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These are easily one of the best things I have (ever) eaten. Welcome to my dinner rotation, lettuce wraps! Absolutely DE-LISH.
Jill C.
It’s Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps Day!
Which is obviously my best kind of day. Even if it is a Monday which, in my previous life as a teacher, would have been a holiday, which, in my current life as a blogger, I now don’t have as a holiday because I have the world’s strictest boss ( –> myself).
My boss is actually so strict that she requires me to eat a minimum five lettuce wraps for lunch every day. I KNOW. It is seriously rough around here sometimes.
I probably don’t even need to tell you that these lettuce wraps are totally my jam right now. From the savory chicken, peanut, and rice noodle filling to the crunchy, beautiful peanut and cilantro toppings to the just-barely tangy sauce that goes over the top, and right straight into the fresh, delicate lettuce leaves that will then transport the overflowing boat of deliciousness into your mouth…
OHMYGOSH. It’s all just really, really good.
These lettuce wraps are a little different, though, because HI RICE NOODLES.
That’s right – I just added rice noodles to my lettuce wraps. Whatcha gonna do about it? (And if you’re really into this idea, there’s even more where that came from)
It all started because I was bringing these over to a friend’s house for an appetizer dinner (by the way – when was the last time you had an appetizer dinner? it’s the best thing ever and you need to make it happen. asap.) and I realized before I even got there that I was going to be sad after I ate these lettuce wraps as an appetizer.
Because I have this thing: I am consistently plagued by the I’m-Still-Hungry dilemma anytime I eat lettuce wraps. Ugh. Like, I get two bites of filling and then somehow they’re gone and I still need more food. Wh-hy-hy-hyyy? Black magic, I tell you.
Being firm in my convictions about food, I cannot morally support any kind of skimpy, un-filling lettuce wraps any longer. So naturally, I made lettuce wraps that are appropriately sized for small giants. Filled with chicken, peanuts, and rice noodles (my favorite!) and meant to be eaten as a MEAL. None of this two bite business, my friends. No thank you.
Go lettuce-wrap-big or go home.
Please hear me when I say that these are as simple as they are delicious. I mean like 20-minute simple. It’s totally a Monday and WE CAN TOTALLY DO THIS.
Step one: Sauce. The best things in life always start with sauce.
Step two: Marinate chicken and peanuts. For, like, .37 seconds because we have hangry people in the house.
Step three: Brown the chicken and peanuts and rice noodles. There they are, those sneaky rice noodles.
Step four: Wrap, sprinkle, drizzle sauce, and DEVOUR IN BLISS.
May these Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps for The Hungry Girl bring you much joy, friends.
More Seriously Delicious Lettuce Wraps
Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Ginger Garlic Sauce
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings (3 lettuce wraps each) 1x
Description
Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps with a Ginger Garlic sauce – made from scratch with chicken, peanuts, rice noodles, and extra sauce for serving!
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon sambal oelek (chili paste)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger (I use a paste)
- juice of 2 limes
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 green onions, minced
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar (optional – makes it more tangy)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch (optional – helps the sauce thicken)
For the Lettuce Wraps
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 lb. ground chicken or turkey
- 1/2 cup lightly salted peanuts, chopped
- 6 ounces rice noodles
- 12 leaves of lettuce (I used Boston lettuce)
- chopped cilantro, green onions, and peanuts for topping
Instructions
- Whisk all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Pour about 3/4 of the sauce into a bowl with the ground chicken and peanuts. Stir to combine – marinate for 15 minutes.
- Soak the rice noodles in a large bowl of water while the meat is marinating. When the noodles are softened, drain and rinse with cold water. Cut into small pieces.
- In a large skillet, heat the sesame oil over medium heat. Add the meat and peanut mixture and sauté for 10 minutes or until cooked through. Add the noodles and stir-fry for another 5 minutes or until soft, adding a splash of water, oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, or lime juice to moisten the pan as you see fit.
- Remove from heat, scoop mixture into lettuce leaves, top with cilantro, green onions, peanuts, and the reserved sauce.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Asian-Inspired
Nutrition Facts
- Daily value: 41% Total Fat 31.7g
- Daily value: 26% Cholesterol 78.2mg
- Daily value: 56% Sodium 1295.6mg
- Daily value: 19% Total Carbohydrate 53.1g
- Daily value: 18% Dietary Fiber 5g
- Sugars 7.4g
- Daily value: 72% Protein 35.9g
- Daily value: 35% Vitamin A 313.5µg
- Daily value: 17% Vitamin C 15.3mg
- Daily value: 17% Iron 3mg
- Daily value: 16% Potassium 742.4mg
- Daily value: 41% Phosphorus 511.4mg
Keywords: chicken lettuce wraps, peanut chicken lettuce wraps, garlic ginger sauce
A go-to recipe of mine! So fast, easy, and flavorful.
