Of all the small plate recipes, one of the easiest to prepare and one of my personal favorites is Chicken Lettuce Wraps. The crisp lettuce leaves hold a saucy ground chicken and vegetable mixture and every bite is full of freshness and bold flavor! If you love to make Asian-inspired recipes as much as I do, then you might already have a lot of these ingredients at home, which makes this recipe simple, easy to prepare, and satisfying in every bite!
Ingredients Needed For Chicken Lettuce Wraps
This recipe includes 3 simple elements: a sauce, the chicken and vegetable filling and a dressing drizzled on top. The dressing is optional, but highly recommended :)
- Ground Chicken – ground chicken is a very lean meat with not a lot of fat, but it comes to life with this delicious sauce poured on top. You can easily sub the chicken for ground turkey or ground pork if you prefer.
- Vegetables – I kept things simple with some chopped water chestnuts and a diced red bell pepper. You can find the water chestnuts usually in the International food aisle.
- The Sauce – the sauce is the star of the show in these lettuce wraps! It’s made with a simple mixture of asian sauces, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and a little bit of fresh ginger and garlic.
- Peanut Lime Dressing – when you order chicken lettuce wraps in a restaurant it’s often served with a dipping sauce, but we decided to pair ours with a half portion of our fav creamy Peanut Lime Dressing! You only need a little bit drizzled on each lettuce wrap and it adds great depth of flavor to these tasty wraps.
What Lettuce Is Best For Lettuce Wraps?
You can use a variety of different types of lettuce for chicken lettuce wraps including bibb lettuce, butter lettuce, green leaf lettuce or even romaine lettuce. We opted for these cute iceberg lettuce boats that we caught on sale, and the chicken filling fits perfectly inside each one. Bibb lettuce will wrap nicely around the filling and looks beautiful plated, but it can also be on the pricier side.
Ingredient Substitutions
I love recipes that you can easily customize with ingredients you already have in your fridge or pantry. Here are few suggestions:
- Ground turkey – ground turkey also works well in these lettuce wraps. It’s leaner than beef and tastes great with the sauce! Just make sure you buy 93% lean ground turkey and not ground turkey breast which has almost zero fat in it. You definitely don’t want to make that mistake.
- Vegetables – you can easily add or swap out the vegetables with some of your own favorites like diced onions, green bell peppers, or chopped baby bella mushrooms. Just make sure to dice them up into smaller bite size pieces so they fit nicely in the lettuce wraps.
- Dressing & Toppings – we paired these lettuce wraps with our creamy peanut lime dressing, which worked beautifully, a few green onions and peanuts for extra texture; but feel free to skip the dressing and top with a sprinkle of sesame seeds or a little sriracha if you wanna add some spice!
What to Serve With Chicken Lettuce Wraps
You can have chicken lettuce wraps as an appetizer or your main dish, but they also taste great paired with some coconut rice, a quick & easy vegetable lo mein, sesame cucumber salad, crispy rice noodles, or this simple cold peanut noodle salad. The noodle salad uses the same sweet & tangy peanut lime dressing so you can easily just make a full batch of the dressing and drizzle it on both!
How To Store Leftovers
If you’re lucky enough to have any leftovers, be sure to store the chicken filling and the lettuce separately. You can store the chicken filling in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Then store any extra lettuce in a food storage bag in the fridge for up to 4 days as well.
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Equipment
Ingredients
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- 1/4 cup hoisin sauce $0.42
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce $0.14
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar $0.10
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil $0.30
- 1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger $0.60
- 2 cloves garlic, minced $0.16
- 1 lb ground chicken $4.49
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil $0.04
- 1 red bell pepper $1.25
- 8 oz canned water chestnuts, drained $1.69
- 2 green onions $0.22
- 1/4 cup peanuts $0.12
- 12 lettuce leaves $2.20
Peanut Lime Dressing
- 1.5 Tbsp natural style peanut butter $0.11
- 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar $0.02
- 1 clove garlic, minced $0.08
- 1/4 tsp fresh grated ginger $0.05
- 1 lime $0.50
- 1 tsp soy sauce $0.04
- 2 Tbsp neutral oil $0.41
Instructions
- First, make the sauce for the chicken lettuce wraps. In a small bowl combine the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, fresh grated ginger and minced garlic. Set the sauce aside.
- Next chop the red bell pepper and water chestnuts into similar size pieces. Then slice the green onions and give the peanuts a rough chop. Set veggies and nuts aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the cooking oil. Once oil is heated, add the ground chicken, crumble and cook until browned.
- Add the red bell pepper and water chestnuts to the skillet. Saute for two minutes.
- Pour the prepared sauce mixture into the skillet and mix well. Cook for two more minutes to allow the sauce to soak into the chicken and vegetables.
- Remove from heat and top with green onions and chopped peanuts. Serve 1/3 cup of the chicken and vegetable mixture inside each lettuce wrap and drizzle a little of the peanut lime dressing on top. Enjoy!
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Nutrition
How To Make Chicken Lettuce Wraps – Step By Step Photos
Start by making the sauce for the chicken. In a small bowl mix 1/4 cup hoisin sauce, 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, 1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger, and 2 garlic cloves minced. Stir well and set aside.
Dice one red bell pepper. Drain and dice one 8oz. can of water chestnuts. Slice 2 green onions and give the peanuts a rough chop. Set these ingredients to the side.
Add 1 Tbsp cooking oil to a large skillet and heat over medium. Once oil is hot, add 1 lb ground chicken, crumble, and cook until browned.
Mix in diced bell pepper and water chestnuts into the skillet and saute for 2 minutes.
Pour the sauce mixture into the skillet and mix well. Continue to cook and stir for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and add 2 sliced green onions and 1/4 cup chopped peanuts. Feel free to reserve some of the green onions and peanuts to add on top of the individual lettuce wraps.
Next, make the peanut dressing. In a small bowl combine 1.5 Tbsp natural style peanut butter, 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/4 tsp grated fresh ginger, 1 lime, 1 tsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp neutral oil. Mix well.
Serve chicken filling inside lettuce with a drizzle of the peanut lime dressing and enjoy!
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