Healthy Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Easy Healthy Chicken Lettuce Wraps are served Thai Style with ground chicken, crisp vegetables, fresh herbs, roasted peanuts and the zing from our famous Prik Nam Pla dipping sauce.
Servings: 6
Calories: 307kcal
Equipment
- wok or frying pan
Ingredients
Thai Chicken Marinade
- 1.5 pounds ground chicken minced
- 3 tablespoon lemongrass
chopped finely (white parts only) or 3 tablespoons of Lemongrass paste - 2-3 shallots peeled and chopped or small onion
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 2 teaspoon ginger root fresh or about 1 inch knob grated (exchange with galangal if you have it)
- 1-2 Thai bird chili or to desired heat level
- 3 tablespoon fish sauce
we used Red Boat fish sauce to keep it gluten-free and Whole30 approved. - 2 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
or finely chopped fresh kaffir lime leaves - salt and white pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoon sugar or sugar alternative to follow Whole30 diet exchange with date paste.
- 1 tablespoon oil light flavored
Lettuce Wraps veggies
- 1 head romaine lettuce iceberg or Boston bibb lettuce works well
- 2 carrots peeled and cut into thin match sticks about 2 inches long
- 1 cucumber
peeled and cut into thin match sticks about 2 inches long - 1 red bell peppers deseeded and cut into thin match sticks about 2 inches long
- 1 cup cilantro fresh (stems removed)
- ½ cup mint
optional (stems removed) - ¾ cup peanuts roasted and crushed (almonds are a great substitute if allergy)
Thai Dipping Sauce
- 6 tablespoon prik nam pla
Instructions
- Marinate ground chicken: In a bowl, add ground chicken, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, ginger, Thai chili peppers, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar or sugar alternative, white pepper and lime zest. Stir and set aside for 15 minutes while you prepare and chop the vegetables. You may also marinate overnight, if you desire in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
- Cut your lettuce from the core. We used Romaine lettuce and cut about ¾ down from the leafy end side and left approximately ⅓ of the white section near the core off. Carefully remove each leaf and rinse under cold water and dry with paper towels. Set aside to dry.
- Wash, chop and prepare your vegetables and herbs. Use what you have on hand. We used carrots, cucumbers, peppers and julienned sliced them. Bean sprouts are nice too. We washed our cilantro and mint and removed the stem. (This can be done the day before as well) Lay your lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers, bean sprouts, cilantro and mint on a serving tray, if you plan on serving your lettuce wraps family style.
- Make Prik Nam Pla dipping sauce. https://www.hwcmagazine.com/recipe/prik-nam-pla/
- Add oil to wok or pan and stir fry marinated chicken for about 5 minutes or until the the chicken is no longer pink. Add in sugar, sugar alternatives or date paste to sweeten and salt and white pepper to taste. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes longer or until the liquid is mostly absorbed.
- Assemble your Healthy Chicken Lettuce Wraps: Allow your guest to grab a plate and then start with the lettuce cup in your plate, put some cooked Thai style ground chicken in the lettuce cup, followed by all the delicious crunchy vegetables and fresh cilantro and mint, crushed peanuts and top with a couple of teaspoons full of the delicious zesty prik nam pla sauce. Fold over your lettuce wrap like a taco. Eat and Enjoy and repeat the process until your happy.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Facts include 1 tablespoon of Prik nam pla sauce.
Ingredient Substitutions
Ground Chicken (some of you may refer to this as minced chicken) – You could also use ground turkey, pork, beef or even chopped mushrooms. We chose ground chicken as this is more traditional. However, you could also use marinate chicken breast and grill, if you are hosting and outdoors gathering. Then, just slice thinly so they fit easily in a lettuce wrap.
Fresh Lemongrass, shallots, garlic, ginger, Thai Bird Chilis. If you have access to an Asian market near you then fresh is the way to go. We only use the white portion of the fresh lemongrass and keep the green section for Thai Hot and Sour Prawn Soup. Galangal is preferred to ginger as this is more authentic. However, we used fresh ginger to demonstrate another good option that is readily available in most grocery stores.
We know that sometimes it is difficult to find some of Essential Thai Herbs and Spices. However, we have an easy solution. Have you ever tried Gourmet Garden Thai Seasoning stir in paste? You can find in the refrigerator section of the grocery store and it has all of the Thai aromatics already chopped and in a convenient squeeze container. (However, if you are watching your carbs, following a whole30 diet or are diabetic, please note that this has added dextrose to the mix)
Fish Sauce adds that delicious umami flavor to this light and flavorful Thai appetizer. One of our favorite brands that is both gluten-free and Whole 30 approved is Red Boat Fish Sauce. If you want a vegan substitute, be sure to try these homemade vegan fish sauce recipes from Cooking Light.
Sugar or Sugar Alternative of choice. As you already know, Thai cuisine is built on the framework of having balance between the sour, savory spicy and the sweet. You can use brown sugar, if you wish. However, if you are on low carb diet, you can exchange with your favorite sugar alternative of choice. Are you on a whole30 plan this month? No worries! Just add a little date paste to the marinade.
Lime Zest and Lime Juice are essential sour notes. However, if you can get your hands on fresh kaffir lime leaves, these are preferred over the lime zest. Limes can be found at most grocery markets and are very accessible.
Lettuce – of many sorts work well. We used romaine lettuce this week as that is what we had on hand. However, healthy chicken lettuce wraps also work well with Boston bibb lettuce. Heck if all you have is iceberg lettuce, go for it. We are all about using whatever you have on hand.
Fresh Crisp Vegetables – cucumbers, bean sprouts, carrots, peppers are all delicious. Open up your crisper and see what you have and use that.
Fresh herbs like cilantro and mint are very traditional. You could also try chopped green onions too.
Roasted chopped peanuts add a delicious fun crunch to lettuce cups. If there are allergies with peanuts exchange with roasted crushed almonds.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 307kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 798mg | Potassium: 1205mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 11787IU | Vitamin C: 37mg | Calcium: 89mg | Iron: 3mg