Asian Chicken Salad Wonton Cups

These Asian chicken salad wonton cups are perfect bite-sized appetizers to serve at your parties. The chicken salad filling is bright and flavorful, and the wonton cups provide a nice crunch.

Thank you Safeway for sponsoring this post!

Planning food and drink for holiday parties can be exhausting. Kitchen space is usually limited because something is baking in the oven and all the burners on the stove are occupied. I have a number of gatherings coming up in the next few months, and I am desperately looking for food inspiration.

Thankfully, Safeway invited me to their blogger tour at Cobram Estate last month to visit Cobram Estate’s olive harvest and to gather more ideas for holiday entertaining.

Based in the Sacramento Valley, Cobram Estate produces some of my favorite extra-virgin olive oils. October is the heart of harvest season at Cobram Estate. Starting early in the morning, the olives are picked from their groves and transported to the manufacturing facility in Woodland, California. 

Like apples, olives oxidize quickly. To ensure a high quality olive oil, Cobram Estate crushes the olives within 6 hours of picking. Once the olives are crushed, the process of extracting extra-virgin olive oil begins. This involves separating the oil from the crushed olives and using large tanks to extract excess moisture from the oil, moisture that originated from the olive fruit.

During the tour, we were treated to a delicious lunch prepared by Cobram Estate’s chef-at-large, Chef Kevin O’Connor. Some of the dishes included flatbread with turkey, melted brie, and a grape conserve, roasted delicata squash with pancetta, and a parfait with Boar’s Head chocolate dessert hummus and Cobram Estate’s extra-virgin olive oil!

Cobram Estate, Boar’s Head, and DASANI also put together an epic grazing table and mocktail bar for us to feast on. The grazing table featured Boar’s Head cured meat, cheeses, and hummus. The table spread highlighted how easy it is to create an a nice charcuterie board for guests with some quality meat, cheeses, and dips.

DASANI’s mocktail bar is also a great idea for parties. All you need to do is chill a few flavors of DASANI sparkling (my favorites are the Lime and Tropical Pineapple) and a selection of juice. Then, cut up some fruit, and you can have guests assemble their own non-alcoholic beverage. It’s so easy and stress free! 

HOW TO MAKE MINI WONTON CUPS

Inspired by the food I tasted during the Safeway blogger tour, I developed these Asian Chicken Salad Wonton Cups as an easy recipe for holiday entertainment. The beauty of this recipe is that you can prepare all the elements ahead of time and assemble it the day of your gathering.

For the wonton cups, I am using square wonton wrappers that I bought from Safeway. To begin, you brush several wonton wrappers with olive oil, stack them up, and slice the wrappers diagonally.  You should end up with 2 stacks of triangular wonton wrappers.

Then, take a triangular piece of wonton wrapper with the longest side (hypotenuse) facing up. Make a small pinch in the middle and gather up the two top corners together to shape a wonton cup (see photos or video below for reference). 

Press the bottom of the wonton cup into a hole of a mini muffin pan to flatten it. Bake the wonton cups at 350ºF for 10 to 12 minutes, until the top edges are golden brown. Repeat this process until you get about 72 wonton cups. I bake 2 dozen of the wonton cups at a time with two mini muffin pans. 

You can make these wonton cups up to 3 days ahead. Make sure to store them in a dry container that is sealed tightly.

ASIAN CHICKEN SALAD

For the Asian chicken salad, I am using Boar’s Head’s Golden Classic® Oven Roasted Chicken Breast. The chicken meat is well-seasoned and lower in sodium. You will want thick slices of the chicken for this recipe. When you go to your Safeway deli counter, make sure to ask the Safeway assistant to slice the meat 1/4-inch thick. That will make it easier for you to chop the chicken into cubes for the salad.

You can prepare the salad a day ahead, but make sure that you keep the salad and the dressing in separate containers until you are ready to serve. If you dress the salad too early, the vegetables will turn soggy. 

Serve these with DASANI Sparkling, Lime!

WHAT HOW TO MAKE WONTON CUPS

Asian Chicken Salad Wonton Cups

Halve the recipe to make a smaller batch. You can bake the wonton cups up to 3 days ahead. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature. The salad can be prepared a day ahead, but keep the salad and dressing in separate containers until you are ready to serve.

• Author: Lisa Lin
• Prep Time: 45 minutes
• Cook Time: 35 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Yield: 72 mini wonton cups

Ingredients

Wonton Cups

• 36 square wonton wrappers
• 2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Asian Chicken Salad

• 1/2 pound cooked chicken
• 1 1/2 cups shredded red cabbage (see note 1)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded green cabbage
• 1 large carrot, peeled
• 2 stalks of scallions, thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup)
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (see note 2)
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

Other Equipment

• 2 12-count mini muffin pans
• 1 large sheet pan

Instructions

Prepare Wonton Cups

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Position an oven rack to the center position.
2. Take one of the wonton wrappers and brush a thin layer of olive oil on one side. Flip it over and brush oil on the other side. Lay another wonton wrapper on top of the first wrapper. Brush olive oil over the second wonton wrapper. The other side of the wrapper will be greased when it comes in contact with the first wrapper. 
3. Continue stacking and brushing the wonton wrappers with oil until you get a stack of 5 wrappers. 
4. Cut the stack of wrappers diagonally so that you get 2 stacks of triangles. 
5. Then, take a triangular piece of wonton wrapper with the longest side (hypotenuse) facing up. Make a small pinch in the middle and gather the two top corners together to form a cup (see photos or video above for reference). Make sure there is no gap when you are shaping the wonton cups.
6. Press the bottom of the wonton cup into a hole of a mini muffin pan to flatten it. 
7. Continue shaping the wontons until you have filled all the holes with the wonton cups.
8. Place the muffin pans over the baking sheet. This way, the muffin pans won’t drop into the oven rack or get stuck.
9. Bake the wonton cups for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.
10. Let the wonton cups cool for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. You may notice that the wonton cups look powdery. That’s just excess starch from the wonton wrappers. 
11. Continue baking 2 more batches of wonton cups until you get 72 total. 

Prepare Chicken Salad

1. Dice the chicken into 1/4-inch cubes. Transfer the chicken cubes to a mixing bowl.
2. Add the shredded red cabbage, green cabbage, carrots, scallions, and sesame seeds. Toss everything together.
3. In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, honey, olive oil, vinegar, ginger, garlic, and sesame oil. Stir until the honey completely dissolves.
4. Drizzle the dressing over the chicken and vegetables. Toss everything together. 
5. Spoon the chicken salad into the baked wonton cups. Serve.

Notes

1. For easier prep, you can substitute the red cabbage, cabbage, and carrots with 4 cups of packaged coleslaw mix. I recommend giving the vegetable a few rough chops so that they can fit into the wonton cups.
2. You can also use a clove of grated garlic for this though it is quite strong. If your guests don’t mind a bit of garlic breath, go for it!

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Safeway. You can find all the ingredients for this post at your local Safeway or purchase them through Safeway Home Delivery.

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