Healthy Ground Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Have you had pf chang’s chicken lettuce wraps? They are some of the best lettuce wraps I have had and I wanted to try and copy them at home, since we are not eating out much these days. This is one of my go to, easy recipes.

I like to try and add as many vegetables to my recipes as possible just because no one eats enough vegetables right? I am always looking for healthy recipes so I added more vegetables than the restaurant version, but I think it tastes great. For example, I like to add cucumbers and a spicy marinaded cabbage slaw on top of the chicken. I also add raw carrots, chopped water chestnuts (are these a vegetable?) and mushrooms. It uses simple ingredients with asian-inspired flavors and it has become a family favorite, even with my teenage son.

This is a quick recipe that you can make in around 30 minutes if you are a fast vegetable chopper. The hardest part of the meal prep is the amount of chopping that you have to do. The cooking is quick. I like to make two pounds of chicken for the chicken filling because this makes great left overs for a healthy lunch.

Lettuce Wrap Ingredients

• Mushrooms – 1 cup chopped
• Carrots – 1 cup shredded (if you can buy them that way, otherwise chopped finely)
• Yellow onion – diced
• 2 lbs ground chicken (you could easily substitute ground turkey, ground pork or ground beef if you like)
• 1/2 cup cucumber
• 1/2 cup shredded purple cabbage
• 2 green onions
• 1 red bell pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Lettuce leaves for wrapping

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce or coconut aminos (if you are gluten free)
• 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Steps to Make

Veggie Prep:

1. Wash your lettuce leaves and set them on a towel or paper towels to dry. You can use iceberg lettuce, butter lettuce, bibb lettuce, romaine lettuce, boston lettuce, green leaf lettuce or any type of crisp lettuce you like for the lettuce cups.
2. Chop your cucumbers.
3. Chop cabbage into thin strips and put it in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, salt & pepper. This makes the slaw.
4. Dice yellow onion and garlic.
5. Dice red bell pepper and green onion.
6. Rough chop mushrooms and water chestnuts – I like to buy the mushrooms already sliced and just run the knife through them a few times.
7. If you didn’t buy shredded carrots, chop a carrot into small pieces.

Cooking:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet or saute pan (large enough to hold 2lbs of chicken).
2. Add chopped yellow onion and garlic to the oil and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add salt and pepper.
3. Add ground chicken and cook approximately 10 minutes until no longer pink. Use a spoon to drain off the excess liquid (broth) as much as possible. The chicken generates a lot of broth.
4. Add red bell pepper, chopped mushrooms and water chestnuts to chicken. Cook for 2-3 minutes while you make the sauce.
5. In a small bowl combine the coconut aminos (or soy sauce), hoisin sauce, honey and crushed red pepper.
6. Pour the sauce over the chicken and let it cook for 5-10 minutes.
7. Assemble the lettuce wraps. Add a scoop of chicken mixture and any of these toppings: marinaded cucumber, shredded carrots, shredded cabbage, green onions.
8. Enjoy

These healthy and easy chicken lettuce wraps are also a great thing to make ahead for lunches. I eat them without the lettuce for several days.

If you want to see other healthy dinner recipes check out Carne Asada Bowls, Gluten Free Spaghetti (two ways) or Gluten Free Asian Burgers (a family favorite). Or see how to use leftover salmon, without cooking.