Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Enjoy a light, delicious, and filling homemade dinner when you make Chicken Lettuce Wraps! Butter lettuce serves as the base for heaping servings of ground chicken that’s made flavorful as can be with bold ingredients like grated ginger, garlic, and more. Plus, the mouthwatering sauce that accompanies these wraps is unbelievably good!
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
When I see lettuce wraps on the menu at a restaurant, I get pretty excited. I am in love with the PF Chang’s lettuce wraps because they’re busting with flavor!
There’s just something so fresh and light about biting into a flavorful, protein packed lettuce wrap. Now, as much as I do love quite a few lettuce wraps from my favorite local restaurants, this homemade version might just be the best.
The ground chicken itself is cooked with an array of flavorful ingredients, my favorite of which being fresh grated ginger. Anytime you want something to taste ten times fresher, add some ginger to it! There’s also bell peppers, garlic, onions, mushrooms, and water chestnuts in the mix. Every single bite of this chicken is loaded with nutritious veggies and tons of flavor!
Speaking of flavor, we NEED to talk about the homemade sauce that sends these lettuce wraps right over the top. It’s got bright, vibrant flavors from fresh lime juice, tahini, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. I love using this sauce on top of the already flavorful chicken because it compliments the meat and veggies without totally overpowering them. This is the best dinner to make when you want something refreshing and light that actually hits the spot.
How to Make Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Make the sauce. In a small bowl, mix the sauce ingredients. Set aside.
- Sauté the veggies. Spray a medium or large non-stick skillet with cooking oil, saute bell peppers and mushrooms, (over medium-high heat) until softened slightly, set aside (about 2-3 minutes).
- Cook the chicken. In the same pan add more oil and cook ground chicken until browned, halfway through add onions, garlic, and ginger.
- Add the remaining ingredients. Return mushrooms and peppers to the skillet, stir in the sauce and simmer for a minute or 2.
- Enjoy! Prepare the lettuce and add the filling (about 2 heaping tablespoons per each). Add garnishes and serve immediately.
Variations to Try
- Hoisin sauce is a popular choice in Asian-style wraps, however, it has a very strong flavor. You can start with adding just 1-2 teaspoons as an addition to the sauce or substitute tahini with hoisin instead.
- The sauce is enough to coat 1 lb of ground chicken nicely, but feel free to increase all the ingredients 1.5 times if you like more sauce. You may need to use 2 lettuce slices for each wrap, in this case, to hold up the filling.
- Hot sauce such as Sriracha is another great addition to the sauce or for drizzling on top of the assembled wraps. The filling itself is not spicy.
- Ground chicken is my favorite protein of choice for these wraps, but you could opt for ground turkey, ground beef, ground pork, or even a plant-based ground meat substitute for a vegetarian meal.
- You can use butter lettuce or romaine lettuce. I don’t recommend using iceberg lettuce, as it tends to break easily.
Storing Chicken Lettuce Wraps
If you have any leftover chicken filling, keep it stored in an airtight food storage container in the refrigerator, where it’ll stay fresh for up to 3 days. You can also keep the sauce stored the same way separately. When you’re ready to enjoy a leftover lettuce wrap, just microwave the chicken and sauce in 30 second increments until warmed through. Of course, don’t heat up the lettuce itself! Just grab it fresh from the fridge when you’re ready to enjoy it.
Keep things light and fresh with these easy dinner recipes!
- Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Pineapple Slaw
- Veggie Pita Pockets
- One Pot Pasta Primavera with Shrimp
- Grilled Pesto Salmon with Strawberry Cucumber Salsa
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Get the Recipe: Chicken Lettuce Wraps Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or peanut oil
- ½ cup bell peppers, one or mixed color, diced
- ½ cup onion, minced
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 8-10 mushrooms, cremini or similar, diced
- 8 oz whole water chestnuts, drained and diced
- 1 heaping teaspoon ginger, grated
- 1 head Butter lettuce, Romaine lettuce, or similar (but I don’t recommend Iceberg lettuce which breaks easily)
- Sauce
- 5 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil, toasted
- 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoon tahini
- 1 1/2 teaspoon lime juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional: Garnish with ground pepper, green onions, sesame seeds, peanuts
Equipment
- skillet
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix the sauce ingredients. Set aside.
- Spray a medium or large non-stick skillet with cooking oil, saute bell peppers and mushrooms, (over medium-high heat) until softened slightly, set aside (about 2-3 minutes).
- In the same pan add more oil and cook ground chicken until browned, halfway through add onions, garlic, and ginger.
- Return mushrooms and peppers to the skillet, stir in the sauce and simmer for a minute or 2.
- Prepare the lettuce and add the filling (about 2 heaping tablespoons per each). Add garnishes and serve immediately.