Love chicken lettuce wraps that you order at popular restaurants? You can easily make your own delicious wraps at home and for a fraction of the cost!
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: An easy-to-make entrée or appetizer that’s light and flavorful.
How long it takes: 25 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: skillet, sharp knife, measuring utensils
Servings: makes 14-16 wraps
I’ve been crazy about chicken lettuce wraps ever since I tried them at a restaurant nearby. Cupped in crispy lettuce leaves and topped with crunchy wonton strips, the chicken filling is just the right balance of spicy, salty, and tangy.
Of course, I immediately thought to myself, Why can’t I make these at home? and this recipe is the result. If you haven’t experienced chicken lettuce wraps yet, please don’t wait any longer. Now you don’t even have to leave the house to try them.
You’re going to love the fact that the filling and sauce can be prepared a few days in advance. Whenever you get the craving for a lettuce wrap, simply heat up a portion of the filling and wrap it up. Perfect for lunches!
About this Recipe
Even though the list of ingredients looks kinda long, don’t be intimidated. These wraps are really easy to make. There are two sauces, one to mix into the filling, and one for serving. A lot of the same ingredients are in both sauces.
What You’ll Need
- Ground Chicken: Lean and light, ground chicken is a good alternative to turkey, pork, and beef.
- Mushrooms: Finely chopped mushrooms add meatiness but not calories or fat.
- Fresh Garlic and Ginger: A power packed duo, finely minced garlic and ginger, along with a bit of oil and salt, season the meat.
- Coleslaw Mix: Buy read-to-use coleslaw mix or buy a cabbage and shred it finely.
- Water Chestnuts: You’ll want to finely mince these crunchy little nuggets. They add great texture to the wraps.
- Green Onions/Scallions: Not only add color but also a subtle onion flavor. Cilantro adds herbal notes.
- Sauce: The flavorful sauce pulls all the filling ingredients together. It consists of Soy Sauce, Rice Wine Vinegar, Toasted Sesame Oil, and Sriracha.
- Dipping Sauce: You’ll need more Soy Sauce, Rice Wine Vinegar, and minced ginger, and also a bit of Honey.
- Lettuce Leaves: You’ll want a large leafed lettuce for wrapping. Romaine, Bibb, butter lettuce, or iceberg are good choices. Make sure the lettuce is clean and dry.
- Chopped Peanuts or Wonton Strips: These are optional but I love the crunch they add.
How to Make the Wraps
Begin by very briefly sautéing minced garlic and fresh ginger. Add ground chicken and finely chopped mushrooms, and sauté until the chicken is done.
Stir in 4 cups of finely shredded cabbage (or use pre-made coleslaw mix), chopped canned water chestnuts, and chopped green onions. Stir fry until the cabbage begins to wilt.
Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and Sriracha to taste. Stir well and heat through. Remove from heat, add a little chopped fresh cilantro and your filling is ready. Other than a little chopping, this recipe is pretty easy, right?
Dipping sauce is optional. You decide whether you want it or not. The sauce isn’t totally necessary because the filling is really flavorful on its own. This dipping sauce is simply soy sauce, rice vinegar, water, honey, and fresh ginger stirred together. It tastes great and actually makes a good salad dressing, too.
We recommend Bibb or butter lettuce because the leaves are just the right size for lettuce wraps. You could use Romaine or iceberg lettuce, too.
Chopped peanuts or chopped fresh cilantro are great garnishes. I like to serve the lettuce wraps with crispy wonton strips that I purchase. An additional drizzle of Sriracha is great if you like a little extra heat.
Looking for an Appetizer?
Chicken lettuce wraps are often served as an appetizer. You may want to let people build their own wraps. Simply arrange lettuce leaves, a bowl of the filling, dipping sauce, and toppings on a platter and let guests choose what they like.Make it your own
- Use ground turkey if you prefer. Another variation is lamb lettuce wraps.
- Like seafood? You could substitute a couple cans of baby shrimp for the chicken (or try sweet and sour shrimp lettuce wraps).
- Buy or make a different dipping sauce. Sweet chili sauce is really good with these wraps.
- Instead of lettuce, serve the chicken and vegetables on steamed rice. Try Instant Pot jasmine rice for perfect rice every time.
- Looking for a crispy wrap? Try air fryer crab rangoon or air fryer egg rolls.
Prepare the filling and sauce up to 3 days in advance. Refrigerate in tightly covered containers until ready to serve. Reheat the filling in skillet on stove or microwave it until warmed. Serve as directed.
Interested in a weekly meal plan (it’s free!) that includes these chicken lettuce wraps? Take a look at my Meal Plan #34. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. Let me do the planning for you this week!
We’ll be adding a new meal plan weekly. If you’re interested, browse all of our meal plans.
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
Filling
- 1 teaspoon oil (canola, avocado, or grapeseed work well)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 pound ground chicken breast (or lean ground turkey)
- 8 ounces mushrooms, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 cups coleslaw mix (or thinly shredded cabbage)
- 1 can (8 oz.) sliced water chestnuts, drained, and finely minced
- ½ cup thinly sliced green onions (scallions)
- ¼ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha, or to taste
- ⅓ cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
Dipping Sauce
- 4 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 to 2 teaspoons finely minced fresh ginger
To Serve
- 1 to 2 heads Bibb, butter, Romaine, or iceberg lettuce (rinsed and dried)
- chopped peanuts or crispy wonton strips for topping, optional
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat. Add vegetable oil, garlic and ginger. Sauté for about 30 seconds, and then add ground chicken, chopped mushrooms, and kosher salt. Cook, breaking up chicken as it cooks, about 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Add coleslaw mix (or shredded cabbage), water chestnuts, and green onions. Cook for about 2 minutes, until cabbage just starts to wilt. Drain any excess liquid from the pan.
- Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and Sriracha to taste. Cook and stir until chicken and vegetables are coated with the sauce and heated through. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
- To prepare dipping sauce, combine all ingredients and whisk to combine.
- To serve, carefully separate lettuce leaves. Place chicken mixture in the leaves and serve with sauce and chopped peanuts or crispy wonton strips, if desired.
Notes
- Makes approx. 5 cups of filling.
- If desired, filling can be served on steamed jasmine rice instead of lettuce.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Mmm I love PF Chang's lettuce wraps! Good to know about the overpowering lemon flavor…definitely saving this recipe to make soon! :)
These look perfect! I usually try to recreate burgers/sandwiches from restaurants!
I've never eaten at Pei Wei or PF Changs, but that looks really good. And I love the little one with the colander on her head! :)
The restaurant foods I have recreated at home are Olive Garden's Chicken and Gnocchi Soup and their Portobello Ravioli, Chevy's Sweet Corn Tomalito, and Subway's Southwest Sauce. In fact, I have a category on my blog for copycat recipes. http://edesiasnotebook.blogspot.com/search/label/Copycat%20Recipes
The lettuce wraps look easy, fresh, and yum – although, I will have to sub in tofu or tempeh for the chicken :) Can't wait to try them for myself!
I love chicken lettuce wraps – they were actually one of the very first things I learned to make in my tiny apartment. Your helper is totally adorable BTW – that colander fits perfectly ;)