Texas Chicken Salad with Red Pepper Jelly in Wonton Cups Recipe
In Texas, we love red pepper jelly-- a sweet and spicy jelly made with jalapenos! For this unique appetizer recipe, we make a homemade chicken salad infused with the sweet and spicy flavor of red pepper jelly. Serving the chicken salad in wonton cups makes them a party-friendly appetizer for holidays and get-togethers!
Servings 30 cups
Calories 122kcal
Ingredients
- 3 split bone-in chicken breasts
- 2 T. Olive Oil
- ½ red onion small dice
- 4 stalks celery small dice, ribs and leaves
- 2 giant handfuls of baby spinach chiffonade
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 c. mayonnaise
- 1 10. oz jar hot red pepper jelly
- 1 t. kosher salt
- ½ t. pepper
- ½ c. diced chives or green onions for garnish
- 1 package of wontons
- Spray Oil for wontons
- 1 cupcake pan
Instructions
- To Make The Wontons: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray the cupcake pan liberally with spray oil. Place one wonton in each hole. It should make a little bowl with curled edges. Spray the wontons with spray oil lightly and sprinkle with salt. Bake the wontons for 10 minutes at 350 degrees, or until golden brown. Remove pan carefully and remove wonton cups to a plate to cool. Repeat until you have the desired number of wonton cups.
- (This recipe makes a little over 1 quart of chicken salad so we usually make all of the wontons in the package and store leftover wonton cups in large ziplock baggies in the pantry if we have leftovers.)
- For The Chicken Salad: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the split chicken breasts on a foil-lined baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until juices run clear. Let the chicken cool completely.
- Once the chicken is cool to the touch, pull the chicken off of the bone, discarding the bones and skin. For the chicken either “pull it” into small strands or chop it until it is bite-sized. Add the chicken to a large bowl and chill.
- Rinse the celery well. Chop the red onion and celery into small dice. For this purpose, the leaves and stalks of the celery may be used. Add to the chilled bowl of chicken.
- To the bowl add 1 cup of good quality mayonnaise, ½ cup hot pepper jelly, 1 t. salt, ½ t. pepper, and the juice of 1 lemon. Fold this mixture until it is blended well.
- Finely slice the two handfuls of spinach into long strands like ribbons. It’s okay if they are not perfectly neat! This technique is called chiffonade and it takes a bit of time to master. For this chicken salad, the spinach will blend into the mixture so it’s a good time to practice!
- Fold the spinach into the chicken salad last and season to taste. Place into the refrigerator to chill at least 1 hour.
- To Serve: Fill each wonton cup with a heapin’ spoonful of chicken salad. Top each wonton with a small bead of hot pepper jelly for color and interest. Garnish with fresh chives, chiffonade spinach, or green onions if desired.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 122kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 158mg | Sugar: 6g