The crunch of a wonton taco shell is different from anything you get with a corn or flour tortilla. Wonton wrappers are tissue-thin, and when cooked properly they become rigid and shatter-crisp — more like a chip than a taco. The restaurant fries the shells in oil (Todd Wilbur’s Top Secret Recipes confirms this), which produces the thinnest, crispiest result. The practical home method is baking.

Turn a 9×13 baking pan upside down. Drape the wonton wrappers across the short raised edges of the inverted pan, lightly sprayed with cooking spray. This holds each wrapper in a V-curve while it bakes rigid. After 6 to 8 minutes at 375°F, the shells come out golden, structured, and ready to fill.

For the fried version: heat 2 inches of vegetable oil to 350°F. Using tongs, fold a wrapper in half and hold it in that fold while it fries — 30 to 45 seconds until golden. The tongs maintain the shape while the wrapper goes rigid. Drain on paper towels. Frying produces a slightly thinner, crispier shell than baking, but requires oil temperature management and produces more cleanup. Muffin tins produce cups rather than tacos — functional but not the right shape.

Applebee’s officially describes the chicken as “sweet Asian chile marinated grilled chicken.” The marinade that copycat consensus (Todd Wilbur, Copykat, Taste of Home) converges on is sweet chili sauce as the primary component, combined with hoisin sauce, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. Hoisin is what separates this dish from a plain teriyaki recipe — it adds a deeper, slightly fermented sweetness that the restaurant sauce clearly contains. The sweet chili sauce is not optional; it is the defining flavor of the whole dish.

Dice the chicken breast into half-inch cubes. At this size, the marinade penetrates quickly (10 minutes is enough) and the chicken cooks in two to three minutes per side. Do not cook it longer — overcooked cubed breast meat turns rubbery, and there is no amount of sauce that saves dry chicken inside a wonton shell.

The slaw is rice-vinegar based, not creamy — no mayo. The dressing is sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and fresh lime juice. It looks like barely enough to coat three cups of cabbage, but between the acid breaking down the cell walls and the sodium drawing out just a little moisture, the slaw comes together within a few minutes of tossing. Don’t dress it more than 20 minutes before serving, or it becomes too soft.

Fresh cilantro and green onions go in at the end. Both are important — the cilantro provides herbal freshness that cuts through the sweetness of the chicken, and the green onions add a mild sharpness. Neither is optional if you want the dish to taste like the restaurant.

Every assembled taco gets a drizzle of straight sweet chili sauce over the top. This is the finishing element that ties the chicken and slaw together and provides the small hit of heat that keeps the dish from being one-dimensionally sweet. Mae Ploy and Kikkoman both work well. Use a light hand — a teaspoon per taco is enough.

At Applebee’s, an order is four wonton tacos at $10.99 (July 2026, most US locations). This recipe makes 16 tacos for roughly $10 to $12 in ingredients — about $2.75 per taco at the restaurant versus $0.65 to $0.75 per taco at home. The restaurant version runs approximately 570 calories per four-taco order with around 1,550mg sodium (CalorieKing). The home version in this recipe runs approximately 460 calories per four-taco serving with less sodium because the sauce amounts are more controlled.

• Double the shells in advance. Baked shells stay crisp for several hours in a single layer. Bake all 16 at the start, then reheat for 2 to 3 minutes at 375°F if they soften.

• Add edamame to the slaw. A half cup of shelled edamame folded into the slaw adds protein and a pleasant firm bite that plays off the crisp shell.

• Use leftover rotisserie chicken. Shred it, warm it in the sweet chile sauce for 2 minutes in a skillet, and use it instead of fresh-cooked breast. This cuts prep time to about 15 minutes total.

• Make them spicier. Add sriracha to the sweet chili drizzle or a teaspoon of chili garlic sauce to the chicken marinade. The dish leans sweet by default; a sriracha drizzle instead of (or alongside) the sweet chili sauce shifts the balance toward heat.

• Shrimp version. Replace the chicken with large shrimp (21/25 count). Marinate the same way and cook 90 seconds per side — they go from translucent to opaque fast. Good for a variation if you’re serving a crowd and want variety.

The components store well separately. Cooked chicken keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days. Undressed slaw lasts 2 days. Baked shells hold for several hours at room temperature in a single layer — do not stack, and do not refrigerate (moisture makes them soggy).

The best make-ahead approach: cook the chicken and prep the slaw ingredients the night before. Bake shells the day you’re serving. Dress the slaw 15 minutes before eating. Assemble to order.