Gluten Free Chicken Caesar Salad Wraps

Please share!

My hubby came home from work a few weeks ago telling me about the Chicken Caesar Wrap he had for lunch, and he suggested I create a gluten free version. Challenge accepted, sir! I immediately ran to the kitchen and compiled a list of everything I would need to create a delicious caesar dressing, because let’s face it, the wrap would only be as good as it’s dressing!

I gathered the basics, such as mayo, fresh parmesan, dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, anchovy paste (found near tuna in the store), lemons, and garlic. And don’t forget the salt and fresh black peppercorns in a grinder! Trust me, you’ll want to grind your peppercorns for an authentic taste rather than using finely ground black pepper for this recipe. I don’t have anything fancy, just this McCormick Black Peppercorn Grinder from my local grocery store.

So let’s talk about the ANCHOVY PASTE…it comes in a tube like toothpaste and can be stored in the fridge after it has been opened. It sounds disgusting, but it is essential to Caesar dressing. You could use canned whole anchovies instead, and melt them down in a skillet…yes, they disintegrate when cooked in hot olive oil and become infused with the oil. But it’s much easier and less expensive to squeeze the little tube and store the rest in your fridge for future use.

Now let’s get into the PARMESAN. Parmesan cheese is a major component of Caesar dressing, and for the best flavor, you’ll want to buy a wedge of fresh parmesan and grate it yourself. It sounds taxing, but it’s much easier than you think, and you’ll be able to shave a few slices off the same block for garnish. If you choose to buy the pre-grated stuff, choose one without added ingredients like cellulose. Boar’s Head makes a great parmesan that doesn’t have any unnecessary ingredients…it’s pricey, but it’s worth every penny! To grate parmesan yourself, you’ll need a hand grater. And to shave off a few slices for garnish, I just use a vegetable peeler!

When it comes to LEMON JUICE, nothing is better than the real thing. So grab a lemon from the grocery store and and get to squeezing! I use a citrus squeezer to make sure I get the most juice I can from the lemon, and it filters the seeds out for me. If you choose to buy a store-bought lemon juice, which I don’t recommend, do NOT opt for ReaLemon because it contains sulphites and lemon oil which lead to an artificial taste. If you can’t imagine squeezing a lemon and simply must use the bottled stuff, Santa Cruz Organic Pure Lemon Juice is the only one I would recommend because the only ingredient is organic lemon juice. But for the sake of flavor in this dressing, I urge you to just buy a lemon and squeeze it!

GARLIC is one ingredient where fresh is best, but minced garlic in a jar works too. So either way you go here, you can’t go wrong!

DIJON MUSTARD tends to have added ingredients, but I have found that the grocery’s generic brand doesn’t, so that’s what I go for. It’s cheap, good quality, and delicious!

WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE is hard to pronounce, but it add so much flavor to salad dressings! Lea & Perrins is my favorite brand because it says Gluten Free right on the bottle!

Let’s face it, EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL can be expensive! But some brands are actually worth the added price tag because they offer an unbeatable flavor. For this recipe, any extra virgin olive oil will do. You don’t have to break the bank to get good quality here!

If you ask me, there’s no MAYO like Duke’s Mayo, but please feel free to use your favorite mayo for this recipe since the mayo is the base! Hellman’s Vegan Mayo is a great option if you want to make this recipe egg free. Some Caesar recipes call for oil and egg yolks as the base, but I prefer a creamy Caesar and use mayo as the base…and it tastes amazing!

You’ll start by making the dressing…

For the Caesar Dressing:

• 1 cup mayo
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon anchovy paste
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Juice from 1 lemon

Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl and stir to combine; it’s that simple!

Now it’s time to prepare the chicken. To be honest, you can use rotisserie chicken or frozen chicken or any cooked chicken you like. I grilled thin boneless chicken breasts for 5 minutes on each side after I seasoned them with garlic salt and pepper, and they turned out perfectly! Then I cut them into strips to assemble them on the wraps.

You can use whatever gluten free tortilla you like for this recipe, but I don’t recommend using corn tortillas. Mission Gluten Free Tortillas and Siete Almond Flour Tortillas are my favorites. The Mission ones are larger so you can fit more on them, but I used the Siete ones this time. Gluten free tortillas have a “gummy” texture to them, but if you pop them into a 350 degree oven for about 3 minutes, the texture changes to more of what you’d expect from a flour tortilla!

In a small mixing bowl, toss together about 1 cup Romaine lettuce, that has been rinsed and cut, with 2 tablespoons of dressing. Arrange lettuce toward one end of the tortilla and top with 4 ounces sliced chicken.

Using a vegetable peeler, peel off a few strips of parmesan cheese from the parmesan wedge and place on top of the chicken.

Starting at the end with the filling closest, carefully roll the tortilla, keeping the filling inside. Slice wrap in half and serve!

Multiply recipe for the number of wraps you wish to make! The dressing will make a lot of wraps, so you’ll only need to multiple the amount of tortillas and lettuce! Store leftover dressing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.