June 12, 2019

by Olena

Healthy Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Name: Healthy Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1.5 lbs chicken breast (diced); 1 small onion (finely chopped); 2 garlic cloves (minced); 1/2 inch knob ginger (minced); 1 small zucchini (diced); 1 small bell pepper (diced); 1 cup cashews (coarsely chopped); 2 green onion sprigs (chopped); 1/4 cup cold water; 2 tbsp soy sauce (I used aminos); 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey; 1 tbsp rice vinegar; 1/2 tbsp cornstarch; 1 head of butter (iceberg or Romaine lettuce, leaves separated); 1 tbsp avocado or any oil (for frying)

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Olena Osipov

Published on June 12, 2019

4.9 from 22 votes

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Enjoy these Healthy Chicken Lettuce Wraps in under 30 minutes – for a healthy, flavorful low-carb wrap! Choose the protein of your choice (chicken breast, ground chicken or turkey, etc.) and load it up with a savory sauce and cashew nuts piled up into fresh crispy lettuce – way better and healthier than any restaurant!!

For those days when you want something lower carb than chicken burritos and even lighter than these low-carb chicken enchiladas!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Chicken lettuce wraps are on the menu of most restaurants these days. Truth is I never order them anymore because of the price. Even more truth – we rarely eat out except for sushi. That’s what happens when you learn how to cook.

Instead when I get a craving for takeout, I make dishes like chicken tacos (including ground chicken tacos and buffalo chicken tacos), tostadas, and – for those days, I want something lighter- these healthy lettuce wraps with low fat chicken or turkey. Combine the meat with cashews (always!), firm veggies I have on hand, and a fair amount of delicious healthy sauce for a simple low-carb lunch or dinner.

This chicken lettuce wraps recipe beats any restaurant’s menu. Flavorful, crunchy and saucy low carb dinner or appetizer. It can be prepared ahead and served with a side like quinoa, rice, or even a baked potato for extra hungry people like my husband.

Once you make these easy chicken lettuce wraps, you will stop eating out too!

Ingredients for Lettuce Wraps

To make teriyaki chicken lettuce wraps you need simple ingredients you probably have on hand already. I swear I cook with same 30 ingredients over and over.

Chicken breasts or thighs, or ground chicken or ground turkey
Cashews
1 head of lettuce
Firm veggies like zucchini and bell pepper – You could also use cooked veggie leftovers, like grilled zucchini.
Onion, garlic, ginger and green onion
Soy sauce, maple syrup, vinegar and cornstarch

Don’t feel intimidated if you are missing something. Just use what you have on hand (and those veggies starting to go a little wrinkly in the back of the fridge!)

Healthy Chicken Lettuce Wraps Sauce

When it comes to Asian dishes like beef stir fry, chicken stir fry and teriyaki chicken, I always make my own sauce. I never buy pre-made sauces because they are loaded with sugar, sodium and preservatives. They are the worst of all processed foods!

All there is to a healthy Asian sauce is:

Cold water so cornstarch dissolves.
Soy sauce or liquid aminos.
Any sweetener like maple syrup, honey, agave, sugar etc.
Any light colour vinegar like rice vinegar or just white or white wine vinegar.
Cornstarch or arrowroot powder or none. Not the end of the world.

What Kind of Lettuce Works?

The best lettuce choices for cashew chicken lettuce wraps:

Iceberg lettuce – It is what PF Chang’s serves their ground chicken lettuce wraps in. It is not my favorite for a few reasons. Its leaves are hard to separate and I find them tasteless and watery. It is also hard to find organic and you know me and my Dirty Dozen.:)
Romaine lettuce – It is the same lettuce you use for making Caesar salad. It is often sold in plastic bags, hearts only. Super easy to separate and buy organic. Romaine leaves are also sturdy which are perfect for holding the filling. I don’t love the longboat look though.
Butter lettuce – Also known as Boston bibb lettuce is my favorite. It has soft texture paired with sweet taste and pretty round shape. Easy to separate and you might need to stack a few leaves on top of each other. It is not always available and can be pricey off season but I still buy it for lettuce wraps.:)

I feel like the butter lettuce I grabbed (pictured) had leaves a bit too small. But hey, it worked and was locally grown.

