This copycat PF Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps recipe is a quick 30-minute meal that tastes just as good as the real thing. It’s simple to make and serve, using lettuce leaves as wraps for the savory Asian meat filling. You’ll love this low-carb, high-protein recipe for lunch or dinner.
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Chicken Lettuce Wraps Video
My favorite thing on the menu at PF Chang’s restaurant was their Chicken Lettuce wraps, but sadly the restaurant near our house closed. With this chicken lettuce wraps recipe, I can recreate those flavors at home in less than 30 minutes.
PF Chang’s Copycat Chicken Lettuce Wraps
The recipe is easy–mix a simple Asian sauce, brown your chicken, stir in the crunchy water chestnuts, and serve it in large lettuce leaves. You can also serve the meat filling deconstructed over lettuce or over Cooked Rice or Quinoa to eat with a fork, similar to my Egg Roll in a Bowl recipe.
I love recreating restaurant recipes, like my Zuppa Toscana, Pasta e Fagioli, and Chicken Madeira recipes, because I am able to make them cheaper, tastier, and usually with better ingredients compared to eating out. This PF Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wrap copycat recipe is easy, authentic, and less expensive than going out.
Ingredients for Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Ground chicken – dark meat (thigh meat) is the best for this recipe since the extra fat won’t dry out as much as breast meat. You can also substitute ground turkey (avoid extra lean) or any ground meat you prefer.
- Aromatics – yellow onion, garlic, and grated ginger
- For the Stir Fry Sauce – you’ll need just 6 ingredients: Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and sriracha (or swap with Gochujang). Just 1 Tbsp of sriracha keeps it mild; add more to taste. I also add a bit of water to thin the sauce.
- Water chestnuts and green onions – for mixing in at the end of cooking. Gives an amazing punch of flavor and crunch!
The Best Lettuce for Lettuce Cups?
There is a variety of lettuce that can be used for lettuce wraps. All work really well, so you can use what you have on hand.
- Boston Lettuce – a.k.a. Bibb or Butter lettuce. They have vibrant green, soft leaves that form perfect cups for lettuce wraps. They can be more delicate.
- Iceberg Lettuce – Trim away the core and peel away the whole leaves. They are sturdy and perfect for cups.
- Petite Romaine – a.k.a. Baby Romaine, or Hearts of Romaine – these are small heads of romaine lettuce that pull away from the core to form easy hand-held cups.
How to Make Chicken Lettuce Wraps
My Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps recipe comes together in just a few steps and in under 30 minutes, so you’ll love how easy it is!
- Make the sauce by mixing all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
- Sauté the meat in a cast-iron skillet or heavy skillet with oil until it is just cooked through (no more pink remains), then add onions and sauté until the chicken is browned.
- Add aromatics – stir in garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds
- Add the sauce to the meat mixture and stir to coat for 1 minute.
- Add Water Chesnuts and green onion and stir until evenly coated and hot.
- Serve the filling scooped into the lettuce leaves, and then garnish with green onions, if desired.
Lettuce Wrap Toppings & Sauces
- Hot sauce – Sriracha sauce, or Gochujang drizzle
- Sauces – soy sauce, or Tamari
- Crunchy nuts – add chopped peanuts or cashews
- Fresh veggies – add grated carrot, julienned jicama, sliced radish, bean sprouts, or chopped jalapenos.
What to Serve with Chicken Lettuce Wraps
This low-carb meal is filling all on its own and can even be served as an appetizer, but it can be served with Asian-inspired sides to feed a crowd. Here are some of our favorites:
- Chicken Fried Rice
- Vegetable Stir Fry
- Korean Carrot Salad
- Chow Mein
- Roasted Cauliflower
- Egg Rolls
- Spring Rolls
My copycat PF Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps recipe will become a quick go-to meal for your family, because it’s a quick recipe that’s so tasty and satisfying! My kids love the novelty of eating the lettuce cups, so try this easy recipe this week!
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
- 2 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce, or tamari sauce for gluten-free
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1 1/2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp sriracha or gochujang, to taste (optional, for spice)
For the filling
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 pound ground chicken, or substitute ground turkey
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 8 oz can water chestnuts, drained and diced
- 1/4 cup chopped green onion, plus more to serve
- 1 head butter lettuce, or romaine hearts, separated into cups
Instructions
- Make the sauce: In a small bowl, combine hoisin sauce, soy sauce, water, rice wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and sriracha or gochujang if using. Set aside.
- Cook the meat: Heat olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet or heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground chicken or turkey and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, breaking it up as it cooks, until just cooked through. Add the diced onion and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the onions are softened and the chicken is browned.
- Add aromatics: Stir in the garlic and freshly grated ginger and cook for about 30 seconds, just until fragrant.
