Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps (better than P.F. Chang’s)! A quick (less than 30 minutes), easy, and healthy dinner that tastes delicious! Gluten and dairy-free!
I know that’s a pretty bold claim…Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps you can make at home that are better than the beloved dish from P.F. Chang’s?! It may be bold, but it’s true! This Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps recipe is one that took me years of trial and error, and lots of taste-testing, to get it just right.
These Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps wraps are one of my favorite dinners (along with this cashew chicken stir fry). They are quick and easy and my whole family loves them. Even my kids eat them, and have tons of fun doing it!
How to make Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Let’s walk through the process of making this chicken lettuce wraps recipe step-by-step. Don’t forget to watch the video too!
Make the sauce
The first step in this lettuce wrap recipe is making the sauce. The sauce is the key to the flavor of this recipe. And I beg you not to tamper with the sauce. It is the part of this recipe that took me years to perfect, and is absolutely delicious as-is!
It’s really simple to make! Just whisk all the ingredients together. If you use a thicker peanut butter that is solid at room temperature, you may need ot warm it slightly before using it to make this Asian lettuce wraps recipe!
Make the Lettuce Wrap Filling
- Brown the ground chicken! This recipe is very straightforward! There is, however, one very important step and that is to brown the ground chicken. Making sure the chicken is nice and crispy and brown is essential to the overall flavor and texture of this dish!
- Use a Wok, Sauté pan, or a cast iron skillet. For traditional Asian recipes I love pulling out my wok. But as you can see in the photo above, a regular sauté pan or cast iron skillet works perfectly!
- Dice the vegetables very small. This is one of the keys to making sure every bite is bursting with both texture and flavor! Sometimes I even let my food processor do the chopping for me!
What lettuce is best for wraps?
There are three varieties of lettuce that I recommend to use when making these chicken lettuce wraps:
- Butterhead lettuce
- Green Leaf Lettuce
- Romaine Lettuce
Just be sure to choose a head of lettuce that has large and flexible enough leaves to use as a wrap!
How do you cut lettuce for lettuce wraps?
It’s actually very simple! Just cut the bottom part of the head of lettuce off. Then carefully peel away each lettuce leaf! Don’t forget to wash and dry the lettuce leaves before serving!
Serving Suggestions
I prefer to eat them the traditional way…as lettuce wraps! However, I usually serve these Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps to my kids over noodles or rice, because it’s much easier for them to eat with a spoon than wrapped in a piece of lettuce!
Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps: Ingredients & Substitutions
As always I recommend making this recipe exactly as it’s written! Like I said, I tested and retested this recipe more times than I can count to achieve lettuce wrap perfection! However, here are a few potential substitutions!
- Ground chicken: Finely diced chicken breasts are a great substitute for ground chicken! You can also use ground turkey or ground beef!
- Peanut Oil: Any oil can be used here if you don’t keep peanut on hand or if you have a peanut allergy. I recommend olive oil or avocado oil!
- Soy Sauce: If you have a soy allergy you can substitute coconut aminos for the soy sauce.
- Peanut Butter: If you have a peanut allergy any nut or seed butter could work here, but peanut butter definitely gives the best results!
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Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps (better than P.F. Chang's)!
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 TBS peanut oil
- ½ onion minced
- 1 cup red or green pepper diced
- 1 8 oz can water chestnuts drained and minced
For the Sauce:
- 3 TBS soy sauce*
- 3 TBS hoisin sauce**
- 1 TBS sesame oil
- 1 TBS rice vinegar
- 1 TBS peanut butter
- 1 TBS honey
- 2 tsp sweet chili sauce (Trader Joe’s!)
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp powdered ginger
To serve
- ¼ cup peanuts crushed.
- Lettuce or your favorite Asian salad
Instructions
- Whisk together sauce ingredients until well combined. If you use a firmer peanut butter you may need to microwave the mixture for 30-60 seconds in order to melt it and ensure everything is well-mixed.
- Heat 2 TBS peanut oil in a frying pan. Once hot, add ground chicken.
- Cook until some pieces are starting to brown. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion is becoming translucent.
- Add the peppers and water chestnuts and cook about 5 minutes or until peppers are becoming soft.
- Add sauce and simmer on low heat until the chicken and veggies are evenly coated and everything is heated through.
- Serve in lettuce leaves, on top of your favorite Asian salad, or over noodles or rice!
Video
Notes
- Ground chicken: Finely diced chicken breasts are a great substitute for ground chicken!
- Peanut Oil: Any oil can be used here if you don't keep peanut on hand or if you have a peanut allergy. I recommend olive oil or avocado oil!
- Soy Sauce: If you have a soy allergy you can substitute coconut aminos for the soy sauce.
- *be sure to choose a gluten-free soy sauce to keep this asian lettuce wraps recipe gluten-free, like this one.
- Hoisin sauce: **be sure to choose a gluten-free hoisin sauce to keep this recipe gluten-free, like this one.
- Peanut Butter: If you have a peanut allergy any nut or seed butter could work here, but peanut butter definitely gives the best results!
Nutrition
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Lisa
Amazing! My very picky 13 year old literally rolled his eyes back in pure delight while eating these. (I can’t believe he ate water chestnuts..) So flavorful. I’ve made them 3 times now using your recipe exactly and wouldn’t change a thing. I’ve never commented on a recipe before.
Laura
YAY! I love that Lisa! These are one of our favorites, I make them weekly!
Ana
So very good! Did not change a single thing and it came out amazing. It was also really nice to cook this with my niece. I did the chopping and she made the sauce. Honestly so quick, easy and delicious!
