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:
- 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!
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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This review is just for the sauce: I tried out your blend for sauce on my take of a healthy turkey lettuce wrap and oh my goodness, the sauce is INCREDIBLE! Definitely a keeper in my books for regular meal prep rotation. Thanks so much!! In case anyone is curious, my meat filling includes 1lb of Jenny-O low fat ground turkey, 1 medium zucchini diced, 1 cup of diced mushrooms, 3 thinly sliced green onions, 1/2 cup of shredded carrot, and an 8oz. can of water chestnuts (drained and chopped). Most of the prep work is taken care of by my vegetable chopper/dicer (around $15-20 on Amazon). To bump up the spice, I also serve this with some Sambal Oelek on the side to add as you eat!
Thank you Kristie! I’m SO glad you enjoyed them!
Thank you Kristie! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
These are by far the best lettuce wraps I have tried, and I will definitely make them again. My family all loved them as well. Thank you so much:)
YAY! I love hearing that Rebecca! Thanks for stopping by to let me know you loved them!
Amazing!!! Made it for the boyfriend, he loved it! I love the peanut butter in the sauce. Our usually lettuce wrap recipe isnt as good as this one, thank you thank you!
YAY! So glad you loved them Elizabeth!
No, I have not tried a food processor for chopping veggies. Good idea!
I like your additions. Those would extend the meat a bit more. I also like how you did the veggie chopping ahead. I doubled the recipe, but found it took more than double the time due to all the chopping. I’m used to that, and to recipes that usually say they take less time than they do.
It was delicious. I had some collard greens I needed to use up, so I used those for the wraps. My husband preferred using knife and fork, the second night I stir fried the rest of the collards with the swiss chard I served alongside, made some quinoa, and served the veggies and meat on top of the quinoa. Delicious! A little sweet, so I may leave out the honey in the future, or at least reduce it.
Good for breakfast, too!
Have you tried chopping your veggies in a food processor? It cuts down prep time significantly! 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed it, I love the idea of using collard greens too!
I made this recipe last night for my boyfriend and it was perfect!
Simple, Fun, and hands down delicious.
I pre-made the sauce and replaced the soy with coconut amino s; and pre-choppped the veggies for a quick and easy assemble for when we were ready to eat.
I added finely chopped carrots and mushrooms, green onion, and chopped cashews for a crunch on top.
I simply loved your recipe, thank you for sharing! 🙂
I’m SO glad you enjoyed it Jessica!! Love your additions too!!
Delicious! A little sweet for my taste so I may leave the honey out next time, but still very very good. Even very picky hubby who has never touched a lettuce wrap loved them. Thanks for the great recipe!
LOL! I always think of Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec when I make salad for my husband. When asked if he wanted salad he replied, “Since I am not a rabbit, no, I would not. LOL! I’m so glad you both enjoyed these!
Going to make this tonight! When you serve it for dinner, what else do you serve with it?
Hey Sandy! I ususally serve it just in wraps for Ritch and I! For the kids I serve it with rice or noodles!
Hi! Made these tonight and they are wonderful! One question though do you think this could be made ahead and frozen?
Can this be made ahead and frozen?
This is the 4th time I’ve made this wonderful recipe and it just keeps getting better. I add chopped carrots and mushrooms with fresh garlic and ginger. I’m also interested if it can be frozen?
You are my hero. This is phenomenal- I had thought in order to eat this my favourite meal,, I had to go to an Asian restaurant and pay $40. Your recipe is not only exactly like theirs but better. I can’t believe you figured the Thai chicken wrap recipe out. Thank you! I plan on making this exact recipe for the rest of my culinary life! 🙏
I just have to rave about this recipe, specifically the sauce! After making a number of Asian inspired recipes and always being disappointed with the sauce (either completely lacking flavor, being too salty, etc), my expectations were low. BUT, this sauce is literally perfect in every way. Your years of perfecting it paid off because it is the BEST!