Craving your favorite Cheesecake Factory dishes without the wait? Nicole’s got you covered with three delicious copycat recipes you can make right at home! In this video, she recreates three fan-favorite appetizers and snacks that taste just like the real thing—if not better.
First up, she’s making Buffalo Chicken Blasts—crispy, golden bites filled with spicy chicken and creamy cheese, served with a zesty dipping sauce. Then, she dives into Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps, a fresh and flavorful favorite packed with crunchy veggies, tender chicken, and a savory sauce. Finally, Nicole whips up Pretzel Bites with Cheese Dip, the ultimate comfort snack with a warm, gooey dip you’ll want to put on everything. Whether you're hosting a party, planning a fun dinner night, or just craving Cheesecake Factory classics, these recipes are easy, satisfying, and super fun to make.
First up, she’s making Buffalo Chicken Blasts—crispy, golden bites filled with spicy chicken and creamy cheese, served with a zesty dipping sauce. Then, she dives into Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps, a fresh and flavorful favorite packed with crunchy veggies, tender chicken, and a savory sauce. Finally, Nicole whips up Pretzel Bites with Cheese Dip, the ultimate comfort snack with a warm, gooey dip you’ll want to put on everything. Whether you're hosting a party, planning a fun dinner night, or just craving Cheesecake Factory classics, these recipes are easy, satisfying, and super fun to make.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00We all know that the menu at the Cheesecake Factory
00:02is longer than a novel.
00:03Well, I've done the work for you
00:04and picked out the three best appetizers
00:06that you can make at home.
00:07Not only will this save you time and stress
00:08from having to make decisions on that menu,
00:11but it's also gonna save you a ton of money.
00:12I'm starting with my favorite,
00:14which is the Buffalo Chicken Blast.
00:15We all love a good buffalo chicken dip at a party.
00:18Well, this comes in its own little crispy fried package
00:21and it's delicious.
00:22Because our research is thorough,
00:24we have to see what we're working with here.
00:26Now, their Buffalo Blast look amazing.
00:29However, you get this many for over $17.
00:33We can make quadruple the amount
00:35for what it costs for one order of the Buffalo Blast,
00:37maybe even less.
00:38The Buffalo Chicken Blasts start with just cooked chicken.
00:41This is a great use for rotisserie chicken
00:43or any leftover chicken.
00:45To this, we're just gonna add in
00:46some shredded mozzarella and buffalo sauce.
00:49Did your mom ever teach you
00:50how to grate the cheese the right way?
00:53It's not like this, but rather like this.
00:55Then, the cheese stays inside
00:58and it's easier to transfer right into your bowl.
01:00And that's just smart.
01:01And about a third cup of buffalo sauce.
01:05Take an egg, you wanna beat it with a little bit of water.
01:07We're gonna use this as a glue
01:10to seal up our little packages.
01:12For our Buffalo Blast package, wonton wrappers.
01:16We're going to take a wrapper,
01:18add in a little bit of filling,
01:19and dip your finger in the egg,
01:22run it around, and then fold these into triangles.
01:25You'll just press a little bit along the sides
01:26and let that egg start to activate as a little glue.
01:31A lot of boom, keep going.
01:33Okay, locked and loaded.
01:34I have made like 26,
01:37and I could make another 20 easily
01:39with the amount of filling I have left.
01:41Because these are super indulgent,
01:43I mean, you could cook them just like this.
01:44But why when you can bread them and then fry them?
01:47Just get some flour,
01:49and then you're just gonna season your flour
01:50with a little salt.
01:51I'm gonna use the egg wash from earlier.
01:55You wanna give them a dry surface on the outside,
01:57so a light coating in flour,
01:59then into the egg.
02:00So you're giving each one a double dredge,
02:03so they're gonna get lots of crispy bits on it.
02:06Once they're all breaded, you fry them up.
02:08I've just got some vegetable oil heated up here.
02:10These only take just a few minutes.
02:13Soon as they come out, hit them with a little bit of salt.
02:16These little crunchy bits,
02:17that's what makes it like fried chicken,
02:18and that's what makes these amazing.
02:20Look at these beauties.
02:22I'm gonna serve it with a little blue cheese.
02:24You could also do ranch.
02:26I just love these little crispy bits.
02:29See that crunch?
02:31They call them blasts,
02:32because there's just like so much flavor just blasting out.
02:35This is better than a buffalo chicken dip.
02:41These are so good.
02:42They are just little like pockets
02:44of perfect bite flavor bombs.
02:47Steamy, cheesy, spicy goodness.
02:51The only thing missing next to this is a cold beer.
02:55Okay, the Thai chicken lettuce wraps.
02:56Now this one to me is the best value, about $14.
03:01But this is a lot of food.
03:02This one is complicated.
03:04You would never recreate this at home
03:05with all these components, so I'm gonna simplify it.