Nicole
I’ve made this plenty of times just never commented but it’s super tasty. I do add almond butter instead of peanut butter because my son and husband are allergic to peanuts and taste super good! Thanks for the recipe.
Erin Hancock
By far the tastiest, fastest & easiest chicken lettuce wrap recipe I’ve ever tried. Because my husband cooks Asian noodle soups frequently, we’ve always got most of the ingredients on hand, making this a great choice for dinner when we don’t have a lot of time to go shopping for ingredients. My eight yr old loves them & although he’s not a picky eater, I would think even picky kids would love this.
Cara
I made this tonight for myself and my boyfriend. He had never had lettuce wraps before and totally loved these. The crushed peanuts on top added just the right amount of crunch to the wrap! I used rotisserie chicken meat instead of ground chicken/chicken breasts and just heated the meat through. The sauce has just the right amount of KICK/SPICE to it. It was a hit!
Kathy Daniels
This was wonderful! I have never had PF Chang’s version but I loved them when Chili’s had them a million years ago. I have been looking for a familiar tasting recipe ever since and this filled the bill! I served them with a raw shredded coleslaw mix and carrot straws/shreds. We used romaine, but I think the original butter lettuce would be the best. YUM!
Andrea
The sauce is the best! The only thing I changes was to use fresh ginger and garlic. I’ve made these 3 times now, and they are wonderful! I always sneak in a few extra veggies. Diced zucchini, mushrooms, carrots and celery. Thank you so much for such a fantastic recipe!
Laura
YES! I’m all about adding more veggies!
Gloria
Hi there. Second time making this and it is so delicious. Unfortunately, I think my son has not only peanut and shellfish allergies but he just informed me that he thinks soy is also a problem. And I just made a huge batch of this. Ugh. My question is, have you ever frozen this?
Please let me know as soon as possible… I really do want to eat all of this in one sitting. Lol.
Laura
Hey Gloria! You could definitely freeze this! Or store it in the refrigerator to enjoy for lunches for the week!
Lacey
This looks delicious! Can’t wait to try this recipe! What brand hoisin sauce would you recommend?
Laura
I always use Lee Kim Kee http://amzn.to/2z5sCSZ
Nancy
Yummy. Didn’t fry in oil, used spray. Didn’t have mushroom, nuts or water chestnuts. Used onion, green pepper and carrots. Would be nice over noodles, might add scallions, but didn’t have those either. Lol..i also added a squirt of srirascha sauce. Served with spring rolls (from frozen)
Sheila
This was a hit at my house.. The only difference was: Pepper on chicken while sautéing, added shredded carrots, shredded cabbage, small can of bamboo shoots, left out bell pepper. Used 1 tsp chili garlic sauce and 1 tsp sweet chili sauce.
Maxine Kaufman-Lacusta
Fantastic, even though I used Wowbutter and substituted Oyster-flavoured sauce for Hoisin and mushrooms for the water chestnuts I didn’t have. Still tasted great served over mix if konjak noodles and “courgetti” (vegetti made with zucchini)
Laura
Sounds delicious!
Lindsay
I hardly comment but wanted to say that this was really good. Having a food processor def helps. It was declious . Thank you! I did sub gluten free for everything and it was still really good. Makes up for not being able to order in .
Laura
Thank you for your comment Lindsay! It means so much to me that you took the time to let me know you enjoyed these Lettuce Wraps!!!
Rosanna Zranchev
This was delicious and better than pf chang’s!! Only thing I substituted was jicama instead of water chestnuts. The recipe was simple and fast, perfect for dinner!
Jennifer P
Absolutely delicious! My whole family loved it! I didn’t change a thing about the recipe (besides switching apple cider vinegar for rice vinegar – I was out), and I wouldn’t change a thing – except make a double recipe for more leftovers!
Laura
Thank you Jennifer!!!
Christine
I made this for supper tonight, and the whole family got a kick out of making their own wraps. This was delicious, I wouldn’t change a thing.
Jenna Sayman
I did the chopping and she made the sauce. Honestly so quick, easy and delicious!
Jenna
Gloria
WOW!!! Absolutely delicious. We have a severe peanut allergy in the house so I used olive oil and almond butter…still amazing. High praise for your discerning palate! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
Laura
Thank you so much for letting me know your peanut-free version turned out well!! That’s so helpful for all my readers who have a peanut allergy!
Stacey
Absolutely delicious! So glad I doubled the recipe as it is just as good the next day. If you have the veggies chopped ahead of time, it would be a quick weeknight meal. Definitely a keeper!
Kennedy
Great! The whole family loves this, good w/out a side : )
Bill
Which type of lettuce would you use ?
Emma
Bill, I would think any type of lettuce they are all sooooooo good! We have Bibb and Butter lettuce growing like crazy so time to try this recipe.
Megan
Hello!
What would you recommend as a side dish for with these? They sound delicious!
Thanks,
Megan
Laura
Hey Megan! I often serve them with rice or noodles! Cauliflower rice is also a great low-carb choice! Or more stir-fried veggies!
Nancy
Hi Laura,
My husband and I made these lettuce wraps tonight for dinner. We recently purchased a wok, and he was dying to try it out. We both loved these! They are SO good, and it was really easy to make them! Thank you for sharing! I’m excited to check out your other recipes! Thanks again!
Laura
Thank you so much Nancy! I’m so glad you enjoyed them, and cooking in a wok is so fun! 😉
Susan
Really Wonderful! We served it on cauli-rice to keep it low carb. This is definitely going to be a keeper! Thank you!
Laura
Love that idea Susan! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!