Earlier this month, I traveled to San Luis Obispo with the family to explore new restaurants and wineries. I love trying new restaurants to get inspiration for quick and easy recipes I can share on Just One Cookbook. One of the dinners we had was at Novo Restaurant & Lounge in downtown SLO. We ordered an amazing spread of appetizers and absolutely enjoyed their Thai Shrimp Lettuce Wrap.
After we came home from the trip, I made several wraps in a row until I was perfectly satisfied with the recipe. Today, I couldn’t wait to share this amazing Thai Chicken Lettuce Wrap with you!
Why You’ll Enjoy This Recipe
- It’s easy, simple, delicious, and super fast to whip up.
- It’s a perfect appetizer to serve at your next get-together.
- Makes a healthy, low-carb meal that can easily be adapted to a vegetarian or vegan meal.
- Protein substitutions are a cinch, so this recipe makes for a fun create-your-own meal.
Inspiration for This Lettuce Wrap
I’ve had duck and squab lettuce wraps many times when dining in Chinese restaurants. I always loved the fragrant sautéed mixture with crispy fried noodles served in the lettuce cup. As you bite into the lettuce cup, you taste refreshing, cool iceberg lettuce, which blends perfectly with the warm, flavorful, moist meat mixture.
At Novo, their interpretation of the lettuce wrap was slightly different. Served with sides of julienned carrots and daikon, fresh mint, and cilantro on butter lettuce, they offered a variety of protein choices, including tofu, steak, or prawns. You could also top your wraps with either Thai chili sauce or fish sauce.
It was so simple, yet the combination of the herbs and vegetables was so refreshing and flavorful. The spicy Thai chili sauce is the perfect dip; it makes these wraps even more irresistible.
I realized I could easily make the same dish at home very quickly with the ingredients I had in the fridge. For my protein, I used boneless chicken breast instead since it’s my children’s favorite meat.
Ingredients You’ll Need
For my version of Thai chicken lettuce wraps, the ingredients list is simple:
- Boneless, skinless chicken breast
- For the marinade: Freshly ground black pepper, salt, garlic cloves, green onion or scallion, and a teaspoon of cornstarch.
- Vegetables: I used daikon and carrots, but you can also use red cabbage or cucumber.
- Olive oil for cooking – substitution of coconut oil or vegetable oil works too.
- Butter lettuce for the wraps: As fresh and crisp as possible!
- For garnish: Peanuts (optional, of course), mint, and cilantro
- Sweet chili sauce. Store-bought or try my homemade sweet chili sauce.
How to Make Chicken Lettuce Wrap
- Marinate the chicken breasts.
- Cut up all the veggies while waiting for the flavors to be absorbed,
- Cook the chicken, let it cool slight and then cut it into small cubes.
- Serve up your chicken and veggies in the lettuce wraps; drizzle with sweet chili sauce and then garnish with chopped peanuts and cilantro.
Trust me, once you have these lettuce wraps, you can’t resist eating just one!
Easy Substitutions and Recipe Tips
Do you have a group of people coming over that will require catering to different diets? Here are some tips:
- Use tofu (pan-fried or grill) or mushrooms! Smoked tofu is a great option too.
- Try prawns or shrimp or crabmeat.
- Don’t have sweet chili sauce? Sriracha sauce or chili oil would work too!
- Cut your vegetables into thin slices so they are easy to eat.
- Allergy note: Do you have peanut allergies? Leaving peanuts out of this recipe is fine! Chopped cashews or crispy shallots will make a tasty substitute and can be found at most Asian grocery stores.
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Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1 carrot
- 3 inch daikon radish (green top part is sweeter and less bitter)
- 1 head butter lettuce
- ¼ cup peanuts (optional)
- 3 sprig mint
- 3 sprig cilantro (coriander)
Marinade:
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 green onion/scallion (chopped)
- 1 tsp potato starch or cornstarch
Sauce:
- ¼ cup sweet chili sauce
- 1 Tbsp cilantro (coriander) (optional, roughly chopped)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Pound the chicken breast to an equal thickness.
- Put the chicken breast in a large bowl and add all the marinade ingredients to the bowl. Rub the chicken with the marinade and set aside for 15 minutes.
- Using a julienne slicer, cut carrot and daikon into matchstick sized strips. If you don’t have a julienne slicer, cut into thin sheets first, then cut into matchstick sized strips.
- Coarsely chop the peanuts with a knife or grind them in a mortar and pestle. Put the Thai chili sauce and chopped cilantro in a small dish.
- Heat the oil in a large grill pan (or regular frying pan). When the pan is hot, place the chicken into the pan without adding marinade (To brown the meat nicely, we do not add any liquid). Cover and cook the chicken on medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom.
- Flip and cover to cook for another 2-3 minutes till the meat is cooked through. If the meat is browning too fast, lower the heat.
- Take out the chicken and cut into small cubes.
- To serve, place the chicken, butter lettuce, julienned vegetables, peanuts, and herbs on the plate. To eat, lay the lettuce leaf on a platter, then put some of the chicken, julienned carrots and daikon, herbs onto the leaf. Sprinkle with the peanuts and drizzle with sweet chili sauce to eat. Enjoy!
To Store
- You can store the leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for 3 days or in the freezer for a month.
Nutrition
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