Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps

These easy chicken lettuce wraps are SO simple to make! Pair them with pickled veggies and creamy peanut sauce for a delicious meal the whole family will love. The best part is you can prep them ahead of time and have quick and easy meals all week!

 

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Chicken Breast – Boneless skinless chicken breast works best for this recipe but you could use boneless skinless chicken thighs as well. Because we are marinating the meat, this recipe doesn’t work well with meats like ground chicken, ground turkey, ground beef, or ground pork.
• Red Curry Paste & Curry Powder – I love using both to get a delicious depth of flavor, but if you can’t find one, add a little extra of the other.
• Garlic Powder – I prefer using garlic powder instead of fresh garlic for marinades because it blends in seamlessly and saves prep time.
• Ginger Paste – Ginger paste makes using fresh ginger so easy! Freshly minced ginger will also work, but I highly recommend grabbing a tube of ginger paste to save on prep time. It stays good in the fridge for months!
• Butter Lettuce – I love butter lettuce because of its shape! It’s the perfect vegetable to hold all that delicious chicken, pickled veggies, and peanut sauce. If you can’t find butter lettuce (also known as bib lettuce or Boston lettuce) you can use romaine lettuce or even iceberg lettuce. You’re just looking for a green that provides a large lettuce leaf to act as a wrap.
• Peanut Sauce – My easy peanut sauce recipe can be thrown together in just 5 minutes and it’s the perfect pairing for these chicken lettuce wraps.
• Pickled Veggies – My quick pickled veggie recipe is so easy you’ll wonder why you haven’t been pickling your own veggies all this time! I love to use carrots, cucumber, and radish when pickling but you can use whatever your favorites are.
• Cilantro & Green Onions – Fresh herbs and veggies add a deliciously bright flavor to the chicken lettuce wraps.

How do you make chicken lettuce wraps?

Combine olive oil with curry paste, curry powder, garlic powder, ginger paste, and a couple large pinches of Kosher salt and black pepper in a small bowl.

Add chicken and toss to coat evenly. Cover and marinate for 1-2 hours in the fridge. Let the chicken sit out at room temp for 15-30 minutes.

While the chicken is coming to room temp, make the easy peanut sauce and set aside. Heat a large cast iron pan, sauté pan, large skillet, or cast iron griddle pan over medium heat. Once hot, add chicken in a single layer, cooking it in batches depending on the size of your pan. Cook, occasionally flipping until a dark golden brown crust forms on all sides of the chicken.

Toss chicken in peanut sauce if desired, or drizzle the peanut sauce over the chicken once it’s cooked.

Assemble wraps by placing the chicken mixture inside a piece of lettuce. Add veggies and peanut sauce. Repeat with the remaining ingredients until you’ve got the chicken lettuce wraps assembled on a platter. Garnish with cilantro, green onion, and chopped peanuts, and enjoy!

Tips

• Be sure to cut the chicken into uniform size pieces. This will ensure that it cooks through evenly and you don’t end up with some pieces of chicken overcooked while others are undercooked.
• Set out the ingredients family-style for a fun and easy dinner! These wraps are super versatile so I like to set everything out and then let everyone assemble their own wraps. My daughter loves to add white rice, sliced bell pepper, low-sodium soy sauce, or coconut aminos but I can’t get enough peanut sauce! Be sure to serve the wraps with all the fixings – pickled veggies, chopped peanuts, fresh chopped cilantro, sliced green onion, and peanut sauce!

You Will Love This

• Most chicken lettuce wrap recipes use ground chicken and are trying to imitate the restaurant version of the Asian chicken lettuce wraps from P.F. Chang’s. My version is pretty different! I don’t love the texture of ground chicken in lettuce wraps so in this homemade version I prefer to use diced chicken breast instead and switch up the flavors. These chicken lettuce wraps use sauteed curry-spiced chicken and pickled veggies finished with a creamy peanut sauce for a unique twist on the classic lettuce wrap you might have in mind.
• It can be a main course or an easy appetizer! This dish can be the star of the show paired with a simple noodle salad or some dumplings, or you can serve it before a meal as a delicious appetizer.
• If you loved this easy chicken recipe, be sure to check out my Chicken Bacon Wraps, Sasy Southwest Chicken Salad, and my 3 Ingredient Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos.

Variations

Feel free to add a splash or a dash of any of the following to switch up the flavors of this delicious marinade:

• sesame oil
• avocado oil
• rice vinegar
• oyster sauce
• sriracha
• tamari
• hoisin sauce
• sriracha
• red pepper flakes

You can also add different veggies or carbs to your chicken lettuce wraps. Some of our family’s favorites include:

• cooked rice noodles
• white rice
• water chestnuts
• sliced red peppers
• shiitake mushrooms
• mung bean sprouts
• sesame seeds

What goes well with chicken lettuce wraps?

• quick pickled veggies
• creamy peanut sauce
• sesame ginger pasta salad
• peanut noodle salad
• salmon sushi bowl
• 30-minute sushi casserole
• easy vegan dumplings
• simple pork dumplings

What kind of lettuce makes the best lettuce wraps?

Butter lettuce is the best lettuce for lettuce wraps because of its texture and wide-leaf shape. Its leaves are large and stand up well to all the fillings of these chicken lettuce wraps. It is also sometimes called bibb lettuce or Boston lettuce.

Make-Ahead, Storage, and Reheating

• Make-Ahead: You can prep the chicken, veggies, and peanut sauce for these lettuce wraps ahead of time so they’re ready to assemble for easy lunches or quick dinners.
• Storage: Store leftover chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Store the veggies, peanut sauce, and butter lettuce separately also in the fridge.
• Reheating: You don’t necessarily have to reheat the chicken in order to eat it on the wraps. However, you can add it to a skillet on the stovetop and warm it up over medium heat. 

Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes

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