We have a lot of recipes on this site. Some of them we know are obvious reader favorites, and others are sort of hidden gems. This Asian lettuce wrap recipe I felt was one of those hidden ones, which is why I didn’t even notice when somehow it didn’t make it over to our new site when we re-designed. But apparently a lot of you noticed! We got tons of facebook comments and emails from panicked readers asking where the recipe was because it was a family favorite. (I wish I had known that- it might have not gotten axed in the cook book cuts!) Thanks to some helpful facebook fans, I was able to track down the recipe so I could get it back on the site. It’s been a long time since I made these, and seriously I forgot how good they were. No joke- I couldn’t stop eating them!
So today’s post is short and sweet. I wanted to get this recipe back up and in our index. I did make some minor changes, mostly to make measuring and prepping easier (and not as time consuming), and also to improve the sauce. This recipe was originally created for a healthy food month so it’s incredibly lean and filled with good-for-you ingredients (unlike those famed restaurant lettuce wraps which are calorie-packed and fattening). These are lean chicken and vegetables which get tons of flavors from fresh ingredients like garlic, lemon, ginger, and onion.
The easiest way to eat Asian lettuce wraps is to roll them up sort of like a burrito. You can dip the roll into the sauce, but since the chicken mixture is crumbly and the sauce is thin I find it easier to just drizzle some on top before rolling it up.
You could serve these as an appetizer, or pair them with some fried rice for a great dinner!
Asian Lettuce Wraps
- Yield: 5 cups chicken mixture
Ingredients
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 lb ground chicken*
- 3 ounces mushrooms, finely chopped (about 8 small mushrooms)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 4 cups bagged coleslaw mix or thinly shredded cabbage
- 1 8oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained, rinsed, and finely minced
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
- 4 Tbs soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced (about 3–4 Tbs juice)
- 1/2–1 tsp sriracha or other hot sauce (1 tsp of Sriracha is fairly spicy in my opinion, so if you want less or no kick, just give it a little, or you can leave it out completely)
- 1/3 C roughly chopped cilantro
- 1–2 heads iceberg lettuce
- DIPPING SAUCE
- 4 Tbs soy sauce
- 4 Tbs rice vinegar
- 3 Tbs water
- 2 tsp honey
- 1–2 tsp finely minced fresh ginger
Instructions
Heat a very large skillet to medium-high heat on the stove top. When hot, add vegetable oil and then garlic and ginger. Saute for about 30 seconds, until fragrant, and then add ground chicken, chopped mushrooms, and kosher salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until chicken is cooked through. (*At this point, sometimes I have some extra liquid in the pan from the chicken. If it’s quite a bit, I tilt the pan and spoon it out so the chicken can cook and not boil.) Add cabbage/coleslaw, water chestnuts, and green onions. Cook for about 2 minutes, until cabbage starts to wilt. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, the zest from the lemon and the lemon juice, and hot sauce to taste. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
To prepare dipping sauce, combine all ingredients and whisk to combine.
To serve, carefully remove the individual leaves from the head of lettuce. (The closer you get to the center, the easier it becomes!) Place chicken mixture in the leaves and serve with sauce.
Notes
*To prepare your own ground chicken, cut boneless skinless chicken breasts into large chunks and pulse in a food processor until ground.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 14 - 16 wraps
- Calories: 253kcal
- Sugar: 9g
- Sodium: 1513mg
- Fat: 11g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 21g
- Fiber: 6g
- Protein: 22g
- Cholesterol: 78mg
Asian Lettuce Wraps
Recipe by Our Best Bites
2 tsp canola oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 lb ground chicken*
3 ounces mushrooms, finely chopped (about 8 small mushrooms)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 C bagged coleslaw mix or thinly shredded cabbage
1 8oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained, rinsed, and finely minced
1/2 C thinly sliced green onions
4 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 lemon, zested and juiced (about 3-4 Tbs juice)
1/2-1 tsp sriracha or other hot sauce (1 tsp of Sriracha is fairly spicy in my opinion, so if you want less or no kick, just give it a little, or you can leave it out completely)
1/3 C roughly chopped cilantro
1-2 heads iceberg lettuce
*To prepare your own ground chicken, cut boneless skinless chicken breasts into large chunks and pulse in a food processor until ground.
Dipping/Drizzling Sauce
4 Tbs soy sauce
4 Tbs rice vinegar
3 Tbs water
2 tsp honey
1-2 tsp finely minced fresh ginger
Heat a very large skillet to medium-high heat on the stove top. When hot, add vegetable oil and then garlic and ginger. Saute for about 30 seconds, until fragrant, and then add ground chicken, chopped mushrooms, and kosher salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until chicken is cooked through. (*At this point, sometimes I have some extra liquid in the pan from the chicken. If it’s quite a bit, I tilt the pan and spoon it out so the chicken can cook and not boil.) Add cabbage/coleslaw, water chestnuts, and green onions. Cook for about 2 minutes, until cabbage starts to wilt. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, the zest from the lemon and the lemon juice, and hot sauce to taste. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
To prepare dipping sauce, combine all ingredients and whisk to combine.
To serve, carefully remove the individual leaves from the head of lettuce. (The closer you get to the center, the easier it becomes!) Place chicken mixture in the leaves and serve with sauce.
Yield: about 5 C chicken mixture. Makes 14-16 lettuce wraps.
And hey- if you already love this recipe, or another recipe that you’ve never commented on, make sure to leave a comment today! That’s one of our best indicators of the kinds of things you all like (and therefore the kinds of recipes we create for you). Plus it just makes us super happy to hear from you guys 🙂 Thanks to everyone who asked about these lettuce wraps- it’s going to be appearing a lot in my own menu this month!
