Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Flavorful Chicken Lettuce Wraps with ground chicken, tons of veggies, and a delicious sauce to coat it all!

We’re obsessed with Chicken Lettuce Wraps! Try some of our other favorites next: Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Taco Lettuce Wraps, Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps, or Beef Lettuce Wraps.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I’ve been working on this recipe for quite some time now, and am so pleased with the result. Most chicken lettuce wraps have loads of sugar in them or the sauce is primarily made of hoisin sauce. I’m personally not a huge hoisin sauce fan, so I wanted a sauce that was still flavorful without the hoisin. I also wanted to keep these lettuce wraps on the healthier side for a good and nutritious meal instead of a sugar-laden “once-in-a-while” indulgence.  

In fact, I’ve been making a batch of the filling every Sunday night and using it for weekly lunches. This recipe is one of the best for meal prepping; the filling stores and reheats exceptionally well. In fact, the filling gets more flavorful every day — it’s so good! 

I store the filling in a container in the fridge separate from the lettuce that’s washed, dried, and stored in its own container. Come lunchtime, I heat up a portion of the filling and layer it in the prepped lettuce wraps — lunch in an instant!

Ingredients In Chicken Lettuce Wraps

FILLING INGREDIENTS

• Yellow Onion, Carrots, Mushrooms, Red Pepper: Vegetables provide texture, sweetness, and nutrition to the filling.
• Vegetable Oil: Medium for cooking and sautéing the vegetables and chicken.
• Garlic and Ginger: Flavor bases that add a distinctive aroma and taste.
• Ground Chicken: The protein of the dish that adds substance and complements the textures of the other filling ingredients.
• Water Chestnuts: Add a crunch and mild sweetness to these chicken lettuce wraps.
• Green Onions: Offer a fresh, sharp flavor that contrasts the cooked ingredients.
• Lettuce Leaves: Serve as a crunchy and fresh wrapper for the filling.
• Peanuts or Cashews (Optional): Provide additional crunch and nuttiness.
• Lime Wedges (Optional): Add fresh acidity that can brighten the overall flavors.

SAUCE INGREDIENTS

• Sauce Composition: The combination of cornstarch, chicken stock, soy sauce, rice vinegar, oyster sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, honey, and sriracha creates a complex, flavorful sauce that serves as the chicken lettuce wraps’ backbone, providing thickness, gloss, savory depth, a balance of sweet and spicy notes, a touch of acidity, and an aromatic finish.

How To Make Chicken Lettuce Wraps

1. Make the Sauce: Whisk cornstarch and a bit of chicken stock to make a slurry, then mix with the rest of the sauce ingredients and set it aside.
2. Prepare the Vegetables: Finely dice onions, carrots, mushrooms, red pepper, water chestnuts, and green onions. Mince garlic and ginger.
3. Cook Chicken: Heat oil in a skillet, cook onions, garlic, and ginger, then add the chicken, breaking it apart until cooked.
4. Combine Chicken and Veggies: Add the diced vegetables to the chicken, cooking until tender.
5. Add Sauce to Filling: Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetable mixture, cooking until the sauce thickens.
6. Assemble Wraps: Spoon the filling into lettuce leaves, garnish with green onions, nuts if desired, and serve chicken lettuce wraps with lime wedges.

Toppings

• Chopped peanuts or cashews: I like getting roasted and salted nuts for these wraps. They add a nice crunch and hit of saltiness.
• Fresh green onions: Thinly slice some green onions to finish up these wraps and add a nice fresh touch.
• Fresh lime: I usually serve these wraps with a few lime wedges on the side so everyone can add a few squeezes right before eating. I intentionally didn’t add lime juice to the sauce because I planned for it here. 
• Extra sriracha: For some more heat, add a few extra dashes of sriracha on top.
• Rice sticks: Many restaurants serve crispy fried noodles on top of their wraps. I love these, but don’t often go to the extra effort of making them for a weeknight meal. If you’d like to make them, try this recipe.
• Hoisin sauce: If you like hoisin sauce, use it as a dip for these lettuce wraps!

