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.
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!
In This Post You'll Find:
Reasons You'll Love It
- Easy to prepare.
- Ready in less than 20 minutes.
- It's Low-Carb, Keto, and an easy substitution for Gluten-Free.
- Crisp and delicious!
Chicken Lettuce Wraps Ingredient Notes
Ground Chicken Breast: I use ground chicken breast but if you wanted it a little moister with higher fat content, you could sub with ground pork.
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.
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 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.
How To Make Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Step 1: Wash 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 and cook for 5 minutes, breaking up the meat into small pieces.
Step 3: Add the onion, soy sauce, ginger, vinegar and chili flakes.
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.
Chicken Lettuce Wraps Go Well With:
- Beef: Chicken lettuce wraps go really well as an appetizer before a meal, like beef and broccoli.
- Chicken: Yes its okay to have a chicken appetizer before a chicken dish. This recipe for Healthy General Tso's Chicken is a great one or even this Orange Chicken Recipe.
- Salmon: I also love having it before a Teriyaki Salmon Bowl.
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 meal or appetizer!
More Appetizer Recipes
- Kalamata Olive Tapenade
- The Perfect Guacamole
- Garlic Stuffed Mushrooms (You Can Make Ahead!)
- Grilled Chicken Wings With Yogurt Ranch Dip
- The Best (Healthy) Sweet Potato Skins
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Equipment
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
- 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.
Dustin
These sound good we should turn these into a video 🙂
Lacey Baier
We should!!
Diana
U said olive oil. I think u mean sesame oil.
Lacey Baier
Yikes! Thanks for pointing it out - I'll fix that 🙂
Helki
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
Lacey Baier
Ooh I love all those additions!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Sarah
I am making these tonight! Can't wait to try them!!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
I hope you like them, Sarah!
Ally
Ooo! I'm DEFINITLY making these. I love lettuce wraps and have been looking for a good (and easy) recipe to make them. Thanks!!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Yay, I hope you like them, Ally!!
Much to My Delight
I make mine darn near exactly like this! And I agree, the water chestnuts totally make the dish!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Glad to hear you make a similar one. I'm curious as to what change you make with yours.
Joanne
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!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Haha! Thanks, Joanne. Looks like we have very similar tastes. 🙂
Debs
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!!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Hi Debs! Glad to remind you. See you around!