Questions & Reviews
I have to make this…I have my week’s menu planned out, but forget it, this looks ridiculously good!
Thanks for posting this! I’ve been wanting to try Lettuce Wraps for a long time but hadn’t found a recipe that looked good to me. I’m adding this one to my menu this week!
P.S. I have just discovered your site (I know, I’m behind) and I love it!
I’ve seen Weight Watchers points on some of your recipes. Is that something you will be doing from now on? I’d love to know the points on this recipe!!! Just had the restaurant version last week…feeling the guilt and now wanting to try this one to add to my healthier choices at home. Lettuce wraps are one of my dh’s favorites!
I love these wraps and so does my family. They are especially yummy in the summer with fresh stuff from our garden. I’m so glad they are back!
can’t wait to try this one!
These look fabulous–I’m going to try them this week with the fried rice. Made your spicy honey chicken AND Asian BBQ chicken over the weekend (it’s finally grilling weather) and they were both soooooo yummy. I have your cookbook on order–it’s supposed to arrive on Wednesday and I can’t wait! You gals are awesome!
Any ideas for a substitute instead of the mushrooms? Can’t wait to try it out!
This recipe and the pot sticker one is one of my favorites of all time.. Mmm… I might have to make some pot stickers now.
Emily, this is SO totally off-topic, but I remember you from BBC and was seriously just thinking about you. How’s your husband doing?
He’s doing great! Thank you so much for asking. He’s completely cancer-free now and we are hoping he stays in remission forever. I totally should have come to your cookbook signing in Orem and said hi.
I’m drooling! Can’t wait to try it. Why did I have to see this in the a.m.? ack!
Thanks so much for adding the recipe back! I love to look up your recipes on my phone and just follow from there! This was my first recipe of yours I tried and fell in love! Sending you girls {{{{HUGS}}}}Because of your recipes my husband now brags that I have now mastered the art of cooking!
Funny I was just looking for a recipe like this on Friday—happy Day, found it here. =)
I am trying this tonight!!!! Thanks for bringing it back! I love this sort of recipe. Your Asian BBQ chicken is a regular at my house now. We love it!! Thanks for all your great ideas. My husband laughs at me; I talk about you and Kate like you are my friends!
these look delicious! Can’t wait to try them 🙂
Love chicken lettuce wraps (and shrimp lettuce wraps). My recipe is a little different (read: more fattening) so maybe I can incorporate a little of both 🙂
These look wonderful! I think I’m going to veto the lettuce and try the filling in rice paper wrappers as spring rolls… can’t wait to try it!
So, I’ve never bought ground chicken before. Is it packaged the same as ground beef? For some reason that kind of freaks me out. The first time I saw this recipe I believe it said that they are NOT like the ones from PF Changs, so I never tried them. Now that I hear they are a favorite among readers I am going to have to give them a try. Right now anything fresh sounds SO good.
When I’ve seen it is comes in the meat tray type packaging. I’ve use it a few times. Just add a bit of fat to cook it since its so lean. I almost burned it my first attempt.
I love lettuce wraps and these look great! Thanks for the recipe 😀
Those look so yummy! I definatley NEED to try these. My sister once made something similar to this when me and my brother when we were young, And I still think about them! I think its my duty to check these out now, for, you know, My Brother. yeah, For him. 🙂
These look great. We love lettuce wraps from Pei Wei or PF Changs. Can’t wait to try these.
Love the recipes and love the site. I do have one suggestion. I like emailing myself recipes while browsing on my lunch break at work. Then, I go through them when I get home and have them readily available. I would love an email option on each post in addition to the Facebook, Tweet, StumbleUpon, etc. options.
Thanks! Keep the awesome recipes coming.
I love lettuce wraps, excited to try this!
Just a question, which actually fits a lot of recipes. I am mildly allergic to ginger, so I usually skip recipes with it in it, but this looks too good to skip! Is there a good substitute or is it one of those things I should/can leave out all together? Thanks for any advice!
I absolutely adore your website. I refer everyone I know to it and am constantly sending them the links to your site for things I make for parties and get togethers.
I love to add rice in with my wraps to make it a full meal- so good!
These look delicious! I’ve been following your site since august of last year. I was searching for a good chocolate chip cookie recipe. Being an avid baker, I was less than satisfied with previous recipes. I tried the chewy chocolate chip recipe and was sold. I’ve been following your site and trying recipes ever since!
We love lettuce wraps and these look really good. I have been reading your site for a long time and I somehow missed these. I am so glad that you posted them again.
These look wonderful! Thank you for sharing – I will be trying them!
I’ve always tried recreating the PF Changs lettuce wraps but in a healthier way. These look healthy and beautiful! Thank you!
Just one question, how spicy is this? I have a 3 year old who is not too keen on hot stuff. This sounds wonderful, I can’t wait to try it! I bit the bullet, I ordered your cook book today!! I can’t wait till it gets here!!
Melissa- the only spicy thing in there is the hot sauce, which is why it says to do it to taste. You can just add a few drops for flavor, or leave it out entirely. I used 1 tsp of Sriracha in this last batch and thought they were pretty spicy, but then my 3 year old didn’t even bat an eye- so you never know! lol Just leave it out if you’re worried and they won’t be spicy at all.
Definitely going to try these! I LOVE lettuce wraps!
Looks yum! Will try it tomorrow! I also love you’re asian salad by the way! It’s often my go to salad for work lunches! P.S. Just discovered you’re website 2 weeks ago! I’m in love with it! You ladies are lovely.
I’ve been looking for a healthy chicken lettuce wrap recipe. Thank you! I can’t wait to try this.