We have a lot of recipes on this site. Some of them we know are obvious reader favorites, and others are sort of hidden gems. This Asian lettuce wrap recipe I felt was one of those hidden ones, which is why I didn’t even notice when somehow it didn’t make it over to our new site when we re-designed. But apparently a lot of you noticed! We got tons of facebook comments and emails from panicked readers asking where the recipe was because it was a family favorite. (I wish I had known that- it might have not gotten axed in the cook book cuts!) Thanks to some helpful facebook fans, I was able to track down the recipe so I could get it back on the site. It’s been a long time since I made these, and seriously I forgot how good they were. No joke- I couldn’t stop eating them!
So today’s post is short and sweet. I wanted to get this recipe back up and in our index. I did make some minor changes, mostly to make measuring and prepping easier (and not as time consuming), and also to improve the sauce. This recipe was originally created for a healthy food month so it’s incredibly lean and filled with good-for-you ingredients (unlike those famed restaurant lettuce wraps which are calorie-packed and fattening). These are lean chicken and vegetables which get tons of flavors from fresh ingredients like garlic, lemon, ginger, and onion.
The easiest way to eat Asian lettuce wraps is to roll them up sort of like a burrito. You can dip the roll into the sauce, but since the chicken mixture is crumbly and the sauce is thin I find it easier to just drizzle some on top before rolling it up.
You could serve these as an appetizer, or pair them with some fried rice for a great dinner!
Asian Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 lb ground chicken*
- 3 ounces mushrooms finely chopped (about 8 small mushrooms)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 4 cups bagged coleslaw mix or thinly shredded cabbage
- 1 8 oz can sliced water chestnuts drained, rinsed, and finely minced
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
- 4 Tbs soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 lemon zested and juiced (about 3-4 Tbs juice)
- 1/2-1 tsp sriracha or other hot sauce 1 tsp of Sriracha is fairly spicy in my opinion, so if you want less or no kick, just give it a little, or you can leave it out completely
- 1/3 C roughly chopped cilantro
- 1-2 heads iceberg lettuce
- DIPPING SAUCE
- 4 Tbs soy sauce
- 4 Tbs rice vinegar
- 3 Tbs water
- 2 tsp honey
- 1-2 tsp finely minced fresh ginger
Instructions
- Heat a very large skillet to medium-high heat on the stove top. When hot, add vegetable oil and then garlic and ginger. Saute for about 30 seconds, until fragrant, and then add ground chicken, chopped mushrooms, and kosher salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until chicken is cooked through. (*At this point, sometimes I have some extra liquid in the pan from the chicken. If it's quite a bit, I tilt the pan and spoon it out so the chicken can cook and not boil.) Add cabbage/coleslaw, water chestnuts, and green onions. Cook for about 2 minutes, until cabbage starts to wilt. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, the zest from the lemon and the lemon juice, and hot sauce to taste. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
- To prepare dipping sauce, combine all ingredients and whisk to combine.
- To serve, carefully remove the individual leaves from the head of lettuce. (The closer you get to the center, the easier it becomes!) Place chicken mixture in the leaves and serve with sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Asian Lettuce Wraps
Recipe by Our Best Bites
2 tsp canola oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 lb ground chicken*
3 ounces mushrooms, finely chopped (about 8 small mushrooms)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 C bagged coleslaw mix or thinly shredded cabbage
1 8oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained, rinsed, and finely minced
1/2 C thinly sliced green onions
4 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 lemon, zested and juiced (about 3-4 Tbs juice)
1/2-1 tsp sriracha or other hot sauce (1 tsp of Sriracha is fairly spicy in my opinion, so if you want less or no kick, just give it a little, or you can leave it out completely)
1/3 C roughly chopped cilantro
1-2 heads iceberg lettuce
*To prepare your own ground chicken, cut boneless skinless chicken breasts into large chunks and pulse in a food processor until ground.
Dipping/Drizzling Sauce
4 Tbs soy sauce
4 Tbs rice vinegar
3 Tbs water
2 tsp honey
1-2 tsp finely minced fresh ginger
Heat a very large skillet to medium-high heat on the stove top. When hot, add vegetable oil and then garlic and ginger. Saute for about 30 seconds, until fragrant, and then add ground chicken, chopped mushrooms, and kosher salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until chicken is cooked through. (*At this point, sometimes I have some extra liquid in the pan from the chicken. If it’s quite a bit, I tilt the pan and spoon it out so the chicken can cook and not boil.) Add cabbage/coleslaw, water chestnuts, and green onions. Cook for about 2 minutes, until cabbage starts to wilt. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, the zest from the lemon and the lemon juice, and hot sauce to taste. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
To prepare dipping sauce, combine all ingredients and whisk to combine.
To serve, carefully remove the individual leaves from the head of lettuce. (The closer you get to the center, the easier it becomes!) Place chicken mixture in the leaves and serve with sauce.
Yield: about 5 C chicken mixture. Makes 14-16 lettuce wraps.
And hey- if you already love this recipe, or another recipe that you’ve never commented on, make sure to leave a comment today! That’s one of our best indicators of the kinds of things you all like (and therefore the kinds of recipes we create for you). Plus it just makes us super happy to hear from you guys 🙂 Thanks to everyone who asked about these lettuce wraps- it’s going to be appearing a lot in my own menu this month!
