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This quick and easy chicken lettuce wrap recipe is bursting with flavor. Ground chicken mixed with onion, ginger, garlic, water chestnuts, carrots, and more! These chicken lettuce wraps are tossed in a super flavorful hoisin sauce and sriracha for heat. These chicken lettuce wraps are the perfect low carb dinner or lunch.
Vegetable prep
The most time consuming part of this recipe is prepping all the vegetables to go into the filling and for the garnish. Cooking the chicken lettuce wrap filling is very quick, so you want to have all ingredients prepped.
Vegetable tips
- Peel your ginger skin with a spoon by scraping the skin off. This allows you to easily get in between any nubs sticking out and you don’t waste any ginger.
- Grate fresh carrots by peeling them, cutting the root tip off, then using a box grater. Freshly grated carrots give you a more pleasant texture than store bought in this recipe.
- When using green onions in a dish, I separate the dark green from the lighter green/white. I cook the lighter colored stem of the green onion to soften them within the dish and then use the darker green tops of the green onion for garnish.
Cooking the chicken lettuce wrap filling
- First is cooking the ground chicken. I season the chicken with shichimi togarashi, which is a Japanese 7 spice blend. Ground chicken is bland, so this will help season it and begin flavoring the dish.
- Ground chicken cooks quickly and break it up with a spoon/spatula as you cook. Ground chicken turns white when fully cooked and takes about 5-7 minutes over medium/high heat. Once cooked, remove from the skillet and set aside in a bowl.
- After removing the chicken, lower the heat to medium and add some more sesame oil. Add the onions and sauté till softened about 4 minutes.
- Add in the minced ginger and garlic, sauté with the onion for one minute till fragrant.
- Return the cooked chicken back into the skillet and any juices that are in the bowl.
- Mix the chicken, onion, garlic, and ginger together.
- The sauce consists of: hoisin, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sriracha. You want to make sure you are getting low sodium ingredients and you can also substitute them with the coconut amino soy-free based products too.
- Add all the sauce ingredients onto the chicken. If you don’t want it spicy, omit the sriracha and you can serve it on the side.
- Mix until all the chicken is coated in the sauce.
- Add in the shredded carrots, chopped water chestnuts, green onion stem, and fresh cilantro.
Mix all the ingredients together and allow the flavors to meld for 3 minutes, then remove from the heat.
Assembling the chicken lettuce wraps
To assemble the chicken lettuce wraps, first lay down a butter lettuce cup. Next, add 2-3 spoons of the chicken lettuce wrap filling. Garnish with chopped peanuts, freshly chopped cilantro, and green onion. If you enjoy spicy, also add additional sriracha on top.
Storing the chicken lettuce wraps
Store the chicken lettuce wraps filling (without garnish and lettuce cup) in an airtight container. It will keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. To reheat, use the reheat feature on the microwave and then proceed to assemble and garnish.
Looking for more Asian inspired dishes?
- Vegetable Lo Mein
- Shishito Pepper with Soy Garlic Sauce
- Szechuan Cold Sesame Noodles
- Red Chicken Curry
- Spicy Chicken Stir Fry
- Spicy Peanut Salad
- Healthier Gobi Manchurian
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Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 2 tablespoon sesame oil (divided)
- 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 medium carrots (peeled and grated (1 1/4 cup) (see note #1))
- 2 inches ginger (peeled and minced (see note #2))
- 8 ounces water chestnuts (roughly chopped)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (+ more for garnish)
- 2 green onions sliced (dark green and light green/white separated (see note #5))
- 1 teaspoon shichimi togarashi
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce (see note #3)
- 1 tablespoon sriracha (see note #4)
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1/3 cup unsalted roasted peanuts (roughly chopped)
- 1 head butter lettuce
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Instructions
- In a high walled skillet, over medium/high heat, add 2 tbsp sesame oil. Add in the ground chicken and shichimi togarashi. Cook the chicken through 5-7 minutes, breaking it up as it cooks. Chicken will be white when fully cooked. Using a spoon, remove the chicken from the skillet and set it aside in a bowl.
- Lower the heat to medium, add 1 tbsp sesame oil. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add in the minced garlic and ginger, sauté for 1 minute until fragrant. Return the chicken back into the skillet (including any juices) and mix with the onion, garlic, and ginger.
- Add in the hoisin, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sriracha. Mix until chicken is fully coated. Add in the grated carrot, chopped water chestnuts, 1/4 cup cilantro, and the light green/white green onions. Mix all the ingredients together and allow the flavors to meld for 3 minutes, then remove from the heat.
- To assemble the lettuce cups: lay a butter lettuce cup down and add 2-3 spoons of filling. Garnish with chopped peanuts, dark green onions, cilantro, and additional sriracha.
Notes
- Carrots: Grate fresh carrots by peeling them, cutting the root tip off, then using a box grater. Freshly grated carrots give you a more pleasant texture than store bought in this recipe. See in-post for photos.
- Ginger: Peel your ginger skin with a spoon by scraping the skin off. This allows you to easily get in between any nubs sticking out and you don’t waste any ginger.
- Sauce: Use low sodium ingredients. The hoisin and soy sauce can also be substituted with coconut amino based hoisin and soy sauce.
- Sriracha: If you do not like spicy, skip the sriracha in the sauce and serve it on the side
- Green onion: When using green onions in a dish, I separate the dark green from the lighter green/white. I cook the lighter colored stem of the green onion to soften them within the dish and then use the darker green tops of the green onion for garnish. See in post for photo.
- Storing: Store the chicken lettuce wrap filling (without garnish and lettuce cup) in an airtight container. It will keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. To reheat, use the reheat feature on the microwave and then proceed to assemble and garnish.