More 30-Minute Dinner Recipes

• Chicken Ramen
• Banh Mi Bowls
• Chicken Chow Mein
• Coconut Curry Chicken
• Taco Lettuce Wraps

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5 from 5 votes

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

By Chelsea Lords

Amazing Chicken Lettuce Wraps with ground chicken, tons of veggies, and a delicious sauce to coat it all. These lettuce wraps are loaded with flavor and texture.

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 -16 lettuce wraps

Ingredients 

USMetric

 

1x2x3x

Sauce

• ▢ 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
• ▢ 3 tablespoons chicken stock
• ▢ 2 tablespoons regular (all purpose, not light) soy sauce
• ▢ 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• ▢ 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
• ▢ 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• ▢ 1-2 teaspoons brown sugar (add to desired preference)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon honey and sriracha sauce

Filling

• ▢ 1 cup EACH finely diced yellow onion, finely diced carrots, finely diced mushrooms, finely diced red pepper (about 1 small onion, 1 large carrot, 4 ounces mushrooms, 1 bell pepper)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• ▢ 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• ▢ 1 tablespoon ginger minced (if you really love ginger, increase to 2 tablespoons)
• ▢ 1 pound ground chicken (dark meat if possible)
• ▢ 1/2 cup EACH: finely diced canned water chestnuts, thinly sliced green onions
• ▢ 12-16 lettuce leaves (we like Boston/Bibb lettuce best; Iceberg also works well)
• ▢ Optional garnish: coarsely chopped peanuts or cashews, fresh lime wedges

Instructions 

• SAUCE: Start by creating the sauce: add the cornstarch to 1 tablespoon chicken stock and whisk with a fork until smooth. Then add the remaining 2 tablespoons of chicken stock. Add in the 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 3 tablespoons oyster sauce, 2 teaspoon sesame oil, 1-2 teaspoons brown sugar (add to taste), and 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce. Stir to combine and then set aside.
• VEGGIE PREP: Prep all the veggies first, since the cooking goes quickly. Finely dice a yellow onion, peel and finely dice a large carrot, finely dice some mushrooms, finely dice a red bell pepper, mince the garlic, and finely dice ginger. Drain the water chestnuts and finely dice those. Thinly slice green onions.
• COOK: In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add in 1 cup onion, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 1 to 2 tablespoons minced ginger. Cook for 2-3 minutes until beginning to get soft and fragrant. Add in the ground chicken. Make sure to break up the ground chicken with a wooden spoon so there are no large clumps. Sauté for 5-7 minutes (breaking up/stirring almost constantly) or until mostly white and cooked through. Drain off any accumulated liquid and return skillet to medium-high heat.
• ADD VEGGIES: Add all the vegetables: the carrots, red pepper, mushrooms, and water chestnuts. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the carrot is softened and chicken is cooked through. Give the sauce another quick stir if it has settled and then pour over the mixture. Cook for another 1-2 minutes or until the sauce thickens and coats the filling. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add salt until the flavors sing.
• SERVE: Transfer the filling to a bowl or large plate and serve alongside lettuce leaves, sliced green onions, and optional chopped peanuts or cashews. Spoon the filling into lettuce leaves and top with green onions and nuts. Serve with lime wedges on the side and add a squeeze of lime before eating. Roll up and enjoy immediately.

Recipe Notes

Chicken Lettuce Wraps are a great make-ahead meal -- in fact, they taste even better the next day! Store the filling in a container in the fridge, separate from the lettuce that's stored in its own container. Store garnish ingredients (lime/nuts) separately.

Nutrition

Serving: 16lettuce wraps | Calories: 68kcal | Carbohydrates: 4.9g | Protein: 7.5g | Fat: 2.1g | Cholesterol: 20.8mg | Sodium: 178.6mg | Fiber: 1.3g | Sugar: 2.1g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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