These irresistible Asian chicken lettuce wraps are a perfect fusion of savory, sweet, and tangy all wrapped up in a crunchy lettuce vessel.
The combination of savory chicken, crunchy water chestnuts, and the medley of sauces create a wonderful Asian flavor that will leave you craving for more.
Whether you’re hosting a dinner party or looking for a quick and satisfying weeknight main dish, these wraps are a surefire way to keep it fresh and healthy.
With many people going on low carb diets, lettuce is a great substitute to use in place of bread.
Because, to be honest, bread is just a vessel for what’s inside of a sandwich.
So, lettuce ask you {see what we did there?} why not save a ton of carbs and use lettuce in place of bread for your some of your recipes?
Check out this Bon Apetit article explaining the best types of lettuce to use for wraps and cups, as well as the best fillings for them.
Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
This Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps recipe is super easy to make and a nice change from the typical meat + veggies + starch meal.
Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps Ingredients
For this Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps recipe, I already had some of the ‘staples’ ingredients that most people keep in their pantry.
Whatever you don’t already have, you can easily find in most local grocery stores.
Here’s list of ingredients:
- Vegetable Oil
- Sesame Oil
- Ground Chicken
- Salt
- Ground Black Pepper
- Onion
- Garlic
- Water Chestnuts
- Hoisin Sauce
- Soy Sauce or Coconut Aminos
- Apple Cider Vinegar or Rice Vinegar (also called Rice Wine Vinegar)
- Sweet Chili Sauce or Chili Paste
- Grated Ginger or Ground Ginger
- Butter Lettuce Leaves or Romaine Lettuce Leaves
As you can see from my photos, this is a great recipe that’s super easy to make!
Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps Step-By-Step Directions
Step 1: Cook Ground Chicken, Onion & Garlic
First, heat your oils over medium heat in a large skillet on your stove top.
Then add your ground chicken and break it up with a wooden spoon until the chicken is cooked through.
Once chicken is cooked through, add your onion and garlic to the chicken and cook for approximately 5 minutes or until onion is translucent..
Step 2: Create Asian Sauce & Add Water Chestnuts
Now, in a small bowl, whisk together hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, ginger, and sweet chili sauce.
Then, pour your whisked mixture over the cooked chicken mixture and stir well.
Simmer over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
Then, add in your chopped water chestnuts and stir well.
Step 3: Remove From Heat & Add Mixture to Lettuce Leaves
Lastly, remove ground chicken filling from heat and place 1/4 cup amounts of mixture into each lettuce leaf.
Serve immediately.
Other Ingredient Options and Substitutions
- If you don’t have ground chicken for your meat mixture, you can use lean ground beef, ground turkey or ground pork.
- I wasn’t able to find butter lettuce (which is easier to make lettuce cups) at my grocery store, so I used romaine lettuce and it worked great!
- Chopped green onions, toasted sesame seeds and bean sprouts would be great sprinkled on top of your chicken mixture.
- Make extra Asian sauce (mixture of hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, ginger, and sweet chili sauce) to use as a dipping sauce OR make a peanut sauce for dipping.
Serving Suggestions
This easy dinner recipe (very similar to Korean beef lettuce wraps) states that it serves 4 people, but I have a family of 3 and it was just enough.
So if you have a family who loves to eat, you may want to double this recipe based on the number of servings.
Some fantastic sides to go with this main dish recipe are:
- Jasmine Rice, White Rice, or Brown Rice
- Steamed Dumplings
- Cauliflower Rice
Although these are considered a dinner recipe, they’d also be great as a delicious appetizer in place of egg rolls which are higher in carbs.
My family loved this recipe!
It’s fun to be able to pick up your meal and not require utensils!
Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps Recipe
Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps: You Can’t Eat Just One!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 lb ground chicken
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, I used minced garlic
- 8 ounces water chestnuts (drained)
- ¼ cup hoisin sauce, I used Aldi's Thai Red Sauce
- 3 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 8 leaves romaine or butter lettuce
Instructions
- Heat oils over medium heat in a skillet.
- Add ground chicken and break up with a spatula until cooked through.
- Add chopped onion & garlic to ground chicken and cook for approximately 5 minutes or until onion is translucent.
- In a small bowl, whisk together hoisin sauce (or Aldi's Thai Red Sauce), soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, ginger, and sweet chili sauce (I omitted the sweet chili sauce based on my personal taste preference).
- Pour whisked mixture over cooked chicken mixture and stir well.
- Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add chopped water chestnuts to mixture and stir.
- Remove from heat and place 1/4 cup amounts of mixture into each lettuce leaf.
- Serve immediately.
For other yummy recipes, see our posts on:
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Easy Greek Tzatziki Bowl with Meatballs & Couscous
Healthy Chickpea Salad That Will Make You Happy
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Fantastic, easy recipe with tons of flavor! Like you, I also left out the sweet chili sauce, for preference.
Thank you so much! I love them!