Thai Lettuce Wraps- Healthy cuisine has never tasted better! Thai chicken lettuce wraps brimming with strong flavor and fresh ingredients. They can be eaten as a main course or as an appetizer. I adore Thai and Indian cuisines because they always use fresh ingredients and have strong tastes. These wraps are bursting with flavor! Every time I prepare them, I am reminded of how good they are. The stuffing is packed with vegetables, protein, and a wonderful Thai/sweet chili/peanut sauce that will leave everyone at the table happy. You may grin as your hungry family loads their plates with seconds, thirds, or even fourths of wraps, knowing that they’re not only enjoying them, but also eating healthy! Thai meal prepared with minced chicken, fish sauce, lime juice, chilies, and fresh herbs. It takes 30 minutes to prepare and can be served in lettuce cups or over rice.
Thai Chicken lettuce Wraps:
Thai cuisine is one of the most popular Asian cuisines in Sydney. And there’s so much to adore about it: noodles, curries and soups, grilled chicken, fried rice, and Thai Fish Cakes, to name a few. And, of course, there’s the classic Thai Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce!
When you want something lighter (read: fewer in calories!) but yet laden with Thai flavors, these Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps are fantastic.
Larb Gai, Laab Gai, Lahb Gai, Laap Gai……always it’s intriguing to look for a dish when the name has been interpreted in so many various ways! Depending on what you search for, you will get a plethora of results!
Thai Lettuce Wraps are a fusion of flavors and textures. With aromatic herbs and the fresh crisp of lettuce, this dish has the ideal combination of sweet, savory, sour, and spicy flavors. It’s completely addicting! Larb Gai is the Thai counterpart of San Choy Bow, the popular Chinese lettuce wraps.
Ingredients:
- Ground chicken — You may use whichever ground meat you choose, but chicken or turkey are both healthier alternatives.
- Any brand of olive oil you choose for frying.
- Red curry paste — I’m using red curry paste today, but if you like more heat, you may substitute green curry paste, which is generally more spicy!
- Please, minced ginger!
- Use as much or as little garlic as you prefer.
- Bell pepper – thinly sliced Today I chose a red pepper, but you may use any color you like!
- Cabbage — You can cut your own head of cabbage or use premade coleslaw mix to save time!
- Green onions, finely chopped
- If you can’t locate hoisin sauce in your grocery store, you may use equal parts plum jam and teriyaki sauce or a BBQ sauce of your choice combined with a little sugar.
- Seasoning – season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Lettuce – Make enough filling for 1/2 an iceberg. This recipe asks for iceberg lettuce, but romaine, leaf, or butter lettuce can also be used!
- 5 coarsely chopped basil leaves — cilantro would also work for this recipe!
Lettuce Cutting Techniques:
This is actually pretty straightforward! Remove the bottom half of the lettuce head and chop it in half. Then gently peel away each layer until you have “cup-like” portions that will fit your chicken filling perfectly. Before serving, remember to wash and dry your lettuce leaves!
How To Make Thai Lettuce Wraps?
PREPARE THE SAUCE:
Making the sauce is the first step in this lettuce wrap recipe. The sauce is essential to the taste of this dish. And please, please, please do not mess with the sauce. It’s the portion of the recipe that took me years to master, and it’s extremely wonderful on its own!
It’s really easy to make! Simply combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. If you choose a thicker peanut butter that is solid at room temperature, you may need to reheat it slightly before making these Asian lettuce wraps!
MAKE THE FILLING FOR THE LETTUCE WRAP:
- Make the ground chicken brown! This dish is really simple! There is one critical step, though, and that is to brown the ground chicken. It is critical to ensure that the chicken is crispy and brown for the overall flavor and texture of this meal!
- Use a wok, sauté pan, or cast iron skillet for this. I enjoy using my wok for traditional Asian dishes. A standard sauté pan or cast iron skillet will suffice!
- Cut the veggies into tiny cubes. This is one of the secrets to ensuring that every bite is full of texture and taste! I even let my food processor do the chopping for me on occasion!
Substitutions Suggestions:
- Ground chicken: Finely chopped chicken breasts work well in place of ground chicken! Ground turkey or ground beef can also be used!
- If you don’t have any peanut oil on hand or if you have a peanut allergy, any oil may be used. I suggest using olive or avocado oil!
- If you are allergic to soy, you can substitute coconut amino for the soy sauce.
- Peanut Butter: If you’re allergic to peanuts, any nut or seed butter will do, but peanut butter yields the greatest results!
Tips And Tricks:
- This recipe is simply customizable to utilize any ingredients you have on hand. Other chopped vegetables that might be included are celery, bok choy, bean sprouts, shredded Brussels sprouts, zucchini, or summer squash.
- When you add the vegetables to the skillet, sauté them until soft.
- If you use a lot of additional vegetables in this recipe, you may need to create a bit more sauce.
- You could also use ground turkey or tofu for the chicken, or leave it altogether entirely for a vegetarian alternative, adding extra vegetables instead.
What Is The Best Lettuce To Use For Wraps?
