Chicken Caesar Wrap

Make bacon chicken Caesar wraps for a quick and easy lunch, dinner, or meal on the go! Enjoy chicken, bacon, lettuce, and tangy Caesar dressing all wrapped up in soft flour tortillas.

It’s no shocker that quality meat takes up a big portion of the grocery budget. That’s one reason why I like to make salads.

We can fill that big salad bowl with greens, veggies, and all sorts of nuts and seeds and get away with not having to add much meat.

By the way, this is my favorite easy dinner salad recipe. We made it ALL THE TIME on the Whole30.

But what if you need the budget-saving goodness of a salad AND something a bit more substantial…something that will hold the teenagers over for at least an hour or two?

Easy peasy – you add bacon and a tortilla to that salad and make a bacon chicken Caesar wrap!

EASY BACON CHICKEN CAESAR WRAP

Before you think this is a glorified salad sandwiched into a deliciously puffy and soft tortilla… well, it is. And it’s awesome!

When might you want to make a bacon chicken Caesar wrap?

• When you have extra Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing
• For a quick lunch
• When it’s a million degrees outside and you don’t want to heat up the house
• For a picnic
• When you have leftover chicken Caesar salad
• For a picnic at the pool (← YES!)
• When you’re having company and need to get dinner ready ahead of time (DIY assembly!)
• When you want a salad because you went overboard on vacation, but you don’t feel like eating a salad

Yep – I’m sold. We’re having this for dinner… AGAIN!

INGREDIENTS FOR BACON CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD WRAP

Let’s break down all the goodness inside these chicken Caesar salad wraps:

CHICKEN

• Since we’re trying to be conscientious of the budget, the most frugal option is to buy a whole chicken and cook it yourself. You can cook a whole chicken in the oven or cook a whole chicken in a slow cooker or cook a whole chicken in an Instant Pot – your choice.
  • Once it’s done, you’ll want to pick off all the meat from the bones. A typical 5-pound chicken yields about 6 cups of shredded chicken.
• My standard “rule of thumb” for shredded chicken is that 2 cups is good for a family of 4 in a big salad or casserole type of dish. You can add more if you’d like, but this makes a good ratio of salad/chicken/bacon/Caesar for us.
• Freeze the leftover chicken in 2-cup portions so you only have to thaw it for a future dinner, AND don’t forget to save the chicken bones to make homemade chicken stock – via the slow cooker OR the Instant Pot – FOR FREE!
• If you don’t already have shredded chicken, you can use any boneless cut of chicken you have. I’ve tested with chicken breasts (you can cook frozen chicken breast in the Instant Pot!), but chicken thighs would be really good! A rotisserie chicken from the store works in a pinch too.
• Adding Homemade Poultry Seasoning to the cooked chicken really takes the flavor up a notch!

BACON

• I know we all love bacon, but bacon isn’t cheap, especially if you’re concerned about nitrates. Even worse if you want sugar-free bacon!
  • I tested two versions of these wraps. The first had the “bare minimum bacon” (i.e. 2 pieces per wrap) and the second had the “all-out bacon” (i.e. a 12-ounce package for my husband and me).
  • While having a whole package of nitrate-free bacon was DELICIOUS, it wasn’t necessary. I don’t think you can ever (EVER!) have too much bacon, but it did skew the ratio of salad/chicken/bacon/Caesar I was aiming for.
• Stick with 2 pieces per chicken and bacon wrap and you’ll get the most you can out of every package of bacon, nitrate-free or otherwise.

CAESAR DRESSING.

• Hands down, you need to make my Homemade Caesar Dressing. It’s the best there is, and it doesn’t have any questionable ingredients in it.
  • Plus, you can make it in under 6 minutes: 2 minutes for Failproof Homemade Mayo and 4 for Caesar dressing.
  • We’ve been making Caesar dressing for YEARS and we love it. My family won’t even eat store-bought Caesar anymore!
• Don’t worry – we’re not spending EONS drizzling oil here… we’re using a blender (I have a Blendtec). Most of those 6 minutes are spent scooping or measuring or draining or holding the lid on the blender so you don’t get anchovies on the ceiling. Not that I would know anything about that…
• Substitute Ranch Dressing instead if you aren’t a fan of Caesar.

