Spicy Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Name: Spicy Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 27 min
Total time: 37 min
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 1 head Bibb Lettuce; 1 Red Bell Pepper; 1 cup Shredded cabbage blend — napa, green and purple; ¼ cup Shredded carrot; ½ cup Bean sprouts; 1 bunch Cilantro; 1 Jalapeno; 2 Limes; 3 Skinless Chicken Breasts; 2 tablespoon olive oil to pan-sear the chicken; 1 pinch salt; 1 pinch granulated garlic; 1 pinch pepper; ½ cup Thai chili sauce or hoisin sauce; ¼ cup crushed peanuts or cashews

A quick and easy meal that doesn’t skimp on flavor! This is one of our go-to meals because it checks all the boxes — ✓ easy, ✓ healthy, ✓ flavorful, ✓ fun, and ✓ flexible. If you’re looking for a staple recipe that you can modify on the fly, Spicy Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps is the perfect fit.

Average Rating (2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Where are my “gimme quick and easy” peeps?

You had me at quick and easy with these Spicy Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps. I love the idea of taking time to prepare a meal.

You know what I’m talking about, the lazy Saturday night with a glass of wine, good conversation, and music in the background kind of time.

Truth is that I rarely have that kind of time but that doesn’t mean I want to default to ordering pizza. That’s where this recipe comes in. You could do this every night of the week and feel like you’re eating something different.

Here’s what I love most about this recipe:

Fast (especially if you use a food processor to do your chopping!)
Lots of flavor for those taste buds
Versatile (it’s a clean out your fridge kind of versatile — any protein, any veg, any sauce, any flavor direction)
Can be vegetarian or vegan — swap chicken for tofu or a Beyond Meat plant based protein
Most importantly, it’s soooo easy

HERE’S A QUICK INGREDIENT LIST

Pick from the options below to make the combo that makes your taste buds sing.

Protein Choices — pick one

Chicken
Steak
Fish — salmon is perfect
Shrimp
Shredded pork
Tofu
Beyond Meat
Lentils
Beans

Wrap Options —

Bibb Lettuce — my fav
Romaine Lettuce
Cabbage
Bell Pepper cups — okay, not a ‘wrap’ per se but still an option

Filler Options — pick 3 or more

How much time ya got? Really, anything and everything is an option in these lettuce wraps, but here are a few of my favorites.

Bell Peppers
Cabbage
Carrots
Dice jalapenos
Red Onion, green onions
Pickled Onions
Bean Sprouts
Cilantro
Butternut squash strips
Raddish
Mushrooms
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Jicama
Avocado
Bacon
Mango

Sauces & Condiments — don’t go too crazy here, pick one base flavor and compliment it with one or two more

Sweet Thai Chili Sauce
Barbecue Sauce
Taco seasoning
Chipotle mayo
Lemon, garlic and olive oil
Sriracha
Teriyaki Glaze
Plum sauce
Buffalo sauce
Soy sauce
Dill sauce
Curry
Chimichurri
Lime
Jerk seasoning

Always add a little crunch factor —

If you’re going with Asian flavors, I’m a fan of crushed cashews or peanuts
Wontons
Crispy onions, you know the kind that go on green bean casserole
Crushed corn chips
Diced pickles

As you can see, you’ve got a ton of options. For this recipe, I’m sticking with the Asian flavors.

pinterest image of lettuce wrap ingredients

HOW TO MAKE SPICY ASIAN CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS

There are really only 3 steps to making this meal.

Prep the veggies.
Pick or prepare the sauce.
Cook the protein.

To prep, the veggies, bust out your food processor. It will go so much faster especially if you are using a lot of veggies.

For the sauce, you can go with premade sauce or make your own. Remember, this is an easy and flexible meal. Do what fits into your schedule.

A couple of sauces you can buy that would work for this rendition would be a premade teriyaki sauce, chili sauce, or hoisin sauce.

If you want to make your own sauce, this Sweet Thai Chili Sauce.

Same thing for the protein. You can prepare your protein or you can buy it ready-made. We usually pan-sear the chicken but have also picked up a rotisserie chicken in a pinch.

Here’s a great recipe for pan-searing chicken breasts.

The rest is really up to the person who is assembling their lettuce wraps!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Q: What other lettuce choices are there?

A: Really, any lettuce that will ‘wrap’. You can use romaine or iceberg. If you don’t have that, turn it into a salad. Super easy to chop up the veggies and lettuce, toss in the protein and sauce and call it a day.

Q: How much sauce do I need to use for each wrap?

A: Start with a little bit. Just a drizzle. The goal is to give it a hint of sauce not drown it. What makes this so refreshing is that you can taste all the veggies and protein. Plus, if you’re doing a wrap you don’t want it too saucy or you’ll end up wearing it not eating it!

Q: How long do the cut-up vegetables last?

A: About 3 days. Once the veggies are cut up they begin to lose their water and get soggy.

PAIRINGS AND VARIATIONS

Wine

Considering that we are “Vine” + Plate, let’s talk wine.

If you’re using this recipe, Spicy Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps, you’ll want a crisp white or rosé. I’m partial to Sauvignon Blanc, an unoaked Chardonnay or even a dry Reisling or Chenin Blanc. The spice plays nicely with the crisp, dry features of the wines.

Beer

You’ll want to follow some of the same taste profiles with beer. A light wheat beer, blonde ale, or a pilsner would be wonderful with this.

Side Dishes or Other Accompaniments

Honestly, as written, I don’t usually add anything else to it. But you could add a side of fried rice or steamed dumplings.

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