Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps
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A super quick dinner made in 25 min! It’s so hearty, filling, and low-carb, yet the family will still be begging for more!
Featured Comment
why i love this recipe
- Weeknight super hero. With a short ingredient list and quick cook time, this dish comes together in just 25 minutes start to finish.
- Includes the best peanut sauce. This is what puts these lettuce wraps over the top – a gingery peanut sauce drizzle that is out-of-this-world amazing, adding an unbelievable depth of flavor.
- Leftovers are even better. Not only can the leftovers be frozen, but they can also be served over a bed of rice or noodles for a more rounded out meal.
tips and tricks for success
- Use your favorite protein. This recipe will work well with quick-cooking ground chicken or ground turkey. Finely diced chicken breasts or chicken thighs can also be used.
- Fish sauce is a hero. Fish sauce is a key ingredient here, balancing out the flavors, and adding saltiness and umami without overpowering it. A little bit goes a long way.
- Add heat. For a kick of heat, add Sriracha or gochujang.
- Use sturdy leaves. Use Bibb lettuce or butter lettuce – both are ideal for wrapping as they have wide, pliable and sturdy leaves without falling apart when filled.
- Freeze as needed. Portion the leftover filling into plastic freezer bags in individual servings, squeezing out any excess air before sealing. Label, date and freeze up to 3 months.
what to serve with peanut chicken lettuce wraps
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps: Frequently Asked Questions
Fish sauce has a strong, pungent “fishy” smell but when cooked, it brings in savory, salty, umami goodness.
Bib or butter lettuce are both great choices – strong and sturdy that can hold up filling without breaking apart. Romaine lettuce is also a great option for a crisper wrap.
Leftover filling can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, adding a splash of chicken broth when reheating (if needed). Store leftover lettuce separately in an airtight container or Ziploc bag to prevent sogginess and wilting.
Yes! Let the filling cool completely and portion into plastic freezer bags. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, reheating over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 3.5 ounces shiitake mushrooms, diced
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 shallot, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- ¼ cup hoisin sauce
- 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 head butter lettuce
For the peanut sauce
- 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce, or more, to taste
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
Equipment
Instructions
- Heat vegetable oil and sesame oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add ground chicken, mushrooms, carrot and shallot. Cook until browned, about 5-7 minutes, making sure to crumble the chicken as it cooks; drain excess fat.
- Stir in garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in hoisin sauce, chili garlic sauce and fish sauce until heated through, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro.
- To serve, spoon several tablespoons of the chicken mixture into the center of a lettuce leaf, taco-style, drizzled with peanut sauce.
For the peanut sauce
- In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, chili garlic sauce and ginger. Whisk in 2-3 tablespoons water until desired consistency is reached.
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I subbed white mushrooms for shiitake and more hoisin sauce for fish sauce based on what I had and could find. This was DELICIOUS!!
Perfection! Damn delicious indeed! Couldn’t stop eating them. The addition of fresh cilantro at the end put it over the top. Loved it!! Bookmark this one for sure.
Love this dish, not only tasty but fits beautifully with my low carb diet. No tacos required!
Love how easy it comes together! And that peanut sauce is delicious. Love all the recipes I’ve made from here!
Made these for the first time this week for group of girlfriends. Huge hit! Prepping the ingredients ahead of time and it came together quickly before serving. The chicken was very tender and the flavors delicious. I opted to discard the shiitake stems as they were tough. The sauce was easily adaptable. A added little extra peanut butter and brown sugar.
Thank you for this great recipe! We love it and it’s in our dinner rotation! My daughter is picky and recipes like this help me with expanding her palate. In the past, I’ve halved the chili garlic sauce and she found it a bit too spicy, so I know omit it and then remove her portion, and add only to mine. She likes to have it with Jasmine rice, instead of lettuce, but that’s all good! I love it as a lettuce wrap, and often have leftovers for lunch the next day!
Hi there,
Greetings from the UK.
This is, without doubt, the best recipe I have tried for peanut chicken. I precooked the chicken thighs and then diced them. It was fabulous. Th
If I make extra peanut sauce, how long would it keep?
Made this today and it came out so well. All of us loved it and was pretty easy to make. I plan to make this again for a potluck, however some folks are allergic to mushroom. If I avoid the mushrooms will it alter the taste? Any suggestions on what I can substitute it with?
Hi Rupa,
I also wanted to make it without mushrooms. Our son is allergic.
What about water chestnuts? It’ll give it a little crisp crunch to it.
Happy making!
Rita
Thank you Rita for your suggestion. I will give it a try 🙂
The lettuce wraps are good and I will likely make again, but please do not be fooled that this is a “quick 25-minute dinner”! I do not mind chopping and tend to cook more involved meals and it took me at least 45-50 minutes of prep time!
Can’t wait to try this! I generally buy a packaged seasoning/sauce, but it’s so expensive!
Also, the lettuce doesn’t hold all the filling without falling apart a little, so I just make it as a salad!
I used what was on hand, ground pork, and it was great with that too. I also added some diced water chestnuts for even more crunch. We loved it and will be making it again.
These were so good!!! My fiancé and I ate the WHOLE thing!!! No leftovers… lol
This recipe will be my go to every time for these!
This is a Winner! Everyone in my Family loves it. Do you think it would freeze well? My daughter is in college and I am going to make her some freezer meals. This is her favorite dish. Thank you for the recipe.
Made this tonight with 3 changes based on what I had on hand (ground turkey instead of chicken, white mushrooms, Worcestershire instead of fish sauce) and we thought it was so so good. We also made it over rice instead of lettuce wraps for personal preference. It was on the spicy side, which we like, but if you’re sensitive to it maybe decrease the chili garlic sauce to 1 tsp. We didn’t find the peanut sauce spicy though. We will definitely be making this again, thanks for a great recipe!
After a long day at work, I needed something easy to make for dinner. I found this recipe & followed it exactly but, used fresh chicken instead of the ground chicken. I cut two chicken breasts into small bite-size pieces and continued with the recipe as written. All the ingredients blended nicely and made the perfect weekday dinner. Thank you so much for sharing.!
Can we substitute iceberg lettuce to butter lettuce?
This recipe is delicious. I love it with the lettuce wrap, but my husband just eats it with rice. So flavorful and yummy!
So simple, so delicious! Thank you for this recipe – a keeper!
Everyone loves this!