’s Sticky Chicken Fingers.
Have you made this Spicy Wonton Chicken Tacos recipe? 🌮
Leave a review, and don’t forget to tag me in your creations on Instagram and Facebook! @lifeinthelofthouse! #SpicyWontonChickenTacos #LifeInTheLofthouse
Spicy Chicken Wonton Tacos
Ingredients
- 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 package Cole slaw
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 1 can (4 ounces) diced jalapenos
- 1/2 Tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 bottle Asian dressing/marinade (I used Krafts Asian Toasted Sesame dressing/ marinade)
- 1 package square wonton wrappers
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- limes
Instructions
For The Grilled Version
- In a large bowl, mix together the cole slaw, cilantro and diced red onion.
- Strain the can of jalepenos’, and add desired amount into the coleslaw mix. ( I only used 1/4 of the can because I’m a wimp and cant handle the heat. Use as much as you’d like for your own heat tolerance)
- Pour the Asian dressing into the coleslaw mix. ( I used about 1/4 cup). Mix well, cover and refigerate for atleast one hour.
- Place chicken breasts in a large bowl and coat with desired amount of Asian dressing/marinade. Cover and refrigerate one hour. (Refigerate both coleslaw and chicken breasts for the same hour)
- Grill chicken breasts for atleast 8 minutes or until thoroughly cooked then cut into cubes.
- Heat Sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once heated, add the cubed chicken and red pepper flakes. Stir fry for about 2 minutes or until chicken is hot. Remove chicken from skillet and then set on a large plate.
- Add 1 cup vegetable oil to the same skillet and heat over medium to med-low heat.
- Place a ‘strip’ of chicken down the center of two wonton wrappers.( I doubled the wonton wrappers because one didnt seem thick enough). Fold up sides, like a taco.
- Using tongs, fry the ‘taco’ for atleast 1 minute , turning to make sure both sides are cooked. You want it to be golden brown and crispy.
- Top each taco with the coleslaw mixture and a squeeze of fresh lime. Enjoy!
For The Baked Version
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Fill the uncooked wonton wrappers with the cooked chicken.
- Place in a greased 9×13 baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes or so, until wrappers are golden and crispy.
- Fill tacos with coleslaw mixture and a squeeze of fresh lime! Serve and enjoy.
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Oh yum! I love Applebees’s and this looks incredible. I will have to try these! Thanks lady!
Ummm yum!!!!! These look delish!!!
I’ve never even heard of these, but they look really good!
I’ve never had Applebee’s Chicken Wanton Taco’s but after seeing this I am sure they are delicious! Great job!
Hi there,
From reading through your old posts there are many recipes I want to make..not just this one! This one does look delicious though!
Oh my gosh, these look crazy delicious! I have not even heard about these at Applebees. Oh heck, who am I kidding, I have not even been to an Applebees in years. First of all, you did a great job with the photos, I know that was not easy taking a picture of you flipping the tacos in the oil and taking a picutre. Trust me, I’ve tried something similar and it’s very hard! GREAT JOB Holly. These things look so gosh darn good!! I FOR SURE am making these!
Incredible once again my mouth is watering!!!
You are my kinda girl!! YUM
Yummm, these look so delicious. I used to work at an Applebee’s, but it must have been before they had this appetizer. That is probably a good thing for my waistline 🙂
– Maggie
Those look awesome! Can’t wait to try them!
I love those little tacos from Applebee’s!! Nice recreation. They look so darn good and I know if you made them then they taste good too!
Those wonton tacos look so scrummy! I love the idea.
Cheers,
Rosa
They look so crispy and wonderful…yum! I think we’re going to Applebee’s later, I need to give them a try there too.
Those look so amazing. Great job. I cannot wait to try them.
oh they look great! I had glanced at the picture last night but forgot to read the recipe and write down what I needed. Today at the store I had got it all but couldn’t decide if you used wonton wrappers or corn tortillas. I know won tons are the obvious choice…. I got both. So now I am set this looks great!
These do look amazing!! What a good idea and something different!
Love the photos! BoomNoodle in Seattle’s University Village serves appetizer Ahi Tacos in crispy won ton shells and they are delish.
@Annie’sDish – I’m still grinning over your Chicken Wanton line.
I haven’t been to Applebee’s in ages, but these do look delicious! 🙂
Wow, I’ve never had those tacos either but they look absolutely incredible!! And I bet yours were way better than the ones in Applebees 🙂
Sues
Thanks for adding us to your Blog Roll Holly. We added you to our site too! We love your site. It is great to look at and your recipes are awesome. Thanks Friend!
These look amazingly delicious! YUM
These sound wonderful! It is so funny that you posted this recipe now because I just bought some egg roll wrappers today and was wondering what all I could make to use them up (I have one recipe that is only going to use some of them)
I came over from the Saturday Swap. I’ve never had these, but they look and sound delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for posting this recipe! I had never been a huge Applebees fan until a friend of mine took me to lunch there before I moved and suggested the wonton tacos. Love! I ended up eating there 3 or 4 more times before we actually moved. They are awesome! Now I don’t have an Applebees close by and I’m quite sure I’m in need of some of these tacos. Yum!
I love these “tacos” from Appebees, can’t wait to try his. I am also going to try them as egg rolls by dicing the chicken and mixing all the ingredients together. YUM!
These look so delicious!! I have to try them.
My sisters and I just started our first themed blog hop over at https://everydaysisters.blogspot.com
beginning tomorrow. This weeks theme is appetizers. We would love for you to come over and share these or any of your favorite appetizer recipes with our blog readers. Have a great weekend.
Ellen
These look delicious! I couldn’t resist the photo in your sidebar this morning. YUM!
I made them last night and they were incredible! I slow cooked the chicken/marinade/red pepper ahead of time and it shredded into perfect strips for the wraps. I was out of cilantro, red onion, and sesame oil, but did everything else as you said and it still tasted complete and DELICIOUS! Thank you for posting! My tummy is very happy. 🙂
Save time and calories (and the whole headache of the filling falling out) by baking the wontons. Follow recipe the same except place wonton wrapers on a breadpan (or other oven safe pan/dish about same size) to create folded base and bake in heated oven at 375 for 5 minutes or until golden. Fill with chicken and slaw.
Fanfrigintastic!!!!!!!
I love Applebee’s chicken won ton tacos!!! I was so excited when I came across your blog. I asked a manager how they made the Asian slaw and my memory is so bad while shopping I couldn’t remember what she had told me. I ended up buying peanut sauce and terryaki and let’s say that was gross!!! Can’t wAit to make this!!! Thank you so much
How would you make this if you couldn’t grill the chicken? Bake it in the marinade? For how long and at what temperature? Thanks!
Hats off to you for putting so much work into these little tacos. I recently went through a 2 month craving over these bundles of joy. Lol I have to tell ya, I didn’t have the time nor did I want to wait for my tacos. I wanted them NOW! ( I had it bad ya’ll) so here’s my quick fix tacos that turned out well enough to make me happy and in the end that was all that mattered. Especially to my husband! lol.
– frozen cooked Chicken strips thawed
– bag of Asian salad from the produce section of the grocery store. It has everything you need including the dressing
– wonton wrappers
– oil for frying
– limes
– any seasonings or condiments you may want to make it more suitable to your taste.
I don’t fry mine with the chicken inside and I only use one wrapper. I make a “cigar” shaped foil template and wrap my wonton around it and hold it together at the top. Same method as with the chicken inside.
Then enjoy! I’m sure Holly’s version has a better developed flavor but this version can’t be best for speed and ease.