Craving a quick, vibrant meal? These chicken lettuce wraps are the answer! Packed with fresh ingredients and ready in under 30 minutes, they're a low-fuss alternative to a traditional salad. Think crunchy lettuce cups filled with flavorful chicken – perfect for a quick lunch or a speedy, satisfying weeknight dinner.
These Peanut Noodles with Grilled Chicken are another one of my favorite everyday meals that can be made mostly in advance. They are so tasty that you won't want to stop eating them! These are both great recipes to add to your everyday meals recipe collection.
This post may contain sales affiliate links. Please see my full Disclosure Policy for details.
I've been cooking most of my life and I've always loved taking a dish I had in a restaurant and recreating a version of it that you can make at home. It's not about making perfect copycat recipes, but capturing the essence of a dish and giving it my own spin. Take these lettuce wraps, for instance - they are inspired by PF Chang's lettuce wraps, but the taste is quite different so think of it as a delicious "inspired by" rather than a true copycat recipe.
Contents:
The bold flavors in this recipe come from the hoisin-like sauce that I created using fairly common ingredients. It's super easy to make and gives the chicken the perfect balance with the fresh veggies and crisp lettuce leaves.
Read on to learn more about how to make these lettuce wraps.
Ingredient Notes
The full list of ingredients and quantities can be found in the recipe card below.
- Ground chicken: By using ground chicken, you get the texture of a traditional taco filling.
- Butterhead lettuce leaves: Fresh butter lettuce gives you a nice slightly rounded leaf shape, which is ideal for lettuce wraps.
- White miso paste: You're only using a little bit so if you don't have white miso on hand, any type of miso will work just fine.
- Tamari: I personally prefer Tamari over soy sauce. It has a slightly richer flavor and is typically wheat-free or nearly wheat-free. I think it makes Asian dishes a little more interesting. You can find it in most grocery stores. If you prefer, you can substitute regular soy sauce.
- Water chestnuts: Look for sliced, canned water chestnuts in the Asian food aisle in your grocery store.
- Carrots & napa cabbage: Check the salad bar if you want to skip chopping these two ingredients.
How to make lettuce wraps
I love this dish because it’s basically a one-pan meal and it’s super easy to make, which means it’s ideal for a weeknight dinner or a make-ahead lunch.
Fill the lettuce cups. Once the chicken mixture is ready, simply add some to a lettuce leaf and top it with the other remaining ingredients. Wrap the lettuce leaf around the chicken filling and dig in!
Make Ahead Tip ⇢ You can make the chicken filling in advance and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Just heat it up in the microwave when you are ready to eat.
Storage Tips
If you are going to store the cooked chicken filling before serving or if you are taking this to work for lunch, pack the chicken filling separately from the carrots, cilantro and cabbage. This makes it easy to reheat the filling. I also keep the lettuce leaves and the peanuts separate. Some type of bento-style container works well for this - I actually like them for storing all sorts of things. Separating the chicken filling from the veggies ensures a nice crisp lettuce wrap when you are ready to eat!
Recommended Tools
Large skillet or wok – You'll need a pan large enough to fit the ground chicken and other filling ingredients. A 10 or 12" pan is the best choice.
Julienne Peeler – You can certainly julienne veggies by hand, however, since I make a lot of salads this is one kitchen gadget that I find handy to have around. It makes the process of creating fine veggie strands quick and easy.
Want to make something with the leftover miso from this recipe? This Miso Glazed Roasted Cauliflower is one of my favorite weeknight side dishes!
Click here to subscribe to Urban Foodie Kitchen's Newsletter for free and fresh small batch recipes right to your inbox!
If you try this recipe, please let me know by leaving a comment with a star rating below. You can also take a photo & tag @urbanfoodiekitchen on Instagram.
Easy Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps Recipe
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 pound ground chicken, you can use a combination of breast and thigh meat
- ¾ cup chopped yellow onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon Tamari
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon sambal
- 1 ½ teaspoons white miso paste
- ¾ teaspoon dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup water chestnuts, minced
- 2 tablespoons minced green onion
For the wraps:
- 8 butter lettuce leaves
- ½ cup julienned carrots
- ⅓ cup shredded napa cabbage
- ¼ cup roasted peanuts
- chopped cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Cook the chicken. Heat 1 teaspoon of sesame oil in a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until browned and crumbly, about 5 minutes. Add onion and garlic; sauteé for an additional minute or two.