- Add the sauce: Pour the prepared sauce into the skillet and sauté for 1 minute, stirring to coat the meat evenly.
- Finish the filling: Stir in the diced water chestnuts and green onions. Cook for 1 more minute. Season with kosher salt and fresh black pepper to taste.
- Serve: Spoon the warm chicken mixture into lettuce cups and garnish with the remaining green onions.
Notes
- To refrigerate: Cool filling and store in an airtight container in the fridge within 2 hours. Eat within 4 days. Store lettuce leaves wrapped in a paper towel in an open zip-top bag for 2-3 days.
- To freeze: Pack cooled filling (within 2 hours) in a zip-top bag or airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight.
- To reheat: reheat filling in a sauté pan until warmed through (165°F). Serve in the lettuce cups or over rice.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Restaurant Copycat Recipes
If you love re-creating your favorite restaurant meals, you’ll definitely enjoy this list of easy dishes that I think are even better than takeout.
- Shrimp Lettuce Wraps
- Chicken Piccata
- Taquitos
- Mongolian Beef
- French Onion Soup
- Kung Pao Chicken
- Beef and Broccoli
These are the mouth-watering best lettuce wraps I’ve ever had!! Not difficult to make and absolutely delicious. I’ve already shared the recipe with as many friends and family as I can. I used Tamarind, not Soy Sauce and served on Romaine lettuce.
Hi Garnet! That’s great to hear. I’m so glad you loved the recipe.
Tastes just like PF Chang’s, I left out the garlic as I can’t have garlic and it still tasted awesome. Made one dish with garlic for my family and one without.
That was our goal, thank you for trying and reviewing this. I’m so glad you loved it, Crystal!
I’m hoping this is as good as it looks!
Looks delicious. Reminds me of a restaurant where I had something similar.
I hope you try it soon and love it, Debbie!
I have made these twice, & they are fantastic! I cook for 2 of our grands 4 to 5 times each week. This is So easy once you get the ingredients…now I have a new recipe in my supper rotation! Thanks so much!
It sounds like you found a new favorite, Karen! That’s so great!
This was fantastic and so quick and easy! Don’t change a thing on the recipe!!
Thank you! So happy to hear you loved it.
These were better than PF Changs, very delicious! Easy to make and a keeper!
Awww, thank you so much. It means a lot to me.
These are delicious and pretty easy to make! My husband just loved them. These will be on my dinner rotation for sure!
Hello Karen, thank you for sharing that with us. I’m happy to know that your husband loved the chicken lettuce wraps!
SOOO GOOD! I think this was supposed to have been enough for four people, but I had one serving and my husband ate the other three at the same sitting. Next time I’ll fight him for my share of the second serving!
Yes or make more of these wraps next time just to be sure!
We’ve made these twice and it is now a favorite of the kids, who put the mix over tortilla chips instead of lettuce. We also added some cherry salsa right into the mix for the second batch since we loved it as a topper for the first batch; great additional tang.
That’s wonderful. I’m so glad the kids are loving it.
Chicken Lettuce Wraps were Easy to prepare & delicious! This is my favorite dish @ PeiWei, & I had not had this dish in a long time! Made it for 2 of our grands, both 16 yo, & they loved it too! This is a keeper! Yum!
Great to hear that it was a huge hit!
I made these for my family and it was completely gone! The recipe was so easy to make. I forgot to buy a head of lettuce (I know, for lettuce wraps)…so I served the filling over mixed greens. Amazing!!
That’s wonderful! Thank you for sharing that with us, I’m glad it was a huge hit!
Outstanding! Delicious and full of flavor!
Absolutely delicious and everyone must try this recipe at least once! Will be making this on repeat! Also, I didn’t have any rice wine vinegar on hand so I ended up using regular white vinegar and it was a great substitute. Thank you for an incredible recipe.
I’m glad it was a huge success!
Can I use hamburger? I do not have ground chicken or turkey.
Hi Brenda! We prefer poultry, but yes- it can work with beef too. I hope you love them!
This is amazingly simple to make. Thank you for sharing practical recipes! I substituted the sesame oil with chili garlic olive oil because that’s what I had on hand. I doubled the recipe for our needs, and it still turned out great. I soaked our lettuce leaves in ice water to make them crispy, and offered chopped peanuts, soy sauce, store-bought Pretty Thai Peanut Sauce, and chili paste as toppings. This was a hit, and I would make it again.
They sound great, Stacy! Thanks so much for sharing.
This is a delicious and easy recipe – made it for the first time a few days ago and it’s still good ( will be gone tonight). This is a keeper recipe for sure. I need to get siracha sauce as I didn’t have any so left it out.
Hi Ginger! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for trying the recipe!