Have made these a few times. Love the flavor but would like to darken up the chicken a little bit, so it’s a little more palatable. Any suggestions?
I would try making it with turkey instead as it’s a bit darker!
What’s the “peanut mixture” mentioned in step 3, the saute? It could be construed as the marinade (“for the sauce”) but that contains no peanuts. It could also be construed as the chopped peanuts, green onion and cilantro mentioned in “for the lettuce”, but that doesn’t make sense as it’s separately mentioned in step 4.
The best lettuce wraps I’ve ever made! A consistent recipe in my simple dinner rotation. Love the fresh flavors from the ginger and herbs. The addition of rice noodles makes it filling enough for a full meal.
What can I substitute for the oyster sauce ??
Hi! Here are some ideas for oyster sauce substitutes!
We really love the vegan firecracker wraps so we tried this last week. HOLY COW. I might like them better than the vegan ones – there is something about the flavor that just puts it over the top. YUM.
Great Flavor! First time cooking with ground chicken and I was not a fan of its texture! Other than that, I will definitely be trying this sauce with something like tofu!
I was very disappointed. I followed your recipe and it ended up super salted, to the point of no return. Time and money wasted.
Sorry to hear that, Denise. Thank you for the feedback!
Sodium was off the charts…tasted good but my body could tell too salty. Can you come up with low sodium revision?
Delicious!!!! The entire family LOVED IT! Especially the teens 🙂 this recipe will definitely become part of our rotation. Better than any restaurant out there!
Glad to hear it, Nikki!
Can you substitute fish sauce for the oyster sauce? I hate to buy oyster sauce to use it just once.
I have made this recipe no less than a dozen times since discovering it. My typical approach is ground pork instead of chicken, and leaving the noodles separate. I often serve with peanut dipping sauce which combines many of the same ingredients with peanut butter. Today, I used crumbled tofu for the protein source and OMG, amazingly delicious still! Such a go-to recipe for us and the whole family likes it.
Love the idea of doing tofu here! Glad to hear you enjoy these lettuce wraps and that they’re part of your regular rotation of meals, Ashley! 🙂
These look amazing what would be a good substitute for the oyster sauce?
This was a wonderful recipe that everyone enjoyed. I did add shiitake mushrooms which added a lot of cook time to reduce the water released but worth it. I also folded in water chestnuts at the last minute. I served mine with the rice noodles separate so that those which special dietary needs could skip if they wanted. Their loss!! The sauce is delicious and can be used for so many things. Big hit for my family and friends 🙂
Can’t wait to make this
Theses were amazing !! So delicious !!! I couldn’t stop eating them . ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I made this and it was absolutely delicious! My family loved it too. I did add 1/4 cup diced carrots for color. Great recipe
Hey Lindsey! I LOVED the firecracker lettuce wrap recipe and I’m excited to try this one as well! However this recipe has 2X as many calories. I still want it to be filling like the firecracker wrap but want to lighten this up a little. Would you recommend taking out the oyster sauce and cornstarch? Thank you! ❤️❤️❤️
Wonderful!!!! I added fresh green beans and green lentils. Can add a shredded carrot too! This recipe is great!!
This sounds amazing! But I want to recommend cooking with a different oil instead of sesame, perhaps coconut or avocado oil since I believe sesame is too delicate to be exposed to any heat without becoming unstable! I would definitely splash some on at the very end though for the sesame taste.
Greetings from down under 😊
This is absolutely yummy.
Thank you so much for the recipe. I made it with lean beef mince, and it was great.
My girlfriend is absolutely in love with the sauce.
She simply can’t stop talking about it.
She asked me where I got the recipe, and when I said pinch of yum, she said that I need to tell you that it is a BUCKET LOAD of yum, not just a pinch.
Have a similar recipe. Love to share a picture.
Yummers totally concur with adding rice noodles.
I have to admit, I’ve been silently internet stalking you for years! I’m so happy for your success! I’ve visited your pages since just before you went to the Phillipines. I just adore what you and Bjork have created. All this time I secretly wanted to create a blog. I’m getting close, thank you so much for inspiring me!
I was looking for a lettuce wrap recipe that didn’t include mushrooms or water chestnuts (because I didn’t have any), and came across yours. LOOOVE the idea of adding peanuts and rice noodles to actually be satiated 😀 it was like a DUH moment lol
I halved the fresh ginger as I don’t like a strong taste of it, but do like some. I only had a bit oyster sauce left, so subbed fish sauce for the rest. I also used yellow onion instead of green (what I had on hand). And I like soaking my rice noodles in hot water. Other than that, followed recipe as is… and…
YUMMMM 🙂 thanks so much for sharing! Definitely a keeper!
Now I’m going to browse around your other recipes!
Awesome, Christina! Thanks for the comment!