How to Make Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Make sure all ingredients are ready before cooking. It is kind of like stir fry situation.
Toast cashews first and set aside.
Cook onion, garlic and ginger for 1 minute. Then add chicken and cook for 10 minutes.
Whisk sauce ingredients in a bowl and to the skillet with chicken. Also add zucchini and bell pepper at the same time—Cook for 1 minute.
To assemble chicken lettuce wraps, use 2-3 stacked lettuce leaves and spoon desired amount of filling on top.

Tips for Best Lettuce Wraps

Make sure chicken and veggies are diced and minced where required.
If you don’t have cashews use almonds or skip. I did not like the taste of walnuts.
Use well pre-heated skillet.

How to Store

Chicken lettuce wraps taste best fresh. Obviously, because of the nature of my job where I cook dinner at lunchtime, I just reheat filling in the skillet before dinner. I place skillet in the fridge, remove straight to the stove and voila. Saves washing dishes.

You can refrigerate filling for up to 3 days.

What I also like to do is to separate, wash and dry leaves from entire head of lettuce. Then I wrap them in a linen towel. And it kind of will be moist from the leaves because it’s impossible to dry lettuce completely. And it’s perfect. You can refrigerate lettuce this way for up to 3 days too. When it’s time to eat, healthy dinner becomes easy-peasy.

Serving Ideas

This Asian lettuce wraps recipe is perfect for a low-carb dinner. I stack 2-4 layers of leaves to load up on fiber and avoid late night hunger.

However, they can also be served as a light main alongside several sides for those particularly hungry (my husband, for sure!). In that case, I suggest serving these lettuce wraps alongside dishes like:

Rice: You can serve the chicken lettuce wraps over a bed of brown rice or add even more flavor to the meal through the likes of this rice and beans.
Quinoa: Like this Instant Pot quinoa, Mediterranean quinoa salad, or quinoa tabbouleh salad.
Cauli Rice: Alternatively, you can serve the wraps with another low-carb alternative in the form of cauliflower rice; Cauliflower fried rice, Thai cauli rice, and cilantro lime cauliflower rice are all delicious options!
Roasted veggies: Like this roasted sweet potatoes, asparagus, or brussels sprouts.

You can also serve the wraps as an appetizer or as part of a party spread alongside other simple appetizers like parmesan mushrooms or healthy salads like this healthy chicken salad.

It’s perfect for a hot summer day or equally amazing at a winter Super Bowl party.

Kids love-love the filling in warm flour tortilla. Just heat tortilla in a cast-iron skillet until bubbles appear on each side. Your teenagers will be kissing you “Good night, mom!”.

Hope you enjoy these healthy chicken lettuce wraps! And I would love to hear below how much you enjoy them:)

More Healthy Chicken Recipes

You might also want to browse through my complete list of 30-minute meals!

Healthy Chicken Lettuce Wraps

30 Minute Healthy Chicken Lettuce Wraps with chicken cooked in tasty savory sauce and loaded up on crispy lettuce leaves.

4.91 from 22 votes

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Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Asian

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Servings: servings

Calories: 301kcal

Author: Olena Osipov

Ingredients

1.5 lbs chicken breast diced
1 small onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 inch knob ginger minced
1 small zucchini diced
1 small bell pepper diced
1 cup cashews coarsely chopped
2 green onion sprigs chopped
1/4 cup cold water
2 tbsp soy sauce I used aminos
2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1 head of butter iceberg or Romaine lettuce, leaves separated
1 tbsp avocado or any oil for frying

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make sure all ingredients are chopped and ready.
Preheat large ceramic non-stick skillet on medium heat and add cashews. Pan fry until toasted, stirring constantly. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Return skillet to medium heat and swirl oil to coat. Add onion, garlic and ginger; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Add chicken and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Right before chicken is done cooking, in a small bowl add cold water, soy sauce, maple syrup, rice vinegar and cornstarch; whisk with a fork. Add to the chicken long with zucchini and bell pepper; cook for 1 minute or until sauce has thickened. Stir in cashews and green onions.
Serve chicken lettuce wraps immediately. To assemble, use 2-3 stacked lettuce leaves (depending on its thickness) and spoon desired amount of filling on top. If someone is very hungry, serve over a bed of brown rice or quinoa.

Store: Refrigerate filling in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat on a skillet before assembling lettuce wraps. You can also refrigerate washed lettuce leaves wrapped in linen towel for up to 3 days.

Notes

Instead of chicken breast you can use diced chicken thighs, and ground chicken or ground turkey.

Nutrition

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