Chicken Caesar Salad Cups

Chicken Caesar Salad Cups turn a classic Caesar salad into an easy, individual appetizer. Crispy, golden-brown wonton wrappers are filled with chopped Romaine lettuce, chicken, creamy Caesar dressing, mini croutons, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

These bite-sized appetizers are perfect for game day, cookouts, holiday gatherings, and anytime gatherings.

Jump to:

• Quick Look at the Recipe
• Ingredients: Here's What You'll Need
• How to Make the Chicken Caesar Salad Cups
• PudgeFactor's Test Kitchen Tips
• In Case You Were Wondering
• Other Easy to Make Appetizers Starring the Wonton Wrapper
• Recipe

Quick Look at the Recipe

• Prep time: 30 minutes
• Cook time: 10 minutes
• Makes: 12 Chicken Caesar Salad Cups
• Difficulty: Easy
• Make-ahead friendly: Yes - Make the individual components in advance, but wait just before serving to assemble.
• Shortcuts: Use rotisserie chicken and/or store-bought Caesar dressing

Ingredients: Here's What You'll Need

• The Wonton Cups: I used store-bought wonton wrappers, brushed with olive oil.

• The Lettuce: The lettuce of choice for the salad is Romaine, cut into small pieces to fit easily into the wonton cups.

• The Chicken: I used store-bought grilled chicken in the Caesar salad. However, use rotisserie chicken or whatever chicken you have 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.

How to Make the Chicken Caesar Salad Cups

1. Make the Dressing: Add mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, anchovy paste, minced garlic, Parmesan cheese, and fresh lemon juice to the blender. Process on high until smooth. Transfer the dressing to a container, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Bake the wonton cups: Brush the cups of a regular muffin pan with olive oil. Then press a wonton wrapper into each cup of the muffin pan, and brush each wonton with olive oil. Bake at 350°F until golden brown, around 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

3. Make the mini croutons: For these appetizer cups, you need mini croutons. To make your own, cut a baguette into small cubes, around ½ inch. Toss with olive oil and bake at 325°F for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. Allow to cool completely.
4. Prepare the Chicken Caesar Salad: Add the Romaine lettuce and chicken to a bowl. Drizzle with 4 to 5 tablespoons of Caesar dressing and toss until the lettuce and chicken are lightly coated.

5. Assemble the cups: One of the beauties of this recipe is that the dressing, chicken, croutons, and wonton cups can all be made in advance. Once the Chicken Caesar Salad is made, add it to the wonton cups. Then top each cup with mini croutons and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. For added color sprinkle on minced fresh parsley.

The Chicken Caesar salad Cups are delicious and are certain to be the hit of the party.

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!

PudgeFactor's Test Kitchen Tips

This is one of those recipes where seemingly minor details can make a big difference.

• The muffin pan: Use a regular muffin pan. It produces salad cups that are large enough to hold a perfect amount of salad. A mini muffin pan would be too small.
• Focus on small: The three main ingredients - chicken, Romaine, and croutons - should all be roughly the same size, around ½ inch. Any larger and the cups could be awkward to eat.

• Go easy on the dressing: You want just enough dressing to coat the Romaine and chicken. Too much dressing can make the filling heavy and soften the cups faster.
• Wait to assemble: For the best results, avoid the temptation to assemble the cups too far in advance. You can prepare pretty much everything in advance except for dressing the salad and assembling the cups. Once the dressed salad goes into the crisp wonton cups, it's time to serve immediately.

In Case You Were Wondering

Other Easy to Make Appetizers Starring the Wonton Wrapper

If you like using wonton wrappers for easy appetizers, try some of my other favorites:

Recipe