For lettuce wraps, you may use any sort of green leafy lettuce, but popular varieties include Boston bib lettuce and romaine hearts. The nice thing about lettuce wraps is that they are highly customizable in terms of content and wrapping. Cabbage leaves might also make an excellent alternative.
Lettuce Leaves For Lettuce Cups:
Don’t get too caught up on selecting the ideal lettuce for the lettuce wraps! Nobody recalls if your lettuce leaves were the right size, symmetrical, or a nice cup form after it’s all wrapped / crumpled up and you start consuming. Everyone is thinking about how delicious it tastes!
Crisp or soft lettuce both work well, so use whichever you want or what looks good at the supermarket. Crisp lettuce leaves are typically cup-shaped (small cos lettuce, also known as romaine lettuce), but soft lettuce leaves can be any shape as long as they are flexible enough to wrap around the filling.
Prepare Ahead Of Time:
While you won’t want to make your wraps ahead of time, you can absolutely prepare your chicken and sauce ahead of time. If you want to consume the chicken within the following day or two, it may be refrigerated for up to 3 days after cooking; however, freezing it will prolong its shelf life by up to 3 months. Then, when you’re ready, all you need is the lettuce!
How To Serve?
Lettuce wraps are a fantastic snack, but they are also quite satisfying if served as a main course. Serving over a bed of rice or noodles may make things simpler for you and your children, since eating with a spoon may be easier than devouring a lettuce wrap!
What To serve With Thai Lettuce Wraps?
When you want something lighter, serve as an appetizer or entrée. Try Perfect Coconut Rice, Easy Tofu Pad Thai, 1-Pot Yellow Chickpea Cauliflower Curry, Thai Yellow Coconut Curry with Mango, Vegan Papaya Salad, Pad Thai Spring Rolls, or Vegan Thai Iced Tea for a Thai-inspired feast.
MORE DELICIOIUS RECIPES HERE:
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Thai Lettuce Wraps
Thai Lettuce Wraps- Healthy cuisine has never tasted better! Thai chicken lettuce wraps brimming with strong flavor and fresh ingredients. They can be eaten as a main course or as an appetizer. I adore Thai and Indian cuisines because they always use fresh ingredients and have strong tastes. These wraps are bursting with flavor! Every time I prepare them, I am reminded of how good they are.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. uncooked rice OR 2 tsp corn flour / cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated or coarsely chopped
- 2 big minced garlic cloves
- 1 lemon grass stem, slightly cut, white and very pale green parts only
- 2 Thai or birds eye chilies, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 1 pound ground chicken or chicken minced
- 1/2 red onion, divided into four wedges and thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup coriander/cilantro leaves, plus more for garnish
- 1/3 cup mint leaves, plus more for garnish
- Serving:
- 3 tablespoons crushed peanuts
- 6-8 small to medium lettuce leaves (I used baby cos and romaine)
- Chili, extra lime wedges
Instructions
Sauce: In a small dish, combine water and corn flour OR rice powder. To make a slurry, combine all of the ingredients. Mix in the lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar. Place aside.
In a wok (or heavy-bottomed fry pan), heat the peanut oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the ginger, garlic, lemongrass, and chili for 45 seconds to 1 minute, or until aromatic. If the garlic burns, it will taste harsh.
Turn the heat up to high and add the chicken. Cook the chicken, chopping it up into little pieces as you go.
Add Sauce once the chicken has become white and is almost cooked through (approximately 3 to 4 minutes). Cook for 45 seconds to 1 minute to coat the chicken and thicken the sauce.
Remove the wok from the heat. Mix in the onion, coriander/cilantro, and mint.
Filling should be spooned into a bowl and served with lettuce, peanuts, additional herbs, and lime wedges on the side for everyone to build their own. Fill lettuce cups with filling and garnish with anything you like!
Serve with Thai Peanut Satay Sauce, as shown in the first photo in the post, to take it to the next level! It's particularly special.
Notes
Sauce thickener - In Thailand, toasting and grinding rice is the traditional method for thickening sauces. Cornstarch / cornflour, which is what I usually use, is a faster method to achieve this.
Heat a wok (or heavy-bottomed fry pan) over high heat for traditional ground rice. Dry cook the rice for 5 minutes, or until it turns a dark golden brown. Transfer to a mortar and pestle and grind into a powder. In lieu of corn flour in the recipe.
Lemongrass may be used fresh or as a paste. If you're using paste, combine it with the chicken and use 1 tbsp.
Remove the stringy, stiff outer layers of the lemongrass and only use the lowest 7 - 10cm / 3 to 4" of the lemongrass for fresh.
Lettuce - soft or crisp is acceptable; don't get too picky about lettuce shape or kind. Look for leaves with a natural cup shape for crisp. If the lettuce is tender, it's ideal for rolling into rolls!
Nutrition Information
Yield 3 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 947Total Fat 46gSaturated Fat 12gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 28gCholesterol 222mgSodium 1791mgCarbohydrates 77gFiber 5gSugar 8gProtein 60g
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