03:08I mean, we're gonna do the chicken,
03:09the peanut sauce, and all the accoutrements.
03:13The Cheesecake Factory version comes with three different sauces,
03:16and a whole bunch of other things.
03:18I'm going to condense the best part of those three sauces into one sauce,
03:23because I know you, I know you, and I know you're not gonna make all three sauces to make this dish.
03:28We're all about simplifying the process.
03:30So I'm gonna start with the chicken marinade.
03:32I'm gonna start with ginger and garlic.
03:34That is going in both, so I'm just gonna go ahead and put it into two different bowls.
03:38I'm using fresh ginger, I've talked about this before, because it's so inexpensive, and it lasts forever in your fridge.
03:43You use a spoon to peel it.
03:45It's okay if there's still a little skin left on, it's not gonna hurt you, especially in the marinade.
03:49All right, and then I like to grate it in with a microplane.
03:51This is a time when, if you just don't have this and don't want to buy it, but you have everything else, just use dried ginger.
03:57Dried ginger does, to me, have a really similar flavor to the fresh.
04:01I use it all the time as a substitute in marinades and stuff.
04:04I'm gonna also add in some yellow curry paste, and with just about a tablespoon of that, and then a squeeze of lime.
04:12And I'm just gonna balance out the acid with a little oil, avocado oil, or any kind of neutral oil, and then a little coconut milk.
04:20This is gonna add just a little subtle sweetness, and then just a little splash of honey.
04:24That's just good.
04:28That will make a delicious sauce on its own.
04:30So in goes the chicken.
04:32I'm just using chicken tenders here.
04:33Make sure they're really well coated, and then these are just gonna marinate while we do everything else.
04:38Back to the peanut sauce.
04:39Peanut sauce is one of the three sauces they include with their lettuce wraps, but they also have like a chili sauce.
04:45So I'm gonna combine that chili sauce kind of with the peanut sauce, because if you're gonna mix them together anyway on your lettuce wrap, why not just make one sauce?
04:52Ginger and garlic is already in here, and in goes our lime juice.
04:56Of course, peanut sauce has to have peanut butter.
04:58So I'm using the crunchy kind because I like seeing the little flecks of peanuts in there.
05:03Some soy sauce for that good kind of salty bite.
05:05A little sesame oil.
05:07I think the other sauce is called like a sweet chili sauce, so that makes me think they probably use sweet chili sauce.
05:13This is something you can find at every grocery store, and it's very inexpensive.
05:16This is a key ingredient when it comes to almost every Asian style sauce.
05:20A little rice vinegar.
05:21You could also use apple cider vinegar here.
05:27Nailed it.
05:28Actually, I wouldn't mind a little more heat.
05:30Just gonna add in a little crushed red pepper.
05:31You could also add in some sriracha here.
05:33That way you've got all the things.
05:34You've got salty, sweet, and spicy.
05:36Okay, this is delicious.
05:38Now it's just about putting all the components together, and of that, you only have to cook one thing.
05:42It is called, per the menu, coconut curry noodles.
05:45I'm just gonna bring a pot of water to a boil.
05:48I'm using the vermicelli, which are the Asian-style rice noodles.
05:52These take no time to cook.
05:53Once your water comes to a boil, you place them in.
05:56It only takes a couple minutes for them to soften, and then we're gonna toss it with the coconut and curry.
06:00Everything else that goes to build the platter is just store-bought stuff.
06:04So they use like a bib lettuce or a butter lettuce, or just a soft green leaf lettuce will work just fine.
06:11And then they also put all their toppings in the cabbage cups, like red cabbage,
06:16but I also use this as a crunch component when I'm making my lettuce wraps.
06:19You can just pick up some matchstick carrots.
06:21This adds great sweet crunch.
06:23The other thing we'll just toss together is their cucumber salad.
06:25It's just red onion with a little English cucumber, just a little vinegar, sugar.
06:29They have a little sesame seed on theirs.
06:30I don't think it's really gonna change the flavors, just for looks, so you don't have to have this.
06:34The water's boiling.
06:35I'm gonna add in a little bit of salt, not as much as if you're doing Italian pasta,
06:39because this cooking happens really fast, and it will absorb way too fast.
06:43Then you drop the noodles in, and we do not want to overcook these.
06:46These stay pretty al dente.
06:48Two minutes tops.
06:49Drain.
06:51In the same pot, I'm going to add in some more coconut milk and a little more of that curry paste.
06:57A sprinkle of salt.
07:02I'm gonna bring that to a boil and let it simmer just till it's like come together and really thickened,
07:06and then I'm gonna add in the noodles.
07:08Their noodles are like in really small pieces, so I just like to take some kitchen shears,
07:12and then just kind of chop it up while it's in the strainer.
07:15It looks just like theirs.
