Bang Bang Chicken Wonton Cups

Wonton cups are a fantastic appetizer or game day snack that you can serve with a variety of fillings. This Kinda Healthy spin combines baked wonton wrappers with a low fat bang bang chicken to make spicy, tangy, crunchy wonton cups guaranteed to please a crowd. Each one has 8 grams of protein and only 80 calories, so you can really load up your plate.

How to Make Baked Wonton Cups

You will typically find wonton wrappers in the refrigerated produce section of grocery stores, though some products are frozen to extend shelf life. If you’re an H-E-B shopper here in Texas, I find them around the prepared fruits and vegetables on the front wall of the produce section.

You’ll want to lightly coat the wonton wrappers with cooking spray or brush with oil and dust off any excess flour before baking to avoid a chalky texture. I learned to trim the four corners for a better fit and to prevent sharp edges from Katie at Healthy Seasonal Recipes.

Since the filling makes 15 wonton cups, you’ll need a second muffin tin for an extra 3 wonton wrappers. I would actually recommend making a big batch, filling 2 muffin tins completely and maybe even making 2 batches. Then you could prepare another filling option. I’ve included a handful of alternative filling recipes in the recipe card’s notes section below.

Another push for making a bigger batch is that no matter how perfect your wonton cups look before going in the oven, I’ve found 1-2 may curl a bit too much or brown more than you’d like. Those are chef snacks. Cherish them and serve the pretty ones.

How to Make Bang Bang Ground Chicken

If you’re accustomed to bang bang chicken and shrimp recipes requiring frying before saucing, you’re in for a treat. This recipe is super simple, only requiring you to cook ground chicken and stir in a simple sauce consisting of light mayo, sriracha, chili garlic sauce, honey, cayenne pepper, and vinegar.

I adapted this sauce from a Chili Pepper Madness bang bang sauce recipe, substituting light mayo, spicy honey, and rice vinegar (for lemon juice).

If you’re not a fan of mayo, well, I’m unsure you’ll like bang bang sauce. But I suppose you could try substituting some (or maybe all) of the mayo for something like fat free Greek yogurt. I’ve not tested it, so try at your own risk.

You can’t have bang bang chicken without chicken, and in this case, ground chicken. Be sure to get some great browning on your ground chicken since it adds another layer of complex flavors and texture in an otherwise simple recipe.

For optimal browning, make sure the pan is hot before the chicken goes in, leave it untouched for the first 2-3 minutes, and gently pat the ground chicken with a paper towel before going in the pan.

You also want to incorporate the sauce while the chicken is fully cooked and hot to warm the sauce.

Assembling and Serving

This is the part where you’ll wish you broke the ground chicken into smaller pieces. It’s a bit tedious so if you have an extra pair of hands in the kitchen, I recommend enlisting their services.

If your bang bang chicken filling cools more than you’d like, you can pop the assembled wonton cups in the oven for a minute or two. Just keep an eye on them.

A simple toasted sesame seed (I used black) and sliced green onion garnish is a nice touch. I also like a dab of sweet chili sauce with my wonton cups.

If you go with another filling like buffalo chicken or taco, I would serve them with something like the ranch sauce from my spicy baked chicken tenders or creamy salsa from my baked tacos.

How to Store and Reheat Wonton Cups

The best way to store for later is refrigerating the filling on its own and the baked wonton cups in an airtight container at room temperature.

But if you’ve already assembled, these reheat better than I would have guessed. If you’re in a hurry, they somehow maintain a slight crispness even when microwaved for 45-60 seconds. But the best way to reheat is in an oven or air fryer. I use a lower temperature like 300ºF and bake for 5-10 minutes until heated through.

I’ve never had a batch make it to the freezer, but I would use the same approach, extending the bake time as needed.

All right, that should cover it. Be sure to let me know what you think about these bang bang chicken wonton cups in a recipe review. And if you have a question about the recipe I missed, leave it in the comments below.