Questions & Reviews
My family LOVED this! Thanks for the great recipies
Tried this for the first time today and I really like it. I’m not a huge fan of soy sauce, ginger or sesame oil but this recipe has gone a long way in converting me. My kids liked these wraps, despite having to drink lots of water between bites because I may have added a teeny bit too much sriracha. I’ll be making these often in the future, thanks for the great recipe!
These look delicious! Someone mentioned that they made these as a freezer meal. I would love to freeze half of the mixture to have on hand, but I keep imagining soggy cabbage. Do you have any freezing tips?
I have frozen this before, and one thing I’ve done then is actually process the cabbage in my food processor first. That way it’s so small that you don’t get big soggy chunks!
YUM!! These lettuce wraps look healthy & super easy! 🙂
So delicious! This receipe made it into the “Top 5 Favorite Meals” for my husband and that’s really saying something! Thanks for the recipe and also for the tip on grinding your own chicken!
i’m adding these to next week’s menu. yum!
Yummmmmmyyyyy!!!!!! Just made these for dinner and I am in love!!!!!!!!! As a plus they are also gluten free, which is great because my husband thinks he could have a food allergy. The kids even like them. I pulsed my own chicken-thanks for the tip.
These were yummy! My husband is on a low fat diet, I used less oil and this filled the bill. I think he ate 4 romaine taco style wraps.
Just made these for dinner. They were wonderful! Didn’t really need the sauce. The filling was super juicy & so flavorful.
I made these for dinner tonight and they were scrumptious! My husband had a bit of a hard time keeping his wraps from falling apart, but we eventually figured out the best size for the lettuce and it was a great meal. Thanks! You guys rock!
This can feed an army! And it was very delicious, as all of your recipes are!
These were awesome! I actually got my husband to cook these because I was out working, and he said they were super simple! Can’t wait to make them again!
I made this tonight and I made it with ground turkey, it was great!!! Thanks!!!
Thanks for adding this comment … I thought I had ground chicken in the freezer, but must have used it for something? so I came back to see if anyone had tried ground turkey because that’s all that I had on hand. I’m giving it a go tomorrow with the ground turkey since it worked for you!
Holy delcious Batman! I can’t wait to try these! I’ll never have to go to Chili’s again!
I made these tonight, and I just wanted to say that they were DELICIOUS! Totally worth the hurricane that looked like it blew through my kitchen (I also made wontons, and I have zero counter space). I think the lemon and the ginger really make this recipe. Thanks!
I am so glad you deviated from your no ‘cream of something’ soup rule. We love these potatoes and I am always up for trying new recipes for them, although the one you have here is exactly the same as the one I use when I make them! I’m a fairly new reader and love your blog. Am getting your new book this weekend too – thanks!
Just discovered you gals through a LDS living article. Love your recipes and can’t wait to try this one! Thanks! 🙂
Thanks for reposting this! I was actually searching for it on your blog a couple of weeks ago and was sad when I couldn’t find it!
Made these last night with your fried rice recipe and the table was quiet…since they were all busy eating! Everyone liked it…thanks for great recipes…as always!
This recipe is amazing!! It was one of the first things I made from your site and I love it!
I can’t wait to try this, i love lettuce wraps!!
LOVED LOVED LOOOOOVVEED this recipe!!! I made it tonite for dinner and it was so incredibly good!!! I could eat it everyday! mmm…. this definately goes in my repritore of tried n true favs.
I’ve made this recipe several times, once for a freezer meal swap we do and everyone has loved it! Seeing it again reminds me how much I enjoyed it and will make me pull it out again.
I LOVE your site! I just stumbled upon it last week and have already made the balloon wreath and chocolate waffles. I’m now pretty obsessed with both.
Do you think this recipe would work with ground turkey as well?
Sure Summer. I prefer the taste of chicken, but turkey would be fine!
My mom just said “We have some ground chicken” we should make some lettuce wraps. I said, “Let me go search for a recipe online there’s bound to be one somewhere.” She said “Check Our Best Bites”.
And what do you know? It’s the top spot!
I think I make your Italian Turkey Soup about 2-3 times a month. It’s so fast, cheap, and healthy as well as being delicious. Can’t wait to try these lettuce wraps.
Hi, Sara and Kate!
Why it is I get the biggest smile on my face when my desktop announces that I have another great message from you waiting in my inbox. I have tried so many of your recipes and have bought your cookbook. For me, you have made cooking fun again! Thanks a ton! Diane
Love your website. Everything I’ve made has been a hit with family and friends. Thanks for sharing so many great recipes and ideas. It’s made cooking fun again! I am having trouble viewing the “how to frost cupcakes” video. Any suggestions? I love the idea and want to try it out. Thanks.
Nancy, apparently Dropshots, the company I was hosting it with, deleted my whole album of videos! I’m trying to find a hard copy on my computer. If I can’t, I’ll just shoot another video. 🙂
Sara, dont’t worry about these making the cookbook cut. They can go in your NEXT cookbook. *hint hint*
I made these for my family last night along with the fried rice and everybody LOVED both recipes! Thanks for the ideas. I just thought I’d let you know that for some reason, this recipe wouldn’t print. I don’t know if anyone else had a problem but mine would only print out the very top and the very bottom fine print. I’ve never had a problem printing before.