Chicken Lettuce Wraps

At a glance

What stands out: You can easily make your own rich chicken lettuce wraps similar to popular restaurant wraps for a fraction of the cost. This recipe is a straightforward-to-make entrée or appetizer that’s light and flavorful.

How long it takes: 25 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: skillet, sharp knife, measuring utensils
Servings: makes 14 to 16 wraps, depending on how much you stuff into each wrap

At-home Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Similar to popular restaurant wraps. We've been crazy about chicken lettuce wraps ever since we tried them at a nearby restaurant. We immediately thought to myself, we bet we can make these at home! If you haven’t experienced the pleasure of lettuce wraps yet, please don’t wait any longer. Now you don’t even have to leave the house to try them.

Every bite is rich. The ground chicken filling in this recipe has just the right balance of spicy, salty, and tangy. Cradled in crisp green lettuce leaves and topped with crunchy wonton strips, these chicken lettuce wraps are pretty irresistible.

Straightforward to mix. Even though the list of ingredients looks kind of long, don’t be intimidated. These wraps are uncomplicated and straightforward to mix. There are two sauces, one to mix into the filling, and one for serving. A lot of the same ingredients are in both sauces and you can prep them at the same time.

Can be made ahead. You’re going to love the fact that the filling and sauce can be prepared a few days in advance. Whenever you get the craving for a Asian-style lettuce wrap, simply heat up a portion of the filling and wrap it up. Reliable for lunches!

What goes in

• Ground Chicken: Lean and light, ground chicken is a good alternative to turkey, pork, or beef. However, feel free to substitute any ground meat you prefer.
• Mushrooms: Finely chopped mushrooms add meatiness but not calories or fat.
• Fresh Garlic and Ginger: A power packed duo, finely minced garlic and ginger, along with a bit of oil and salt, season the meat.
• Coleslaw Mix: Buy ready-to-use coleslaw mix (straightforward!) or buy a cabbage and shred it finely.
• Water Chestnuts: You’ll want to finely mince these crunchy little nuggets. They add great texture to the wraps.
• Green Onions and Fresh Cilantro: Green onions not only add color but also a subtle onion flavor. Cilantro adds herbal notes.
• Sauce Ingredients: The flavorful sauce pulls all the filling ingredients together. It consists of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and sriracha.
• Dipping Sauce: The dipping sauce is optional. If you decide to make it, you’ll use more soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and minced ginger, and also a bit of honey.
• Lettuce Leaves: You’ll want lettuce with large intact leaves for wrapping. Romaine, Bibb, butter lettuce, or iceberg lettuce are good choices. Make sure the lettuce is clean and as dry as possible.
• Chopped Peanuts or Wonton Strips: These are optional but we love the crunch they add.

How it comes together

Prep. We like to have everything ready to go before we start cooking. Mince the garlic and ginger. Chop the mushrooms, water chestnuts and green onions. Mix together the ingredients for the pan sauce and for the dipping sauce.

Sauté. Begin by briefly sautéing minced garlic and fresh ginger in a large skillet. Add ground chicken and finely chopped mushrooms, and sauté until the chicken is done.

Add veggies. Stir in 4 cups of finely shredded cabbage (or use pre-made coleslaw mix), chopped canned water chestnuts, and chopped green onions. Stir fry until the cabbage begins to wilt.

Stir in sauce ingredients. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and Sriracha to taste. Stir well and heat through. Remove from heat, add a little chopped fresh cilantro and your filling is ready.

Dipping sauce is optional. You decide whether you want it or not. The sauce isn’t totally necessary because the filling is flavorful on its own. This dipping sauce is simply soy sauce, rice vinegar, water, honey, and fresh ginger stirred together. It tastes great and actually makes a good salad dressing, too.

Appetizer Idea

Chicken lettuce wraps are often served as an appetizer. You may want to let people build their own wraps. Simply arrange lettuce leaves, a bowl of the filling, dipping sauce, and toppings on a platter and let guests choose what they like.

Ways to change it

• Try a different meat. Use ground turkey if you prefer. If you like seafood, substitute a couple cans of baby shrimp for the chicken (or try sweet and sour shrimp lettuce wraps).
• Use a different dipping sauce. We often use sweet chili sauce. It’s good with these wraps and we usually have a bottle of it in our fridge. If you like more spice, use additional sriracha as a sauce.
• Serve it on rice. Instead of lettuce, serve the chicken and vegetable mixture on steamed rice. Try Instant Pot jasmine rice for reliable rice every time.
• Serve the wraps with a crispy side. Try air fryer crab rangoon or air fryer egg rolls.

Make-Ahead

Prepare the filling and sauce up to 3 days in advance. Refrigerate it in tightly covered containers until ready to serve. Reheat the filling in a skillet on the stove or microwave it until it’s warmed through. Serve as directed.

Free Meal Plan

Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this recipe? Take a look at our Meal Plan #34. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. Let us do the planning for you this week! We add a new meal plan weekly.

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• Yield: 8
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 10 minutes
• Total: 25 minutes

Ingredients

Filling

• 1 teaspoon oil (canola, avocado, or grapeseed work well)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger root
• 1 lb. ground chicken breast (or lean ground turkey)
• 8 oz. mushrooms, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 cups coleslaw mix, about an 8 oz. bag (or thinly shredded cabbage)
• 1 can (8 oz.) sliced water chestnuts, drained, and finely minced
• ½ cup thinly sliced green onions
• ¼ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon sriracha hot chili sauce, or to taste
• ⅓ cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro

Dipping Sauce (optional)

• 4 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 to 2 teaspoons finely minced ginger root

To Serve

• 1 to 2 heads Bibb, butter, Romaine, or iceberg lettuce (rinsed and dried)
• chopped peanuts or crispy wonton strips for topping, optional

Method

1. Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat. Add oil, garlic and ginger. Sauté for about 30 seconds, and then add ground chicken, chopped mushrooms, and kosher salt. Cook, breaking up chicken as it cooks, about 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
2. Add coleslaw mix (or shredded cabbage), water chestnuts, and green onions. Cook for about 2 minutes, until cabbage just starts to wilt. Drain any excess liquid from the pan.
3. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and sriracha, to taste. Cook and stir until chicken and vegetables are coated with the sauce and heated through. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
4. To prepare optional dipping sauce, combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, water, honey, and ginger; whisk to combine.
5. To serve, carefully separate lettuce leaves. Place a spoonful of chicken mixture in each leaf. Serve lettuce wraps with sauce and chopped peanuts or crispy wonton strips, if desired.

Notes

Yield: This recipe makes approx. 5 cups of filling which is plenty of filling for about 16 lettuce wraps, depending on how much you pile into each lettuce leaf. How many servings this recipe makes depends on whether you’re serving the wraps as a main course or appetizer.

Make ahead: Prepare the filling and sauce up to 3 days in advance. Refrigerate in tightly covered containers until ready to serve. Reheat the filling in a skillet on the stove or microwave it until warmed. Serve as directed.

Serve it on rice: If desired, the filling can be served on steamed jasmine rice as a main course entrée, instead wrapping it in lettuce.