SALAD/LETTUCE

• You can go classic with this recipe and use romaine lettuce, but I find that unless I slice the lettuce super thin, the romaine is too big and bulky for me.
• I much prefer the salad mixture blends that have baby kale, baby spinach, and spring greens all mixed up. The spring lettuce is soft (which I LOVE in wraps) and the kale and spinach make me feel like I’m doing something healthy for myself.
  • I mean, I AM eating a salad… but I’ll take all those little “good job eating healthy” nudges I can get!
• You can’t go wrong with any type of lettuce or salad, so pick one that you enjoy that you can use in multiple meals. In fact, Kale Caesar Salad is one of my favorite variations of this meal!

THE WRAP

• Homemade Tortillas are not only cheap, but they’re hands down the best thing that will ever come out of your kitchen.
• When I’m making tortillas for wraps, I like to make them a little thicker than when I do for tacos. I usually use a kitchen scale and measure 1 oz of dough per tortilla and simply don’t roll them quite as big for wraps.
• Homemade tortillas freeze WONDERFULLY, so make a ton and put them up for later when you don’t feel like cooking. And if later = tomorrow, I won’t judge.
• I’ve made homemade tortillas with all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, einkorn, kamut, and spelt and blends of these. They all come out delicious! (Even these Gluten-Free Cassava Flour Tortillas are great!)
• If you’re buying tortillas, whole wheat tortillas or spinach wraps are a good way to go.

OPTIONAL GARNISHES

To make your bacon chicken Caesar wraps even more delicious, you can also add diced tomatoes, green onions, avocado, or freshly grated Parmesan cheese – things you might typically find in a classic Caesar salad.

HOW TO MAKE RECIPE FOR CHICKEN CAESAR WRAPS

Follow these easy instructions for chicken Caesar wraps!

Step 1. Cook the bacon in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-low heat. You want to cook the bacon thoroughly, but not burn it. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked bacon onto a paper towel-lined plate. Do not drain the bacon grease and do not turn down the heat.

Step 2. Cook the chicken. Meanwhile, place the chicken on a cutting board. Either filet the breast in half OR pound the chicken using a meat hammer. You want the pieces of chicken to have the same thickness all the way around, so they cook evenly. Then, season both sides liberally with Poultry Seasoning.

Place the chicken in the same skillet and let it cook undisturbed for about 4 minutes.

Flip the chicken over and cook until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink, about 3-4 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside to cool slightly before slicing.

Alternatively, use 2 cups of previously cooked shredded chicken.

Step 3. Prepare the Caesar dressing if you haven’t already.

Step 4. Warm the tortillas slightly in a microwave to make them more pliable and easier to fill.

Step 5. Assemble the recipe for chicken wraps as desired and enjoy!

SERVING CHICKEN AND BACON WRAPS

There are several different ways you can assemble these chicken and bacon wraps.

• You can mix everything up in a large bowl and set it out with a plate of tortillas.
• Place each ingredient in a different bowl and each person assembles their own.
• Or you can fully assemble a bunch of wraps and watch your family flock to the table for dinner.
• These bacon chicken Caesar wraps are super flexible for picky eaters too, so if someone doesn’t want chicken or doesn’t want Caesar or doesn’t want bacon, they can leave it off their wrap without everyone else missing out.
• You could even serve the salad toasted bread for sandwiches if you’re out of tortillas or need to have options at the table.

CHICKEN CAESAR WRAP RECIPE FAQS

MORE EASY LUNCH RECIPES

• Ridiculously Easy Potato Skins
• Italian Pasta Salad
• Southwest Chicken Salad
• Stovetop Mac & Cheese
• Homemade Ramen Noodle Soup