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Healthy chicken lettuce wraps make for an easy and low carb Asian inspired dinner that your whole family will love! One of our favorite clean eating dishes to serve for a crowd!
Whenever I see chicken lettuce wraps on a menu, I immediately know I’m going to be ordering them because it’s one thing on the menu that I know will be a guaranteed winner.
It all started a few years ago when I went to P.F. Changs and tried their rendition of lettuce wraps that I have been hooked on the incredible flavors that come in each little bite. Cooking with sesame oil, which is a key ingredient in Asian cooking, is now a staple in my house.
And while I love the P.F. Changs lettuce wraps, I don’t always love the nutrition breakdown of all the extra oils and sodium they put in their dishes, so I sought out to create my own healthier version of chicken lettuce wraps.
Ground chicken is mixed with a variety of sauces and spices in order to get that authentic chicken wrap flavor. Each portion of chicken is nestled into a delicate butter lettuce leaf cup, and then each cup is topped with peanuts, green onion, and a little sriracha if you like it spicy.
Homemade chicken lettuce wraps
You can now find chicken lettuce wraps on the menu at most restaurants but creating them at home is actually a lot of fun! Plus you can customize them any way you want and can alter the flavors to be more in tuned with what you like.
They are easy to feed a crowd, too. Seriously I never would have thought of serving chicken lettuce wraps but something about just prepping the meat ahead of time and then serving it like a taco bar is perfect. You can line up all the toppings: cooked ground chicken, peanuts, sesame seeds, green onion, sriracha, butter lettuce cups, and then have your guests walk down the line and make their own cups.
People will rave over these simple yet healthy chicken lettuce wraps!
Ingredients in chicken lettuce wraps
To make healthy chicken lettuce wraps, you need a few simple ingredients that you already have at home or can find at your regular grocery store. If you already do a lot of Asian cooking, you probably have these ingredients on hand already.
- ground chicken
- sesame oil
- yellow onion
- garlic
- fresh ginger
- rice vinegar
- soy sauce
- hoisin sauce
- green onion
In order to make these chicken lettuce wraps healthier, we go light on all of the sauces and also use low sodium soy sauce. This is what differentiates our version from restaurant lettuce wraps.
Also, I used to think hoisin sauce was some sort of foreign sauce that I would never be able to find, but truth be told is that you can get it at any grocery store! Just head to the Asian section of your store and you will be guaranteed to find it. It’s an absolute must for this recipe and really gives these lettuce wraps that authentic flavor.
How to make lettuce wraps
Easy is the name of the game when it comes to making these lettuce wraps. The most difficult part is getting all of your ingredients together and on the counter!
The next hardest part is not eating all of the filling before you actually put it into any of the wraps!
First up, you’ll want to saute your onion in olive oil, eventually adding in the garlic and ginger so that they don’t burn. Once fragrant, add in your ground chicken and cook until almost fully cooked.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare your sauce by combining all of the sauce ingredients from sesame oil to hoisin sauce.
Add this sauce to the ground chicken, stirring until well combined, reducing heat so that the sauce thickens. Add in your water chestnuts (my favorite…anyone else?!)
Let simmer for a few minutes before turning off the heat, and serving into lettuce cups. Top with peanuts, green onion, and sriracha.
What kind of lettuce for lettuce wraps
- Bibb/Butter lettuce – this is my favorite lettuce for lettuce wraps because its soft, buttery, and makes the perfect cup shape. It can be very thin at times so I suggest doubling them up. Butter lettuce is definitely my preference.
- Romaine lettuce – these long log leaves are also great for lettuce wraps because romaine lettuce is stronger and can hold a lot more. We like to use these for tacos as well. I like to use the sturdy ones closer so look for romaine hearts for a more firm cup.
- Iceberg – these are also more sturdy than butter lettuce but iceberg lettuce has less flavor and is more watery than any of the other lettuces. I would choose this last, but it will work if you can’t find either butter lettuce or romaine.
Hope you enjoy these healthy chicken lettuce wraps!
If you make this recipe, be sure to comment below and let me know how it was! Also tag @erinliveswhole on Instagram and use the hashtag #erinliveswhole so I can see it and feature you!
If you liked this recipe, you’ll want to try these!
Healthy Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Healthy chicken lettuce wraps make for an easy and low carb Asian inspired dinner that your whole family will love! One of our favorite clean eating dishes to serve for a crowd!
Ingredients
- 1lb ground chicken
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tbsp ginger paste/fresh ginger
- 1.5 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp sriracha
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (coconut aminos for GF)
- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1/4 cup chopped green onion, more for topping
- 1/2 cup diced water chestnuts
- 1 large head of butter lettuce
*peanuts, sriracha, green onion for topping*
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan, heat olive oil. Add onion and saute until mostly cooked.Â
- Add in garlic and ginger for one minute, then add in ground chicken.
- Allow chicken to cook almost all the way through, and while chicken is cooking prepare sauce.
- In a bowl, whisk together sesame oil, sriracha, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce.
- Add in the sauce to the chicken and reduce heat to let simmer.
- Stir in diced green onion and water chestnuts and allow sauce to thicken.
- Once thickened, remove from heat.
- Wash and dry butter lettuce leaves.
- Add about 1/3 cup chicken mixture to each butter leaf and add toppings.
- Store remainder in fridge for up to five days.
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