This chicken Caesar wrap is a crowd winner. Full protein snack or meal that’s flavorful, healthy and ready in no time. Make it for your next casual dinner party, a lunch crowd or for a picnic. Easy to make ahead and anytime you want a fresh, bold tasting treat. But salads usually aren’t easy to eat on-the-go. We’ve come up with a chicken Caesar wrap for on-the-go that will blow you away.
It’s got the crispiness of croutons (without the croutons) and the tang of a classic Caesar salad with a toned-down taste. AND our chicken Caesar wrap is easy to eat on-the-go. How you ask?
How To Make Chicken Caesar Wrap For On-The-Go
To appeal to a greater audience, I’ve kept the usual anchovies out of the Caesar salad dressing and reduced the amount of garlic. You can make the Caesar salad dressing up to a week ahead of time and keep in the refrigerator. Do not toss with the greens until you are ready to eat.
To get this meal on the table in under 30 minutes you’ll want to follow my steps in order. Look at our Make Ahead Tips below too. This is a meal or snack that you can prepare on Sunday and serve later in the week.
Chicken Caesar Wrap Cooking, Mixing and Assembly Order.
First make the dressing and set aside.
Second, salt and pepper the chicken then sauté the chicken in a pan over medium heat until cooked through. Set aside on a cutting board, tented loosely with foil to rest before cutting into bite size pieces.
Third you’ll make the double decker taco shells. Use the same pan as the chicken, but wipe out with a paper towel. It’s fine to have a little residual oil and chicken essence left in the pan.
Spread about a tablespoon of mayo in the center of a flour tortilla, leaving about 1” border. Place tortilla in the pan over medium-high heat to get a nice golden color. Sprinkle shredded Parmesan cheese over the mayo. It will only take about 30 seconds to a minute. You aren’t cooking the tortilla, just warming it.
Remove to a baking tray, place crispy taco shell in middle of the flour tortilla and fold and press so that the two shells become glued together.
If not eating right away, then I place a fork inside the taco shell to keep it from closing up and leaving a narrow opening for filling the chicken Caesar wrap. Then cover with foul and keep warm in a 200 degree oven for up to an hour.
Fourth, toss the Caesar salad with the Caesar dressing. Shake the dressing. You can toss like a regular salad or follow my detailed directions. It doesn’t take any longer but will season your salad like a restaurant does it.
Place half of the lettuce in a big bowl. Sprinkle with a couple pinches of kosher salt (or flaky sea salt), a few twists of the pepper grinder. Add remaining lettuce and repeat.
In a separate large bowl add ¼ of the dressing in the bottom of the bowl, then add ½ the seasoned lettuce. Toss with your clean hands or with tongs. Repeat. You will probably have half of the Caesar dressing left for another dinner, but it depends on how much dressing you like on your salad.
Fifth and last is the assembly. Fill the warm double decker shells with 1/8 of the Caesar salad, top with 1/8 of the sliced chicken, and then top with additional Parmesan cheese. Serve with lemon wedges.
Delicious chicken Caesar Wrap!
Tips and Make Ahead Ideas For Chicken Caesar Wraps For On-The-Go
Caesar Salad Dressing – Make up to a week before and store in the refrigerator. Shake well or whisk before dressing the salad.
If you need to mix the dressing and greens early, say for a party, I wouldn’t do it any sooner than an hour before you eat. The good thing with Caesar salad is that if you use the Romaine heart (the crunchy inner pieces of lettuce) they will stand up to the dressing longer than the outer more delicate leaves.
If you use strictly the inner leaves you can get away with dressing the chicken Caesar salad wrap up to 2 hours ahead of time. If using the outer leaves as well then try to dress the salad as close to eating time as possible.
If you have all the ingredient layers prepared beforehand, then assembly really doesn’t take very long. Probably 30 seconds to a minute per chicken Caesar salad wrap.
Romaine Lettuce – Wash, prep and store Romaine lettuce for up to a week. Yes you can actually do this on Sunday and have fresh lettuce ready to eat every night of the week. Just separate the leaves, wash or soak in water, dry in a salad spinner. Then tear the lettuce leaves into bite size pieces. Wrap in paper towels or a clean dishcloth and place in a large resealable baggie or glass storage container. Keeps in the refrigerator for about a week.
Double Decker Taco Shells – If you want to have the delicious warm (tortilla and taco shells) and cold (salad) combo then you’ll want to make the double decker wrap as you are serving. You can warm the flour tortillas in a skillet, then spread with the mayo mixture and add the inner corn taco shell. Place on a baking tray, cover with foil and keep warm in a 200 degree oven for up to an hour. I’ve kept it in the oven longer, but the longer you do this the soggier the corn tortilla will become. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, you’ll just lose some of the crunch.
The good part of the hard taco shell becoming moister is that the shell will bend more easily and allow a larger opening for filling your chicken Caesar wrap.
Grilled Chicken – You can make the grilled chicken up to 3, maybe 4 days early and keep in the refrigerator in a sealed container. Make sure not to overcook the chicken since you’ll be reheating it.
To reheat, ideally let the chicken come to room temperature for about an hour on the kitchen counter. Not necessary but you are less likely to overcook the chicken when reheating. Wrap chicken in foil and put in the oven to reheat with your Double Decker taco shells.
