Cheesy Garlic Chicken Wraps are not what I expected to find on a Sunday afternoon in Ubud. The café was called Warung Sela, a five-table place tucked behind a row of scooters on Jalan Goutama. The owner was an Aussie named Daz who had been in Bali eleven years and ran a six-bed hostel above the kitchen.
Sunday was the day he cooked for whoever was still around. No menu that afternoon. Just whatever he felt like.
I had taken the last counter seat. He slid a plate in front of me without asking.
The Tiny Café in Ubud Where I Met This Wrap
Daz spoke in a low Brisbane drawl while he worked. He told me he started making these wraps for the hostel kids who came back hungry around midnight, and they kept asking, so now Sunday lunch was always this. He grated the cheddar off the block right next to the pan, which I now understand is non-negotiable. The pre-shredded stuff is dusted in starch and it just will not melt the same. He mentioned it twice.
What surprised me was how saucy the inside was. I had assumed it would be dry, like a quesadilla. It was not. The chicken was bound in a garlicky mayo that turned almost glossy under the heat. The tortilla outside had that shattering crackle. The inside was molten. He flipped it once, weighed it down with a small saucepan lid, and that was the whole trick.
He laughed when I asked if this was a traditional dish anywhere. It is not. He told me he saw the format on TikTok years ago and made it his. That is genuinely the dish’s history. It is internet food, born in the early 2020s on short-form video, mostly through Aussie and American macro-focused creators who wanted high-protein lunches that looked good on camera. There is no village, no grandmother, no festival. Just a wrap that traveled the algorithm and landed in a hostel kitchen in Bali on a Sunday.
Bringing It Home
I took the recipe home and tested it twice in the same week. The first time the garlic went sharp and almost metallic because I used too much and did not let the mayo mellow it. I cut the garlic back to four cloves and let the sauce sit on the counter for ten minutes before folding the chicken in. Better. Much.
I get the chicken from the rotisserie counter at the Vons on Olympic when I am in a hurry. When I am not, I poach two breasts in the morning with a bay leaf and a smashed garlic clove in the water. Both work. The chicken is honestly the least important variable here. The cheese matters more.
For cheddar I use the sharp orange block from the Bristol Farms cheese counter. I tried it with a Tillamook white once and it was fine but missed something. Orange cheddar has more of the dairy-fat oomph this wrap needs. I add a cup of low-moisture mozzarella alongside it for the stretch. That ratio I will not budge on.
What I Used
- About 3 cups of shredded cooked chicken breast, rotisserie or poached
- 4 cloves of fresh garlic, finely grated on a microplane
- A third of a cup of full-fat mayo, the Best Foods kind
- A quarter cup of plain whole-milk Greek yogurt for tang
- A tablespoon of Frank’s RedHot, plus a few extra dashes for me
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 cups of freshly grated sharp cheddar, off the block
- 1 cup of freshly grated low-moisture mozzarella
- 3 stalks of green onions, sliced thin, both colors
- 4 large flour tortillas, the 10-inch burrito size
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter and a tablespoon of olive oil for toasting
The One Trick That Makes Cheesy Garlic Chicken Wraps Work
Cheese on both sides of the chicken. That is the whole thing. Daz did this in front of me and I did not register at first why he was layering it that way. The cheese on the bottom melts down and creates a glue that holds everything together when you flip. The cheese on top melts down into the chicken and turns the whole interior creamy. Skip either layer and the wrap goes dry.
I also lean on low-medium heat in my old cast iron, not medium. The pan was my grandmother’s and it runs hot near the handle where the patina is thinner. The tortilla burns before the inside gets molten if I am not careful. I learned that the second time around. The first wrap I made at home had a tortilla so dark it tasted like a cracker, and the cheese inside was barely soft. Patience. Low-medium. Cover the pan for the last minute and the steam finishes the cheese.
One more change from Daz’s version. He used a small saucepan lid as a weight on top of the wrap while it toasted. I do not. I just press the wrap down with a spatula once or twice when I flip it, and that is enough crisp without smashing all the cheese out the sides.
Twists Worth Trying in Ubud Style
I have made these with leftover roast chicken thigh and it is better than breast, honestly. More flavor, more moisture. I have also swapped the cheddar for pepper jack when I wanted a hotter version. Once I added a thin layer of pickled jalapeños inside. That was a good night.
If you want it leaner, take half the mayo out and put more Greek yogurt in. The sauce gets tangier and the wrap lighter. I do this on weeknights when I have already eaten lunch out. Some Sundays though I want the full version.
I had a friend over in March who does not eat dairy. I tried it with vegan cheddar shreds. Do not. The wrap collapsed and the cheese never melted into anything resembling cheese. Skip that variation entirely.
Sunday Cooking at Home Now
I make these on quiet Sundays now. My kitchen has one good south-facing window and the light hits the cast iron around two in the afternoon. I have a podcast on, usually something about Australian crime because Daz got me into the genre. The wraps go from cold filling to a hissing pan in about ten minutes.
What I keep coming back to is that this is unpretentious food with a real story behind it. The story is not ancient. It is a Brisbane guy in Bali on a Sunday, cooking a wrap he learned from a phone. That is enough for me.
Cheesy Garlic Chicken Wraps
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, minced garlic, hot sauce, salt, and black pepper. Whisk until smooth and unified into a pale, garlicky sauce.
- Add the shredded chicken to the bowl and fold everything together until each piece is well coated. Taste and adjust salt or hot sauce as needed.
- In a separate bowl, toss the freshly grated cheddar and mozzarella together so they melt evenly.
- Lay a flour tortilla flat on a clean cutting board. Sprinkle a generous handful of the cheese blend across the lower third of the tortilla, leaving about 1 inch clear on each side.
- Spoon about one-quarter of the chicken mixture in a log shape over the cheese. Top with another handful of cheese and a sprinkle of sliced green onions.
- Fold the left and right sides of the tortilla inward over the filling, then roll the bottom up and over, tucking tightly as you go, until you have a snug burrito-style wrap. Repeat with the remaining three tortillas.
- Heat a large non-stick or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil and swirl to coat the pan.
- Place two wraps seam-side down in the skillet. Cook undisturbed for 3 to 4 minutes, until the bottom is deep golden and crisp.
- Flip each wrap carefully and cook the second side for another 3 minutes. Cover the pan loosely with a lid for the final minute to ensure the cheese inside is fully melted.
- Transfer the toasted wraps to a cutting board and let them rest for 1 minute. Wipe the skillet, add the remaining butter and oil, and repeat with the remaining two wraps.
- Slice each wrap in half on a sharp diagonal so the molten, cheesy interior shows. Serve immediately while the outside is still crisp and the cheese is stretchy.