Chicken Caesar Salad Cups are a perfect mini appetizer to serve at your next party. Crispy golden brown wonton wrappers form the cups for this delicious Chicken Caesar salad topped with mini croutons and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Your guests will be amazed.
Ingredients: Here’s What You’ll Need
- The Wonton Cups: For the wonton cups, I used store-bought wonton wrappers, which I brushed with olive oil.
- The Lettuce: The lettuce of choice in the salad was Romaine lettuce, which I cut into small pieces to fit into the wonton cups easily.
- The Chicken: I used grilled chicken in the Caesar salad. However, you could also use rotisserie chicken or whatever chicken you had on hand.
- The Dressing: I generally make my own Caesar salad dressing (recipe below). However, an excellent substitute is Ken’s Creamy Caesar salad dressing or Ken’s Lite Creamy Caesar salad dressing.
- Mini Croutons: I wanted to be sure that the croutons would nicely fit on the Chicken Caesar Salad Cups, so I made my mini croutons. I cut a baguette into ⅜ to ½-inch cubes, tossed the bread cubes in olive oil, and baked the croutons at 325°F for about 12 minutes until golden brown.
- Parmesan Cheese: I finished the Chicken Caesar salad cups with a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Here’s How I Made the Caesar Salad Dressing
Making the Caesar salad dressing was easy, with the blender doing most of the work.
I added mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, anchovy paste, minced garlic, Parmesan cheese, and fresh lemon juice to my blender.
I put the top on the blender and processed the ingredients until they were smooth. This took about 10 seconds.
Then, I transferred the Caesar salad dressing to a small pitcher, covered the pitcher with aluminum foil, and refrigerated the dressing.
Here’s How I Made the Wonton Cups
- For the wonton cups, I brushed the cups of a regular muffin pan with olive oil.
- Then, I pressed a wonton wrapper into each of the muffin pan cups. Finally, I brushed each of the wontons with olive oil.
- I baked the wonton cups at 350°F until they were golden brown. This took 8 to 10 minutes.
I removed the wonton cups from the oven and allowed them to cool to room temperature.
Here’s How I Made the Chicken Caesar Salad
The final step before putting the Chicken Caesar Salad Cups together was making the salad.
I added the Romaine lettuce and chicken to a bowl. Then, I poured on the Caesar salad dressing and tossed everything together.
Putting the Chicken Caesar Salad Cups Together
One of the beauties of this recipe is that the dressing, chicken, croutons, and wonton cups can be made ahead of time.
Right before serving, I made the Chicken Caesar salad and added it to the wonton cups. Then, I topped each cup with mini croutons and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Then, I sprinkled on some minced fresh parsley for added color.
The Chicken Caesar salad Cups were delicious, and the party’s hit. They were the first to disappear.
The next time you need an excellent appetizer for a party, family get-together, or any occasion, the Chicken Caesar salad cups should be at the top of your list. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can make the dressing and the wonton cups ahead of time. However, you should wait until you’re ready to serve this appetizer to mix the Romaine lettuce, chicken, and dressing for the salad, and add the salad, croutons, and parmesan cheese to the wonton cups.
Unfortunately, leftovers aren’t delicious. The reason is that the salad and the wonton cups will get soggy from the salad dressing.
I wouldn’t say I like anchovies and often omit them from the dressing, so yes, anchovies can be omitted from the dressing.
Store-bought croutons tend to be on the large size. The actual wonton cups are about 3-inches in diameter, so the large croutons would tend to dominate the appearance of this appetizer.
Unfortunately, a mini muffin pan will produce wonton cups that are just too small for the chicken Caesar salad. Therefore, you should stick to the regular size muffin pan.
Other Easy to Make Appetizers Starring the Wonton Wrapper
With the holidays just around the corner, you might consider this popular recipe for Tasty Taco Cups using wonton wrappers. Other easy-to-make appetizer recipes using wonton wrappers include:
Chicken Caesar Salad Cups
Ingredients
Caesar Salad Dressing (See Tip 1)
- 1 cup (8-ounces) mayonnaise (See Tip 2)
- 1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon anchovy paste (See Tip 3)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoons (0.5-ounces) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Wonton Cups
- 12 wonton wrappers
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
Chicken Caesar salad Cups
- 2 ½ cups Romaine lettuce, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 cup cooked chicken, cut onto small pieces (See Tip 4)
- 4 to 5 Tablespoons Caesar salad dressing (recipe above)
- 1 cup mini croutons (See Tip 5)
- 2 Tablespoons (0.5-ounces) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 Tablespoon minced fresh parsley for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Caesar Salad Dressing
- Add mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, anchovy paste, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and lemon juice to a blender. Blend on high until smooth, about 10 seconds. (See Tip 6)
- Transfer to a container; cover and refrigerate.
- Yield: 1 ¼ cups.
Wonton Cups
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Brush cups of a regular muffin pan with olive oil. Press wonton wrappers into cups of the muffin pan. Brush wontons with olive oil.
- Bake at 350°F for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven; cool to room temperature.
- Yield: 12 wonton cups.
Chicken Caesar Salad Cups
- Add Romaine lettuce and chicken to a bowl. Pour on dressing; toss to combine.
- Add Caesar salad to each of the wonton cups. Top with mini croutons and grated Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
- Yield: 12 Chicken Caesar Salad Cups.
Chula’s Expert Tips
- This is my go-to recipe for Caesar salad dressing. However, you can also use store-bought Caesar Salad dressing in this recipe. I like Ken’s Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing and Ken’s Lite Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing.
- You will have Caesar salad dressing left over.
- Use more or less anchovy paste for your individual taste.
- I like to use grilled chicken in this recipe. However, rotisserie chicken also works well. Just be sure that the chicken is cut into small pieces, no larger than ½-inch.
- Because the salad cups are only about 3-inch in diameter, the croutons should be small. I make my own by cutting a baguette into ⅜ to ½-inch cubes, tossing the bread cubes in olive oil, and baking the bread cubes at 325°F until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
- If the Caesar salad dressing seems too thick, add a teaspoon or two of water to achieve the desired consistency.
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