The chicken Caesar wrap is a great way to use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken.
Why Use The Double Decker Taco Shell Method For Our Chicken Caesar Wrap?
We use the double decker wrap method that Taco Bell made famous. We use a crunchy corn taco shell wrapped in a soft flour tortilla with a mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese spread as glue to keep the two shells together.
This double decker wraps serve two purposes. First it keeps the Caesar salad nice and neat in the taco shell without breaking and second it adds a crunch like croutons. And best yet, this method makes it easy to eat Caesar salad on-the-go.
If you just use a crunchy taco shell, then the shell tends to break and crack and send the inner ingredients spilling all over you. The soft flour tortilla keeps the ingredients inside and off your clothes.
Chicken Caesar Wrap For On-The-Go
Ever tried to eat Caesar salad on the go? Our chicken Caesar Wrap is the perfect on-the-go, protein packed, healthy and easy lunch or snack for the office, the lunch box or a picnic.
Ingredients
- 3 Medium Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large head of Romaine washed, dried and torn into bite size pieces
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 8 six inch flour tortillas
- 8 hard taco shells
Dressing (you’ll only need about 1/2 the dressing)
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice about 1 lemon plus extra wedges for garnish
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 large egg, optional or 1 Tablespoon or mayo or leave out
Mayonnaise Mixture
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
Instructions
Dressing (can be made up to a week ahead of time and kept refrigerated)
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In a blender, a bowl with a whisk or in a cruet, add all of the dressing ingredients and mix well. If not using right away make sure to mix again before dressing the salad.
Chicken
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Salt and pepper the chicken on both sides. A pinch of kosher salt per side of chicken and a grind or two or pepper. Add a Tablespoon of canola oil to a skillet over medium heat. After a minute add the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes per side.
Flip and cook another 4-5 minutes, until cooked through but still moist. Cut into the thickest part and make sure that there is no raw meat in the center of the chicken (if you have an instant read thermometer it should read 180 degrees).
When cooked, remove the chicken to a cutting board and lightly tent with foil for at least 5 minutes. Then cut into bite size pieces.
Double Decker Shells
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Wipe the chicken pan out with a paper towel, a little residual oil leftover is fine, actually better.
Spread about a tablespoon of mayonnaise on the center of the flour tortilla, leaving a 1” border plain.
Lay the flour tortilla in the hot pan (mayo side up), sprinkle with 1 Tablespoon shredded Parmesan cheese. It will only take about 30 seconds to a minute to lightly brown. Use the tip of a spatula to keep checking for a light golden brown color so that you don’t overcook the tortilla.
Remove the flour tortilla to a baking tray. Lay a crispy corn taco shell on one half of the flour tortilla, fold over and press the flour tortilla onto the corn shell. Place a fork or spoon sideways in the corn taco shell to keep the edges from falling together. Otherwise you’ll have a narrow opening for your Caesar salad and chicken. Repeat for the 8 tortillas.
Keep the baking tray full of the Double Decker Shells, lightly covered with foil, in a 200 degree oven until ready to eat.
Toss The Caesar Salad (you can just toss with dressing or follow the “restaurant way” below
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Put in ½ the lettuce and sprinkle with 2 pinches kosher salt or flaky sea salt. Add remaining lettuce and repeat with salt.
Pour ¼ cup of the dressing into the bottom of a large bowl. Add ½ the lettuce and sprinkle with 2 pinches kosher salt or flaky sea salt and ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese. Toss with tongs until the leaves are coated.
Add the remaining lettuce and repeat with salt. Add a ¼ cup more dressing and toss again. You’ll have ½ the dressing left for another salad or use. Taste, you may want to add additional salt and pepper.
Assembly
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Fill the Double Decker Shells with an 1/8 of the Caesar salad. Top with an 1/8 of the sliced chicken pieces. Serve with extra Parmesan cheese and lemon wedges. Delicious!
Recipe Notes
Ready in under 30 minutes if you follow the steps in order: To get this meal on the table in under 30 minutes you’ll want to follow my steps in order. Look at our Make Ahead Tips below too. This is a meal or snack that you can prepare on Sunday and serve later in the week.
Optional but good step: Unroll the chicken thigh and you’ll see that there is typically one end that is much thicker than the other. Place chicken thighs in a freezer zip lock bag and pound lightly with a rolling pin or heavy pan. By lightly pounding the thicker end you can get the chicken thighs the same height which will make the chicken cook more evenly.
Tip: Best to bring the chicken to room temperature by leaving on the countertop for 30 – 60 minutes, not necessary but will cook better.
Make Ahead: Dressing can be made up to a week ahead and kept in the refrigerator.
Greens can be washed, dried and torn a week ahead. Wrap in dry paper towels or a clean dishcloth, place in a container or resealable bag in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator.
Chicken can be cooked up to 3 days prior and kept in a container in the refrigerator.
See post for other tips and tricks
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I never thought about doing this. Making a taco is the perfect way to bring chicken Caesar salad for lunch at the office.
And the tortilla takes the place of croutons! We love it this way too.
Love one-handed meals. This website is great for that and the helpful tips at the beginning of all the recipes are SO helpful! This is another winner. Always, flavor, always suggestions for other ways to tweak it. Just LOVE this site!
Thanks for the kind words Libby! These Chicken Caesar Wraps are so good and very easy.