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 fat free Greek yogurt like in the modified version of my healthy dynamite chicken. You might also like my chili crunch cottage cheese chicken salad, which would be a no-cook filling for the baked wonton cups.
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.
And for more action with this flavor profile, check out my crispy bang bang chicken bites next.
Bang Bang Chicken Wonton Cups
Ingredients
- 15 Wonton Wrappers, refrigerated or thawed from frozen
- 1 pound Ground Chicken, 97/3
- Pinch of Salt and Pepper
For the Bang Bang Sauce
- 1/2 cup 120g Light Mayo
- 1/4 cup 60g Chili Garlic Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon 15g Sriracha
- 1 Tablespoon 21g Honey
- 1 teaspoon 5g Rice Vinegar or Lemon Juice
- 1/2-1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper, to spice preference
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and spray two standard size muffin tins with cooking spray (only 3 slots on the second tin).
- Cut small pieces of all 4 corners off the wonton wrappers (to make them fit better in the tin and prevent sharp points) and dust any excess flour off. Press a wrapper into each slot.
- Spray the top of wrappers with cooking spray and bake for 8-12 minutes until golden brown. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool.
- While the wonton wrappers bake, brown the ground chicken in a skillet over medium-high heat. Break apart to fully cook, seasoning with a pinch of salt and black pepper.
- While the chicken cooks, mix the bang bang sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Once fully cooked, turn off the heat and add the sauce, stirring everything together.
- Fill the wonton cups with the chicken filling and garnish with sliced green onion and sesame seeds, if desired.
Love this one! Quick, easy and awesome flavor!
Thank you, Liane!
can you substitute something for the mayo
I mentioned fat free Greek yogurt as a potential substitute in the notes above. You could also do something like homemade vegan mayo for a low fat, plant based option.
Just made the chicken (sans wonton cups) and wow, what a flavor bomb! Loved it. Thanks!
Creamy and delicious, super flavorful sauce! Will definitely be making this again.
Sooooo good. I make them every Monday.
Can you use a boiled shredded chicken breast instead of ground, as my sister does not like the texture of ground?
Oh yeah, I think that would work great. Good idea!