- Add the seasonings. Add tamari, ginger, vinegar, sambal, peanut butter, miso, sugar and ground pepper. Stir until well mixed. Cook for 10 minutes until the sauce thickens and is mostly absorbed. Add water chestnuts and green onions to the mixture and stir to incorporate. Turn the heat to low to keep the chicken mixture warm while finishing the prep.
- Assemble the wraps. To serve the lettuce wraps, place a leaf of lettuce on a plate or serving tray. Add a scoop of hte chicken mixture. Top with carrots, cabbage and peanuts. Garnish with cilantro if desired. Repeat with remaining lettuce leaves. Serve immediately.
Notes
This post was originally published in August 2016. It was updated in April 2025 with some new information and photos. No changes were made to the original recipe.
J @ Bless Her Heart Y'all
What a yummy meal idea! This is screaming for me to make for lunch this week!
FoodieGirlChicago
Thanks J! Enjoy!!
Tara
Yum! These wraps definitely do look perfect for an easy weeknight dinner or bento-style lunch. Love the packing tips and those flavors sound amazing.
Evi
Loving the colors! Lettuce wraps are my favorite for lunch!
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie
I would totally love these for lunch!
Stephanie@ApplesforCJ
Yummm! I've been wanting to try lettuce wraps. These look so appetizing. Need to get to it soon 🙂
Sharon Rigsby
These lettuce wraps look amazing! I also love the fact that they are quick and easy to make and I love the seasonings that you use. They are different from what I've used before, especially the peanut butter, but I know I would like them. I'm making them next week for sure! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe!
Sarah @ Champagne Tastes
I keep meaning to make lettuce wraps! These look delicious! I need some healthy and quick food for after work outs 😀
FoodieGirlChicago
Lettuce wraps are a great post-workout snack/meal!
Wendy
I love serving lettuce wraps both as an appetizer and as a main dish. I tend to put the lettuce and filling out separately and let everyone fix their own wraps. The Thai flavors in your filling sound delicious.
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way
I love wrapping salad with gorgeous lettuce leaves. Not only is it good for you but you save on calories. I imagine this is a great make ahead meal and then when you're ready to eat -- there it is. Great idea!
Byron Thomas
Looks like a very inviting and healthy lunch indeed! I've always wanted to bring lunches like this to work, but I can't be bothered with so many containers. The bento box is a wonderful idea for all of those toppings! Thanks. 🙂
Natalie | Natalie's Food & Health
These chicken lettuce wraps are ideal for office lunch. These are healthy, wholesome, and I bet they taste amazingly fresh and delicious. Love it! Sharing this and pinning!
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy
We love Thai food. These sound delicious. Love the lettuce for the wraps....cuts down on the carbs, and you don't even miss them. Perfect for lunch or dinner.
Manila Spoon
With sesame oil, ginger and tamari added in this Thai Chicken, you simply can't go wrong! I love all the flavors here and most of all because it's a healthier alternative, too! YUM!
Megan Marlowe
I am absolutely putting these on my menu plan for this week. I LOVE lettuce wraps and love thai flavored anything! I think these would be awesome with some ground turkey as well which we always have lots of! Thanks for an awesome recipe!
swathi
Thai food is our family favorite These chicken lettuce wraps are wholesome you bring lot of flavor in a single wraps. I would love to try with shrimp. yum.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
I love the P.F.Changs lettuce wraps and this recipe has all my favorite ingredients combined. We are vegetarians, so I can easily substitute the chicken with tofu and make this for lunch.
Leah
These wraps sound fantastic! I love all the flavors and would love them as appetizers or I could eat them as a whole meal! Yum!
Julie | Bunsen Burner Bakery
Such a great packable work lunch! I love lettuce wraps but I haven't tried a Thai variety yet. So good!
Kylee from Kylee Cooks
Ooooh! This sounds really good. I love lettuce wraps, and often order them while out to dinner with my husband. We love to make our own wraps at the table - I bet my kids would too! Maybe we'll eat these as our family Valentine's Day dinner! (my kids can handle the heat)
Giselle Rochford
I just tried lettuce wraps for the first time a few weeks ago and LOVED them. I made mine with chickpeas but I think I'll give yours a try next with some smoked tofu!
FoodieGirlChicago
I love the idea of smoked tofu in the lettuce wraps!
Caroline @ Pinch Me, I'm Eating!
This looks delicious! Great tips about packing as a lunch, I will definitely need to try bringing this to work sometime soon!
Matt Kearns
These lettuce wraps look delicious! Well done Kathryn!
Cathleen @ A Taste of Madness
This looks delicious!! My landlord is always making lettuce wraps when we come over, but I have never made it myself.