So let’s talk about Applebee’s Chicken Wonton Tacos — those tangy little bites of goodness. I was craving them, Zach had never tried them, so naturally that meant I had to make them. Rather than wing it and assume I had the flavors right, we decided to turn it into a CopyCaturday situation – Applebee’s Chicken Wonton Tacos Copycat!
This week’s CopyCaturday experiment turned into a full side-by-side test: takeout versus homemade, cooked at the exact same time. The goal was simple — figure out whether making Applebee’s Chicken Wonton Tacos from scratch was actually worth the effort.
Spoiler: We didn’t expect the homemade version to win.
Applebee’s Chicken Wonton Tacos Copycat
CopyCat Applebee's Chicken Wonton Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast cut into small pieces
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup stir fry sauce
- 1/4 cup sesame ginger dressing
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 cup thinly sliced cabbage
- 1/4 cup shredded carrots
- 2 Tbsp sesame ginger dressing
- 10 wonton wrappers
- vegetable oil for frying
- fresh cilantro
- lime wedge
Instructions
- Grab a bowl and toss in your chicken pieces, then pour in the stir fry sauce, sesame ginger dressing, soy sauce, and a bit of brown sugar. Give it a good mix so everything's coated. Let the chicken hang out in the fridge for about half an hour to soak up all those flavors.1 lb chicken breast, 1/2 cup stir fry sauce, 1/4 cup sesame ginger dressing, 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- To make the wonton taco shells, grab a deep frying pan and pour in enough vegetable oil so it’s about 2 inches deep. Get it good and hot—around 350°F if you have a thermometer. Take each wonton wrapper and lightly fold it into a triangle (no need to pinch the edges closed). Drop them in the oil and fry until they're crisp and golden, flipping halfway through. Once they're done, set them on a plate lined with paper towels so any extra oil gets soaked up. Keep going until all your wontons are fried.10 wonton wrappers, vegetable oil
- Thinly slice the cabbage and carrots, then toss them together in a bowl. Add the sesame ginger dressing, mix everything well, cover, and chill in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve.1 cup thinly sliced cabbage, 1/4 cup shredded carrots, 2 Tbsp sesame ginger dressing
- Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add the marinated chicken and cook until it's fully cookedthrough and caramelized with the marinade, creating a savory glaze2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- Build your taco! Place cooked chicken in fried wonton, then add slaw mixture on top. Garnish with fresh cilantro and lfreshly squeezed lime juicefresh cilantro, lime wedge
- Enjoy!!
Homemade Sesame Ginger Dressing
Sesame Ginger Dressing
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 6 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 Tbsp sesame oil
- 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
- 6 Tbsp honey
- 2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 4 Tbsp water
- 2 tsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in bowl and mix until combined.
Notes
💰 What Did It Cost to Make?
Our cost: $10.06 for 10 tacos ($1.01 each)
Their cost: $12 for 4 tacos ($3 each)
Comparison: We saved $2 per taco and ours actually came with the slaw.
Applebee’s Chicken Wonton Tacos Copycat — CopyCaturday Edition
Somewhere along the line, Instagram decided Saturdays belong to cats. We love ours — but since they mostly supervise and judge — we started CopyCaturday instead.
Every Saturday, we recreate a restaurant favorite and decide if it’s close enough to skip eating out.
The wonton shell shaping situation: We tried spatulas. We tried this weird wire spatula-tong hybrid thing. We tried regular tongs. The first 12 attempts resulted in completely closed wontons. We finally landed on a spatula-and-tongs combo that gave us “boats” instead of tacos. They were super crispy and shattered if you looked at them wrong, but they were delicious.
Applebee’s version arrived unassembled. Shells in one container. Meat in another. They included dipping sauce. That’s it. No slaw for the tacos – not even the side of coleslaw you get when you order in the restaurant. Just naked meat and shells.
Our version had the actual slaw. The homemade sesame ginger dressing. The whole thing assembled and ready to eat.
Was It a True Copycat?
We loved our version. The chicken had actual flavor – the marinade plus the sesame ginger dressing gave it that sweet-tangy kick. Applebee’s version was just spicy meat with not much else going on. Theirs was meh at best.
It might have been a takeout issue. I remember these being way better in the restaurant – dressed slaw on top, side of coleslaw, the whole experience. Takeout lost something.
Also, Applebee’s definitely doesn’t use wonton wrappers. Theirs were eggroll wrapper-sized, and they looked like they’d been fried hard – way darker than ours. We’re stealing that idea for next time. Our wonton shells were lighter and crispier.
Will We Make It Again?
Yes. It’s already on next month’s menu. We ended up with extra chicken and froze it. The marinade is so good we’re planning to use it for Asian quesadillas or make tostadas with eggroll wrappers. That versatile.
Cooking Notes for Applebee’s Wonton Tacos copycat recipe
Deep frying the wontons: We used about 2 inches of oil in a small stockpot. Getting them into taco shape was comedy gold – we gave up and made boats instead.
Pan-frying the chicken: I cut the chicken into smaller pieces while it was frying. Save yourself the trouble and cut it smaller from the start.
The rest is just prep work – making the slaw and the sesame ginger dressing.
More Copycat Recipes to Try
If you’re on the hunt for more restaurant-inspired kitchen experiments, here are a few excellent copycat recipe resources:
- Top Secret Recipes — tons of paid restaurant copycats (or get 8 free a month with a membership).
- CopyKat.com — hundreds of free recipes, plus cookbooks available on Amazon.
Some favorite cookbooks for diving deeper into copycat cooking:
Want to see what we’ll CopyCaturday next? Check out the rest of our cozy kitchen experiments in the CopyCaturday Series.