Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps (Better than P.F. Chang’s)!
Posted Feb 29, 2016, Updated Dec 05, 2023
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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!
FAQs about Lettuce 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!
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!
Store
Store any leftover lettuce wrap filling in an airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Store leftover lettuce separately in the refrigerator, because storing them together will make the lettuce soggy.
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, or with a side of our favorite homemade fried rice, because it’s much easier for them to eat with a spoon than wrapped in a piece of lettuce!
They’re also a great appetizer, along with these spring rolls dipped in peanut sauce, to some of our favorite Asian meals, like cashew chicken, vegetable stir fry, Asian quinoa salad, and this baked crispy tofu.
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
Notes on ingredients:Â
- Ground chicken:Â Finely diced chicken breasts are a great substitute for ground chicken!
- Peanut Oil:Â 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:Â 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:Â If you have a peanut allergy any nut or seed butter could work here, but peanut butter definitely gives the best results!
Store
Store any leftover lettuce wrap filling in an airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Store leftover lettuce separately in the refrigerator, because storing them together will make the lettuce soggy.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I tried this recipe tonight and it was perfect! The taste of the sauce on the chicken was on point! My family and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Looking forward to trying more recipes from your site.
Thank you, Colette!
Can you freeze this and reheat at a later time?
Followed this chicken lettuce wraps recipe exactly and it was PERFECT. My whole family absolutely loved it!
Thank you so much Bobbi!
What about the rice vinegar?
Do you use it as you have a line through it?
This website has a feature where you can check off the ingredients as you add them, like a shopping list. You must have accidentally clicked on it. Try clicking on the check mark and it should disappear.
Excellent thank you! 2 thumbs up!
Delicious!
It was a last minute meal decision and I didn’t have water chestnuts nor peanuts on hand but it was a huge hit nevertheless. I doubled it and found it was just enough for 4 people even though the original recipe says it serves 6 (not in my household). I had a pack of Udon noodles that I ended up stir frying in the sauce that was left over in the pan and it was an easy and awesome meal. Recipe was perfect.
Amazing!! I doubled the sauce and next time I will quarter the water chestnuts but thanks for an incredible dish.
Thank you!
Laura,
Perfected the sauce is an understatement. You have created one of the most amazing dishes that we have had outside of an asian restaurant. We often find recipes lack the right flavour profiles, or in some recipes any flavour at all, that really capture true asian dishes. This recipe is absolutely perfect.
We will use this for years to come!
Thank you for developing this recipe. We will forever be grateful to you.
Thank you so much Allie! I’m so glad you love this recipe and thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me! <3
I made this on the spur of the moment to go on top of fried rice. It was delicious! I will love making it again, too.
Delicious 😋
I made this today for our female faculty luncheon, and it was a hit. I added diced carrots and some freshly grated ginger. I also served it with topping options of crushed peanuts, green onions, and cilantro. You can also top with fresh basil to give a Thai flare. I usually buy a ready-made packaged sauce, but I needed a gluten free option and this was perfect!
I’m so glad you love this recipe, Becky!