I love water chestnuts. There, I’ve said it. Heehee.
If you share my love, you’ll probably really enjoy these chicken lettuce wraps. I combined ground chicken, chopped water chestnuts (yum!), garlic (of course!) and some other goodies, like hoisin sauce, fresh ginger and sesame oil.
My original intention was to recreate the chicken lettuce wraps appetizer we like from PF Chang’s. PF Chang’s is pretty much the ONLY “Asian” restaurant — chain or otherwise, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, or otherwise — Dustin will go to willingly. So, you could say we eat there a lot. ‘Cuz I like me some Asian food and I will take it any way I can get it.
Well, these wraps didn’t turn out exactly like the ones at PF Chang’s, but they were delicious nonetheless. We actually had plenty for left-overs, too. 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!
Now, as you can see in my photos, I used a green leaf lettuce for these wraps. I have played around with several different types of lettuce for wraps (iceberg, romaine, Bibb, butter, green leaf and even escarole are all options you could use). I would recommend Bibb, romaine or iceberg lettuce because of their higher “crunch factor” and their flavor doesn’t overpower the chicken filling (like it did with this green leaf lettuce — boo!).
These wraps not only have a delicious flavor from the browned chicken and Asian seasonings, but the double crunch from the water chestnuts and lettuce is what really makes these special. Try them out for a tasty lunch or appetizer!
- 10-12 lettuce leaves (bibb, iceberg, butter or romaine lettuce work best)
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 pound ground chicken breast
- 1 large yellow onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tsp fresh ginger minced
- 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 8 oz water chestnuts 1 can, chopped
- 3 green onions chopped
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Wash lettuce leaves, drain and set aside. Leave whole. You may cut out the spine if you prefer, though this is not necessary.
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Heat olive 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, garlic, soy sauce, ginger, vinegar and chili flakes. Cook until the meat is well browned and the onions are translucent.
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Add water chestnuts and green onions and cook for 1 minute until well mixed.
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Spoon meat mixture onto lettuce leaves.
These sound good we should turn these into a video 🙂
U said olive oil. I think u mean sesame oil.
I LOVE these! I used your recipe and added diced carrots and celery as well as a little sambal for some added crunch and kick and make more servings 😉 Then we top with crushed peanuts. They are always a BIG hit
I am making these tonight! Can’t wait to try them!!
I hope you like them, Sarah!
Ooo! I’m DEFINITLY making these. I love lettuce wraps and have been looking for a good (and easy) recipe to make them. Thanks!!
Yay, I hope you like them, Ally!!
I make mine darn near exactly like this! And I agree, the water chestnuts totally make the dish!
Glad to hear you make a similar one. I’m curious as to what change you make with yours.
I love Asian food. And water chestnuts. And PF Changs. And chicken wraps.
And obviously these! They look so tasty…I love the flavors you’ve blended together to make them!
Haha! Thanks, Joanne. Looks like we have very similar tastes. 🙂
Oh I love lettuce wraps. Have not had them for ages though; thanks for the reminder.
Thanks for stopping by my blog too. Hope we’ll see you on the blog hop!!
Hi Debs! Glad to remind you. See you around!