Chicken Caesar Wrap - Total Cafe Dupe!

Recipe: Chicken Caesar Wrap Recipe »

Skip the cafe line and make these incredible Chicken Caesar Wraps at home! Packed with crispy crumbed chicken, smoky bacon, crunchy lettuce, homemade Caesar dressing, parmesan and croutons, these jumbo wraps are perfect for lunch, meal prep or an easy dinner. Learn how to fold them like a pro for that cafe-style finish!

About This Chicken Caesar Wrap

Chicken Caesar Wraps are a hugely popular portable version of a Caesar Salad. They're jumbo wraps stuffed to the brim with chopped Chicken Caesar Salad. But did you know that you can make a cafe style Chicken Caesar Wrap at home that looks like it came from a fancy takeaway shop or cafe?

I've been making Chicken Caesar Wraps for a while now ever since trying the ones at Cross Section sandwich shop and I'm sharing with you my very, very favourite version. In this version we use crumbed chicken tenderloins and a homemade Caesar dressing. I know, crumbed tenderloins? But hear me out...I tried this chicken caesar wrap with a chicken schnitzel because that was all I had and it blew my mind it was so delicious. I always have a box of those dinky little crumbed tenderloins somewhere in the back of my freezer and they oven bake or air fry up perfectly (because we don't need to be deep frying as well).

This is based on my chicken caesar pinwheel recipe that I love taking along to picnics!

And don't worry, the homemade Caesar dressing takes less than 5 minutes to make and is roughly based on a great one by Once Upon a Chef.

Why You'll Love This Chicken Caesar Wrap

❤️ Chicken Caesar wraps can be a bit hit or miss. But when you make it at home you'll give it all the flavours that you'll love from crunchy chicken, crispy bacon, onion, parmesan and a homemade Caesar dressing you'll love!

❤️ This wrap is BIG. It's a jumbo sized wrap around 7cm/2.7inch in diameter. You'll be amazed how much salad we fit into this. It's basically a large bowl of Caesar salad!

❤️ Making your own wraps at home is so much better for the budget than buying them - a chicken caesar wrap is around $20 each from a cafe!

❤️ You can dress them with as much dressing as you like or serve them with dressing sauce to dip it in!

I love Caesar salads and if you do too, try this Caesar salad soup recipe next!

Video How To Make A Chicken Caesar Wrap

Video: Chicken Caesar Wrap Recipe

Ingredients For Chicken Caesar Wrap

Chicken - I use those frozen crumbed chicken tenderloins/schnitzel or cooked chicken breast from a rotisserie chicken.

Bacon - streaky bacon, around 2 rashers.

Parmesan cheese - Parmigiano reggiano or grana padano also works.

Red onion - We use red onion as it is best for eating raw.

Croutons - I make my own croutons by cutting slices of sourdough into cubes and toasting them under the grill on medium heat. I find pre-made croutons have no real flavour to them.

Baby cos lettuce - I like baby cos but regular cos lettuce or iceberg can also work.

Flour tortillas - Use the largest tortillas you can find (usually labelled Jumbo tortillas that come in a pack of 6 per 450g/1lb) or try making flour tortillas from scratch.

Mayonnaise - Your favourite mayo (everyone has one!)

Lemon juice - Fresh or bottled lemon juice.

Garlic cloves - Fresh garlic cloves.

Dijon mustard - I usually use Maille Dijon.

Worcestershire sauce - To give it a zingy, complex flavour.

Anchovy fillets - some people hate them, some love them so you do you! If you're on the fence, try the Caesar dressing without it, I promise it's still full of flavour.

Tips For Making A Chicken Caesar Wrap

1 - Make sure to finely chop the ingredients. This allows them to pack in tighter so that you can fit in more.

2 - I bake the chicken tenderloins along with the bacon. The bacon only needs around 10-12 minutes while the chicken needs 18 minutes.

3 - While the chicken and bacon are baking, I mix up the Caesar dressing. Yup, I always bake bacon as I hate it spitting when pan frying!

4 - You can also use chicken breast from a rotisserie chicken. Sometimes I prefer this but other times I prefer crumbed chicken tenderloins-it depends on my mood and what I have to hand.

5- Cut the croutons to small cubes and toast until crunchy. You want to get a bit of crunch in every bite.

6 - The key to being able to encase that much salad is having a supple, soft tortilla. To do this, spray a tortilla lightly with water and microwave for 20-25 seconds on high or steam in a steamer. It should be very floppy and pliable.

7 - You can serve them with extra dipping sauce. Just add a tablespoon of water to 1/2 cup of Caesar dressing to make it more dippable.

Chicken Caesar Wrap Recipe

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Recipe Overview

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Makes: 2 jumbo wraps

Ingredients Needed

For Wraps

• Choose one: 300g/10.6oz crumbed chicken tenderloins/schnitzel or cooked chicken breast
• 90g/3oz streaky bacon
• 90g/3oz grated parmesan cheese plus extra parmesan for grating at the end.
• 30g/1oz red onion, finely diced
• 30g/1oz croutons
• 160g/5.6oz baby cos lettuce
• Caesar dressing see below
• 2x Jumbo flour tortillas

Caesar dressing

• 225g/8oz mayonnaise
• 40g/1.4oz finely grated parmesan cheese
• 30ml/1fl oz lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 anchovy fillet, mashed (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Step-By-Step Instructions

Step 1 COOK - Preheat oven to 180C/350F fan forced or 200C/400F conventional. Lay out crumbed chicken and bacon next to each other. Remove bacon after 10 minutes and tenderloins after 18 minutes. Allow to cool off a bit. If using cooked chicken breast, skip this step and just chop up the chicken breast.

Step 2 DRESSING - While they are cooking, make the dressing. In a bowl whisk the mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, garlic, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and anchovy fillet (if using) together. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Step 3 CHOP - Chop up the chicken and the bacon on an extra large chopping board and place in a bowl. Then chop up the lettuce and place the chopped chicken, bacon, onion and grated parmesan on top. Add caesar dressing and chop finely with a chef's knife - the amount of Caesar dressing depends on personal preference - I never feel the need to add all of it but some people prefer it with more dressing. Then add in the croutons. Note: if you don't have an extra large chopping board do this in two lots as the mixture is large.

Step 4 WRAP - Make one wrap at a time. Spray 1 flour tortilla lightly with water on both sides and microwave for 20-25 seconds until floppy and pliable. Place on a surface and add half of the total mixture to the centre of the wrap into a rectangular shape. It will look like way too much to fit but it will. Bring in the sides and the front flap closest to you and roll it into a sausage. Note: watch the video above to show you how to roll the wrap up.Place on a sheet of wax paper and roll up. Cut in half and grate parmesan over the top. Repeat with the second tortilla.

Substitution notes:

Try using shaved turkey as a filling instead of chicken!

Personal Note

We were both enjoying these wraps for lunch when I got an urgent text from our friend Miss America. We had seen him and Queen Viv the night before and dropped them off at their respective homes.

Miss America asked if we could have a look in the back of our car to see if there was any cash there. He had given Queen Viv an envelope full of cash to pay for their accommodation for their upcoming holiday. Mr NQN went out to check the car and he found a large amount of bills fanned out across the floor of the car.

If someone had peered into the car to steal something they would have probably broken the window because the cash was clearly visible. He counted it up and I told Miss America that cash was safe. Mr NQN put it away but I hate having cash lying around. So as soon as we could, we dropped that cash off to Queen Viv!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you hate having cash lying around? Have you ever tried these jumbo chicken caesar wraps?