These Chinese lettuce wraps are a quick, healthy, and delicious dinner. Packed with savoury chicken, crisp vegetables, and a tangy peanut sauce, they are delicious and easy.

You'll love my pork lettuce wraps, easy Asian chicken noodles, spicy Korean chicken and, Chinese lemon chicken.
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⭐️ Why this recipe works
- Quick Preparation: Ready in under 30 minutes, making it perfect for a busy weeknight.
- Healthy and Low-Carb: Lettuce wraps replace traditional carb-heavy wraps, making this a light and nutritious recipe.
- Flavorful Sauce: The combination of peanut butter, soy sauce, and Sriracha adds a rich, savory, and slightly spicy taste.
- Versatile Ingredients: Can be customized with various vegetables and proteins based on preference.
- Crowd-Pleaser: Ideal for parties or family dinners, allowing everyone to create their own wraps.
🧾 Ingredients overview
- Chicken breast: This lean protein acts as the base for our filling.
- Lettuce(Butterhead, Green Leaf, or Romaine): Offering a fresh and crunchy wrap, lettuce provides a healthy and low-carb alternative to traditional bread wraps.
- Fresh Vegetables: These bring colour, texture, and an extra dose of nutrients, adding a satisfying crunch and freshness to every bite.
- Peanut butter: The creamy and flavourful base of our sauce, adds depth and a hint of nuttiness.
- Soy Sauce: Lends a rich, savoury, umami flavour to our sauce, accentuating the taste of the chicken and vegetables.
- Sriracha Sauce: Infuses a spicy kick into our dish, balancing the creamy peanut butter and savoury soy sauce.
- Aromatics: Fresh garlic & fresh ginger: Adds a depth of flavour to the dish and a warm spicy undertone to the chicken.
- Garnishes: Use them all, or pick your favourites- green onions, fresh coriander, crushed peanuts, lime wedges
- Optional add-ins: water chestnuts, mushrooms, baby corn and sugar snap peas.
For precise measurements and additional ingredients, refer to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
👩🏻🍳 Here's how to make it
Chinese Lettuce Wraps recipe step-by-step
- Make the Asian-style peanut sauce
- Begin by whisking together the sauce ingredients. This key step brings together flavours that define our chicken lettuce wraps. *Add in some chilli flakes or an extra spicy kick.
- For a sweeter sauce use a combination of hoisin sauce and sweet chilli sauce until you have the flavour and consistency that you're looking for.
- Cook the chicken lettuce wrap filling
- Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Use a wok or skillet over medium heat to brown the chicken. Ensure thorough cooking. *A cast iron skillet is a great choice here. They help create crispy chicken.
- Dice the fresh vegetables quite small so that they blend well into the chicken. We don't want large, chunky vegetables here.
- Stir in the prepared sauce to the chicken and vegetables mix. Let it simmer until everything is well-coated.
- Serving the Asian lettuce wraps
- Make sure that the lettuce has been washed, dried and trimmed. Scoop a large spoon full of the saucy chicken and vegetable mixture and place it in a lettuce cup.
- Top with chopped peanuts, spring onions and freshly chopped coriander. Serve with lime wedges.
📖 Substitutions & Variations
If you're unable to use some ingredients, consider these options:
- Protein: You can use chicken mince (ground chicken), ground turkey, or ground beef in place of the chicken breast.
- Oil: Peanut, olive, or avocado oil can be used as per your preference.
- Sauce: For a soy or wheat allergy, coconut aminos or tamari can replace soy sauce.
- Other nut or seed butter can be used instead of peanut butter.
- Serving: If you would like to add some carbs to this recipe you can add some noodles or rice to the lettuce wrap before filling it with the saucy chicken.
💡 Chef's Guide: Expert Tips
Drawing on a decade of experience in Michelin-starred kitchens and Cordon Bleu training, I have compiled my top tips for recipe success.
- Crisping the Lettuce: Soak lettuce leaves in ice water for 10 minutes before serving to make them extra crisp.
- Caramelizing Soy Sauce: When adding soy sauce to the chicken, allow it to caramelize slightly in the pan for a richer, deeper flavor.
- Lime Zest: Add some lime zest into the filling for a burst of citrus flavor that brightens the dish without adding extra liquid.
🍯 Storing and reheating leftovers
- Fridge: Store leftovers in the fridge by separating lettuce and filling to prevent sogginess.
- Freezer: Although best eaten fresh, the chicken filling can be frozen for future use for up to 3 months.
- Reheat: Reheat the chicken filling in a skillet or microwave before serving.
❓Recipe FAQ's
Butterhead, baby gem, and romaine lettuce varieties work well for their crisp texture and pliability.
Absolutely! You can replace ground chicken with diced chicken breasts, ground turkey, or ground beef.
Yes, you can. However, remember to store the lettuce and filling separately to maintain the best texture.
Looking for more Asian-inspired recipes? Try these:
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Chinese Chicken Lettuce Wraps Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g (1 lb) ground chicken or boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1 head of Butterhead, Green Leaf, or Romaine lettuce, leaves separated
- 75-100 g (1 cup) mixed vegetables, carrots and bell peppers, finely diced
- 60 ml (¼ cups) peanut butter, *see notes
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
- 2 tablespoons oil, peanut, olive, or avocado oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- Fresh cilantro for garnish
- Crushed peanuts for garnish
- Lime wedges for serving
Instructions
Making the Sauce:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, soy sauce, and Sriracha sauce until smooth. Set aside.
Cooking the Chicken:
- Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.
- Add the garlic and ginger, sautéing for about 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add the ground chicken, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks. Cook until fully cooked and browned, about 5-7 minutes.
- Lower the heat to medium and add the mixed vegetables. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, until the vegetables are slightly tender.
- Pour the prepared peanut sauce over the chicken and vegetables. Stir well to combine and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Serving the Lettuce Wraps:
- Spoon the chicken and vegetable mixture into the lettuce leaves.
- Garnish with green onions, fresh cilantro, and crushed peanuts.
- Serve with lime wedges on the side.
Notes
- For a gluten-free option, replace soy sauce with tamari or coconut aminos.
- For a vegetarian version, substitute the ground chicken with tofu or tempeh.
- For added crunch, include chopped water chestnuts or bean sprouts in the chicken mixture.
- Avoid overcooking the vegetables; they should retain a slight crunch.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator, keeping the filling and lettuce separate to avoid sogginess. Reheat the filling before assembling the wraps.
- If peanut butter is thick, microwave it for 10 seconds to loosen the consistency.
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