07:16I'm just gonna grill my chicken on a grill pan, super easy.
07:19When you just want that grill flavor and that grill look, but you don't want to stand over
07:24the grill all day, or you're cooking a lot, you can just mark it on the grill and then finish it in the oven.
07:29This also helps ensure that you're not gonna overcook your chicken, because sometimes on the grill,
07:34you cook it a little too hot too fast.
07:36Yum.
07:41I'm really proud of this one, especially for the fact that for about the price of one order,
07:47you could make this meal and feed your whole family.
07:49I'm also gonna say I'm about to make the most perfect bite situation ever.
07:52Chicken, the unusual suspect, the cucumbers, the bean sprouts, the carrots, some peanut, cilantro.
08:02Oh yeah.
08:03And it's like healthy.
08:04This is a party food that you don't have to feel guilty eating a ton of.
08:09That might be one of the best things I've ever eaten.
08:11I don't say that lightly.
08:12There's so much flavor in this one little lettuce leaf.
08:14Way more flavor than a boring old salad.
08:16Hearty enough as a meal.
08:17I'm in love with these chicken lettuce wraps.
08:20The crowd favorite for a lot of people are the pretzel bites with the cheese dip,
08:23so that's what we're making now.
08:25It's a really easy dough.
08:26This one is very inexpensive to make at home and it's going to make a ton.
08:32We are going to make so many for way, way, way less money.
08:36All right, it starts by just making the dough.
08:37So in the mixer, I'm going to add in one and a half cups of our warm water.
08:41To that, I'm going in with a couple tablespoons of brown sugar.
08:44The brown sugar is going to feed the yeast.
08:47A little bit of kosher salt, some melted butter, and a packet of yeast.
08:51And then we're just going to let this activate for a few minutes.
08:54Give that a mix and then let it sit for about five minutes.
08:58Our yeast mixture is all activated and ready to go.
09:00At this point, you're going to add the dough hook onto your mixer.
09:03You can do this by hand.
09:04It's just going to require a lot more arm power.
09:06I'm going to turn it on.
09:06I'm going to add my flour in about a cup at a time until that dough forms.
09:10This takes about four to five minutes.
09:13You're going to go until it starts to pull away from the sides,
09:15but you might have to add a little more flour if it's too tacky.
09:22Oh yeah, that feels good.
09:24Dough is nice and soft.
09:25I'm just going to kind of get it into a ball,
09:28and then we're going to place it into a greased bowl.
09:32Now I'm just going to cover it and let it rise in a warm place for about an hour.
09:36And while this happens, we'll make our cheese sauce.
09:38To make the cheese sauce, I'm just doing a simple roux and then adding in some milk and
09:42whisking in your cheese.
09:43This is just an easy cheese sauce that you can make probably with pantry staples you have,
09:47but since you went through the trouble of making the pretzels, you could use store-bought cheese sauce.
09:51I will not tell.
09:52Season it up with a little salt after it's thickened and then whisk in the cheese.
10:00Now that was easy.
10:02Just keep it warm until you're ready to serve.
10:04He has risen.
10:06So easy, works beautifully.
10:08Now you're going to roll it into the balls.
10:11So just pinch off a little bit, flatten it out into a little disc, then pinch it and roll.
10:18Bring some water to a boil and then we're going in with a half a cup of baking soda.
10:25This is what gives pretzels their distinct texture and flavor.
10:29And then you're going to go in with your little balls of dough.
10:32They only cook for about 30 seconds or so.
10:35So just do a few at a time and then you're going to transfer them to a cookie sheet.
10:40Before they go into the oven, you want to brush it with a little egg wash.
10:43That's going to give them a nice sheen on the outside.
10:45And then I'm going in with some big flaky salt.
10:48These go into the oven 450 degrees for about 15 minutes.
10:52I got three words for you.
10:54Golden brown and delicious.
10:57I wish you could smell it.
10:58Look at those beauties.
11:00Theirs definitely has a sheen to it.
11:02And I believe that probably came from butter.
11:05So we're going to give them a little suntan.
11:08Oh yeah, that's good looking.
11:10That looks better than what came in that Cheesecake Factory package.
11:14The flavorful toasty crust on the outside and the tender inside.
11:18You can't beat that.
11:21Mmm.
11:21It's like biting into a pillow of flavor, like coated in cheese.
11:25Besides the fact that these are about 95% cheaper than getting them at Cheesecake Factory,
11:30they're also about 95% better.
11:33I feel like this is one that you're just going to have to taste for yourself to believe how delicious this is.
11:38There you have it.
11:39We did it.
11:40You got to remember these recipes next time that craving hits for those Cheesecake Factory favorites.
11:44Not only will you save a lot of money, but you'll also save a lot of time reading that menu novel.
11:49What do we call that?
11:55Perfect bite.
11:56There we go.
11:56No.