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Spoon ladeling lime sauce on the chicken lettuce cups on a plate.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Lime Drench


  • Author: Lindsay
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: Makes enough for about 8 lettuce wraps, or 4 servings

Description

These lettuce wraps are a SUMMER DREAM. Mountains of crumbled-crisp ground chicken, fluffy quinoa, and/or rice for added satisfaction, and garlicky gingery sautéed veggies in crisp butter lettuce leaves.


Ingredients

Units Scale

Lettuce Wraps and Filling

  • 1 lb. ground chicken or pork (I prefer chicken)
  • 1 inch piece ginger, grated
  • 4 cloves garlic, grated
  • 3 green onions, sliced (white and green parts)
  • 1 zucchini, diced (optional)
  • 1 carrot, diced (optional)
  • 1/2 to 1 cup pre-cooked brown rice and/or quinoa (see notes)
  • 810 lettuce leaves (leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, or romaine can all work)
  • spicy mayo (1/2 cup mayo + 2-3 tablespoons sriracha)

Lime Drench

  • juice of 56 limes (totaling 1/3 to 1/2 cup lime juice)
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 12 tablespoon brown sugar (more lime juice = more sugar)
  • 1/4 teaspoon grated garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon grated ginger

Instructions

  1. In a large skillet, brown the chicken with a little bit of olive oil until fully cooked and crumbled. 
  2. Set aside a little of your grated garlic and ginger for the lime drench. While the chicken is cooking, shake your lime drench ingredients in a jar.
  3. Add the remaining garlic and ginger, green onions, zucchini, and carrots to the chicken in the skillet. Sauté for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables have softened and are very aromatic. (The chicken doesn’t have a lot of fat, so I often add an extra drizzle of oil, or soy sauce or even a bit of water to pull the flavor from the bottom of the pan.)
  4. Add the rice and quinoa to the filling. Cook until softened and heated through. Season to taste.
  5. Fill your lettuce cups with the filling, pour the lime drench over it, and top with a little thwap of spicy mayo. Voila! So many vegetables and SO MUCH FLAVOR. 

Equipment

Notes

Cooked rice and quinoa: I often use just a cup or so of the precooked packages like Seeds of Change (affiliate link) – and it’s optional to add this in, but I like it because it makes the lettuce wraps feel more satisfying since it adds a carb element to the mix.

  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Asian-inspired

Keywords: lettuce wraps, lime juice, ground chicken, healthy recipe, dinner recipe,