Chicken Lettuce Wraps

An easy, delicious, and healthy Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps recipe that makes for a great appetizer or lunch.

This is one of my favorite appetizers because it can fit easily into most macros and is so easy and fun. Even if you aren't counting macros, but are trying to eat a cleaner diet, it also works perfectly.

Ever since I was a kid, I have loved anything with water chestnuts. They have the perfect crunch and flavor.

If you share my love, you'll probably really enjoy these chicken lettuce wraps. I combined ground chicken, chopped water chestnuts (yum!), garlic, and some other goodies, like fresh ginger and sesame oil.

I originally intended to recreate the chicken lettuce wraps appetizer we like from PF Chang's because they were a favorite of Dustin's, and I wanted to make them healthier and at home. Now, we find we like this healthier version way better, and it's much easier to keep gluten free when you prepare the food yourself.

For a quick lunch you could even take to work, all you have to do is put the filling in a container, place the washed lettuce leafs between some paper towels in a large plastic bag and **snap** instant lunch! Impress (and, quite possibly, annoy) your fiends or coworkers with your tasty, healthy and homemade lunch!

Ingredients for Chicken Lettuce Wraps

• Ground Chicken Breast: I use ground chicken breast for the chicken mixture but if you wanted it a little moister with higher fat content, you could sub with ground pork for this lettuce wraps recipe. You can also sub for ground turkey for a little more fat than the chicken mixture.
• Fresh Ginger: I love using fresh ginger. It has a ton of great health benefits. You can sub for dred ginger also if you don't have it handy or just don't want to take the extra time to prep it.
• Soy Sauce: If you are looking to avoid soy or want to make the recipe gluten free, just swap this for coconut aminos. You can pretty much always swap soy sauce for coconut aminos - I just happened to have low sodium on hand for this recipe. You can also use a hoisin sauce, though I find this very difficult to find that it doesn't also have processed sugar, so I just choose to use the low sodium soy sauce.
• Butter Lettuce: Now, as you can see in my photos, I used butter lettuce for these wraps because this is usually my favorite lettuce unless I am making something like a healthy chicken caesar salad. I have played around with several different types of lettuce for wraps (iceberg, romaine, bibb, leaf, green leaf and even escarole are all options you could use) and you can use whatever if your favorite, as long as the leaves are large enough to hold a filling. Romaine lettuce will have the largest leaves, but butter lettuce has the crispest.

How To Make Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Step 1: To make this lettuce wraps recipe, first start by washing the lettuce leaves, drain, and set aside. Leave whole. You may cut out the spine if you prefer, though this is not necessary.

Step 2: Heat sesame oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the chicken (or ground turkey) and cook for 5 minutes, breaking up the meat into small pieces.

Step 3: Add the onion, soy sauce, ginger, vinegar and chili flakes to the chicken. mixture.

Step 4: Cook until the meat is well browned and the onions are translucent, about 8-10 minutes.

Step 5: Add water chestnuts, garlic and green onions and cook for 1 minute.

Step 6: Spoon the meat mixture onto lettuce leaves. About ½ cup (or enough to fill a lettuce leaf) onto the lettuce, and enjoy.

Substitutions

Gluten-Free - To make these chicken lettuce wraps gluten-free, you need to swap the soy sauce for coconut aminos.

More Appetizer Recipes

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Lacey Baier

An easy, delicious and healthy Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps recipe that makes a great appetizer or lunch.

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 6

Calories 219 kcal

Equipment

• Skillet

*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 10-12 lettuce leaves (bibb, iceberg, butter or romaine lettuce work best)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• ▢ 1 pound ground chicken breast
• ▢ 1 large yellow onion diced
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 2 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce (can sub coconut aminos for GF)
• ▢ 2 teaspoon fresh ginger minced (can use ½ teaspoon dry ginger)
• ▢ 2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
• ▢ ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ▢ 8 oz water chestnuts 1 can, chopped
• ▢ 3 green onions thinly sliced

Instructions

 

• Wash lettuce leaves, drain and set aside. Leave whole. You may cut out the spine if you prefer, though this is not necessary.
• Heat sesame oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes, breaking up the meat into small pieces.
• Add the onion, soy sauce, ginger, vinegar and chili flakes.
• Cook until the meat is well browned and the onions are translucent, about 8-10 minutes.
• Add water chestnuts, garlic and green onions and cook for 1 minute.
• Spoon meat mixture onto lettuce leaves. About ½ cup (or enough to fill a lettuce leaf) onto the lettuce, and enjoy.

Nutrition

Calories: 219 kcalCarbohydrates: 15.6 gProtein: 17.6 gFat: 9.6 gSaturated Fat: 2.4 gCholesterol: 48.5 mgSodium: 435.5 mgFiber: 2.3 gSugar: 4.7 gVitamin A: 400 IUVitamin C: 8.3 mgCalcium: 30 mgIron: 1.1 mg

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?Tag @asweetpeachef on Instagram so we can check it out.