I am a huge fan of Asian food. I love the freshness and all of the strong, bold flavors. Garlic, fresh ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce- a few of my favorite staples. I make a lot of Asian food at home. Unfortunately, the reason is because we are plagued with an absence of good Asian restaurants in our vicinity. My husband, God bless him, can be a total tight-wad when it comes to spending money. The last time that we got Chinese food, I watched him take a few bites and then throw away $40 worth of food. I was in agreement, it was awful. So if you knew how much my husband loved Chinese food (more than any person that I can think of) and of his penny-pinching ways, you would have been SHOCKED to have witnessed this event. I can’t remember what we had for dinner that night, but it wasn’t Chinese food. Isn’t that so disappointing when it happens?! Heart-breaking! So now let’s repair those broken hearts with these Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps 👇🏻

Let me point you in the direction of a dish that would never go into my garbage can… One of my favorite dishes to make are these Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps. They light, it’s fresh and it’s so so good. Plus, the best part about these wraps is that they can be on your table in 30 minutes or less. I first found this recipe a few years ago from The 36th Avenue and I have made some changes over time. I would say that these wraps are comparable to the ones that you would get at a P.F. Chang’s. Probably even better.

Let me show you how I made these Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps 👇🏻

Cooking the Rice Noodles (notes):

If you would like top your lettuce wraps with those delightfully crispy and airy fried rice noodles, make them ahead of time. As much as I have searched, I have yet to find rice noodles that are already fried for you. To be quite honest though, they are incredibly easy to make on your own. In the Asian aisle of your grocery store, you can find a package of Vermicelli Rice Noodles. You’ll only use a small amount of the noodles because they puff up so much (I think that I ended up using about 1/8 of the bag that I bought). So break apart a small section of noodles and then break up that section into 3-4” long pieces. I had to use a knife to cut them because they’re a little tough.

Heat about 1 cup of vegetable oil over high heat in a wok or a medium-sized saucepan (you want a small, deep pot so you don’t need to use a bunch of oil). Have a pair of tongs or a slotted metal spoon handy because the noodles only take about ten seconds to cook and line a plate with paper towels to absorb any excess oil from the cooked noodles. Carefully add a small handful of noodles to the oil, when it is very hot, and the noodles will instantly puff up as soon as they touch the hot oil. Remove the noodles and set them on the plate. Repeat the above steps until you’ve reached the desired amount of noodles. I know that 1 cup of oil seems like a lot for a “lighter” recipe, but you’re not actually using anywhere close to one cup of oil. The noodles don’t absorb hardly any of the oil at all.

To Prepare the Chicken Filling:

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 tbsp of sesame oil, the ground chicken and the diced onion. Break up the ground chicken as it cooks, should take about 5 minutes to cook through.

When the chicken is no longer raw, add the garlic, ginger and water chestnuts. Cook for about 1 minute until the garlic and ginger are fragrant.

Now add the shredded carrots, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, salt and 1 tbsp of sesame oil. Add the sriracha as well. I don’t think that this dish is spicy at all, it just has a heat undertone. For less heat, add 1-2 tsp instead of the 1 tbsp. Stir well and coat the chicken in the sauce. Lower heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes until the carrots have softened and the sauce has melded together.

Remove from heat, add the sliced green onion and stir. This is what the finished chicken filling should look like 👇🏻

To Serve:

Spoon some of the chicken filling into a lettuce leaf. The lettuces that I think would be good for this are- Iceberg, Butter or Bibb. Butter lettuce is the type that is pictured in this recipe, but honestly- I’d prefer Iceberg only because I think it holds up better when filled. Any of those three would be good though. Then top the lettuce wrap with your fried rice noodles. If you insist on being a stick in the mud and not making the fried rice noodles 🤪, you could just simply omit the noodles or top the wraps with some chopped, roasted peanuts (or cashews) for extra crunch.

Enjoy!!

This recipe was adapted from The 36th Avenue.

These are the recommended products that I used to make this delicious recipe. These are not only products that I use, but products that I love.

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

A delicious recipe for Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps that you can make at home in less than 30 minutes. Saving you the money and hassle of going out!

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Servings 4 Servings

Author Maggie @ Cupcakes and Sarcasm

Ingredients

1 Lb Ground Chicken
2 Tbsp Sesame Oil, divided
1 Sweet Onion, diced
2 Tsp Fresh Ginger, finely minced
5 Garlic Cloves, finely minced
1 Cup Shredded Carrots
8 Oz Canned Water Chestnuts, drained and finely diced
2 Tbsp Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup Hoisin Sauce
1 Tbsp Sriracha (Or Hot Sauce) *Can omit for less spicy or add more for more spice*
1 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
5 Green Onion Stalks, thinly sliced
2 Tsp Salt
Iceberg, Bibb or Butter Lettuce
Optional: Rice Vermicelli Noodles (plus 1 cup Vegetable Oil for frying) *Can substitute with chopped cashews*

Instructions

Cooking the Rice Noodles-

If you are using the optional fried rice noodles (which I’d highly recommend), heat the vegetable oil in a wok or a medium saucepan over high heat. Using a smaller, deep pan will allow you to use less oil. Break up some of the rice noodles into 3-4” long pieces (you may want to do this over the sink, they can make a mess). You will only need to cook about 1/8 of your rice noodle package because the noodles puff up so big.
Line a plate with paper towels to absorb the extra oil once the noodles are cooked. When the oil is hot, carefully drop in some rice noodles (a small handful at a time). They will puff up instantly as they hit the hot oil. Remove them quickly with tongs or a metal slotted spoon. Sprinkle with a little salt and keep repeating the above steps until you get your desired amount of noodles.

Cooking the Chicken Portion-

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 Tbsp of sesame oil, ground chicken, water chestnuts and diced onion. Break up the chicken as it cooks and cook until the chicken is cooked through about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and ginger and cook until they are fragrant, about 1 minute. Then add the carrots, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sriracha, rice wine vinegar, salt and 1 tbsp sesame oil. Stir well until the chicken is coated in the sauce.
Heat on medium until the carrots are soft and the sauce is thick and has melded together, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the green onion.
To serve: spoon chicken filling down the middle of lettuce leaves and top with the rice noodles, if using. Enjoy!