Chicken Lettuce Wraps Recipe (Y’All, They’re So Good)

Name: Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (can substitute for leftover chicken or turkey - about three cups); 3 green onions; 8 oz water chestnuts (small can); 1 cup mushrooms; 2 tbsp brown sugar; 3 tbsp soy sauce; rice sticks (and oil to cook them in); head of lettuce ( to serve them in)

Filled with tender and juicy chicken and lots of yummy vegetables, this easy chicken lettuce wraps recipe is filling, delicious, and way cheaper than the takeout version. Your family will love it!

Jump to Recipe

Alright, so I’ll admit right off the bat that this chicken lettuce wraps recipe isn’t exactly Southern, which is why I added a “y’all” on the end of this post title. That just made it look like it fit better on Southern Plate, didn’t it? I knew you’d agree.

Be careful, they’re addictive!

I’ve developed a raving addiction to these easy chicken lettuce wraps. You see, Ricky and I don’t get to go out much. We’ve actually been out twice without the kids in the past four or five years. What we do instead is pick a night each week and eat a very light supper, then after we send the kids to bed one of us (he usually draws the short straw here) goes to get takeout for our dinner. A Chinese restaurant is very near us and chicken lettuce wraps are one of their signature dishes. This is one of those things that didn’t sound too appealing to me at first but my mother kept insisting that I try them and once I did, I was about as hooked on that as I was the first time I tried poutine.

However, shelling out the money for them on a regular basis got old quickly and last night I just up and decided that I could make these little suckers myself. Never stand in the way of a woman when she “up and decides” to do something. I looked up several recipes online and they all seemed far too complicated for what I felt should be a simple recipe so I just set out to wing it on my own.

We found the finished product to be every bit as good, a little more filling, and a WHOLE lot cheaper than the restaurant version. The perfect main dish, they easily made enough for four people.

Recipe Ingredients

Chicken breast
Rice sticks
Soy sauce
Water chestnut can
Brown sugar
Mushrooms
Green onion
Head of lettuce

How To Make My Chicken Lettuce Wraps Recipe

Place a tablespoon of oil in a skillet (sesame oil works great in Asian dishes) and add your chicken breast. Cook on medium heat, stirring often until cooked through.

I am using 3 boneless skinless breasts, but this is an excellent recipe to use leftover chicken, whether that’s chicken thigh or rotisserie chicken. I’d also keep it in mind for turkey leftovers as well!

Chop up cooked chicken, mushrooms, water chestnuts, and green onion.

Add about 3 tablespoons of soy sauce to the brown sugar and stir that up well.

Place all of the chopped ingredients back in the skillet that you cooked your chicken in.

Then add the sauce. Stir and cook over medium heat just until heated through.

Cooking the Rice Sticks

Place about an inch or two of oil into a small pot. Heat on medium heat for several minutes before using. Check out the video in the recipe card below to see how the rice sticks puff out.

Break off some rice noodles, make sure they are small enough that they will fit entirely in your pot. You don’t want any part not going into the oil on the first batch because it won’t cook.

As soon as you put them in they will bubble and then PUFF up like this. Remove them carefully to a paper towel-lined plate.

This post is just filled with neat tricks! See this head of lettuce with the stem in the middle?

Tip to Get the Perfect Lettuce Wrap

Turn that head of lettuce over and get a good hold of it and hit it on the counter really hard, right on that stem and it will just pop right out!

Place the chicken mixture on each lettuce leaf and sprinkle the crispy rice noodles on the top.

Fold up your lettuce cup and eat it like a taco. This recipe makes enough chicken lettuce wraps for four people to have a couple each.

MY GOODNESS, THESE ARE GOOD!

Storage

If you have leftover chicken and vegetables, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You’ll want to store the lettuce leaves separately, as they’ll get soggy quickly.

Recipe Notes

Traditionally, Asian chicken lettuce wraps are made using ground chicken, so you can definitely substitute the chicken breast for ground chicken or turkey too if you prefer.
If your kids aren’t into lettuce tacos, you can easily serve the chicken and vegetables over rice noodles or rice instead.
If you want to add more vegetables to your chicken lettuce wrap recipe, add in a cup of finely chopped bell pepper.
For some heat, add 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes or serve with sriracha.
If you’re a fan of cilantro, feel free to sprinkle some chopped cilantro on top of these healthy chicken lettuce wraps before serving.
Try coconut amino as a gluten-free and soy-free alternative to soy sauce.

Recipe FAQs

Where can I find rice sticks?

Rice sticks aren’t nearly as hard to find these days as they used to be. I just picked these up at the grocery store in the Asian foods section. These add a lot of “coolness” to the recipe if you let your kids watch you cook them. Okay, so I think they’re pretty cool, too!

What lettuce is best for lettuce wraps?

I recommend using butter lettuce, iceberg lettuce, or romaine lettuce.