Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps (gluten-free, paleo)
These Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps are reminiscent of PF Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps, yet they’re gluten-free, paleo-friendly and much healthier. With fresh ingredients and a few simple swaps, you can easily make this family favorite chicken dinner recipe.
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
This is an easy, weeknight chicken dinner recipe that’s bursting with flavor. They’re reminiscent of the “back in the day” PF Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps that I used to devour during college. But this version is gluten-free, healthier and I think has a little more pizzaz (especially with those crunchy mung bean sprouts).
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It can be difficult grabbing Asian “take out” if you’re celiac or gluten-free like me. You always have to double (and triple) check that the meal you received was indeed made with tamari rather than soy sauce.
Now, if you’ve read Roaming Free you know I’m a big proponent of traveling the world, gastrotourism and just getting out there. To not let your dietary restrictions restrict you from life. But preparation and a little extra caution should always be exercised as well.
The good news about this recipe is you know it’s 100% gluten-free and safe because you’re making it at home. And likely with fresher and cleaner ingredients than anything in a restaurant.
What’s in Chicken Lettuce Wraps?
So let’s chat about what it’s my version of these chicken lettuce wraps. The sauce is a mix of organic tamari (you could also use coconut aminos), blackstrap molasses (the best flavor enhancer), toasted sesame oil, white wine vinegar and almond butter (hello, homemade almond butter).
It’s a salty, nutty, umami sauce that’ll definitely have you going back for seconds.
Then, you’ve got a chicken “mix” that’s ground chicken, garlic, onion, ginger, water chestnuts and green onions. And it all comes together so quickly and easily.
Once everything is cooked, all that’s left to do is pile it high into the perfect green eating device – butter lettuce leaves! Just lay out the washed leaves, spoon in the chicken mix and top with mung bean sprouts for a delicious, new and improved Asian chicken lettuce wrap.
For more healthy chicken dinner recipes, make sure to check out my Roasted Balsamic Chicken, Coconut Curry Chicken, Parsnip Noodle Chicken Alfredo and Grilled Chicken Souvlaki with Dairy-Free Tzatziki. Enjoy!
Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps (gluten-free, paleo)
Ingredients
Sauce
- 5 tbsp tamari soy sauce
- 2 tbsp almond butter
- 1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
- 2 tsp white wine vinegar
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
Lettuce Wraps
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1/2 large onion, diced
- 3 green onions, sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
- 8 oz water chestnuts (whole or sliced), drained and diced
- black pepper, to taste
- 1 head butter lettuce, leaves removed and washed
- optional 1 cup mung bean sprouts
Instructions
- Combine all of the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and whisk together.
- Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium-high heat. Add the ground chicken and cook until browned, making sure to break up the chicken as it cooks.
- Add the minced garlic, onion and ginger to the chicken and cook for 1-2 minutes longer, or until the onion starts to become translucent.
- Pour the sauce on top of the chicken and stir until well combined. Add the water chestnuts and green onions, then stir everything together. Season with black pepper.
- To serve, place a large spoonful of chicken mixture onto a butter lettuce leaf. Top with mung bean sprouts.
Lisa's Tips
- You can use dark or light meat for the chicken. Both taste wonderful.
- If you can't find butter lettuce, you could also use romaine, iceberg or any other lettuce leaves.
- Make sure to read my post on the differences between tamari, soy sauce and coconut aminos. And I use this brand of low sodium, organic tamari.
Nutrition
This post was original published April 2016, but updated to include new photos and a video.
I would love to make this for a girls weekend, but would like to make it ahead. could I put the pre-prepared chicken and sauce in a crock pot to reheat and keep warm? Or would that dry everything out?
Yes, you can do that for a few hours or so!
This was a great dinner and our picky eaters asked for 3rds! We used rice vinegar instead of white wine vinegar and served it with broccoli and rice with the lettuce wraps.
A perfect tweak. I’m happy you loved the recipe, Brandi!
This is a delicious recipe. I have nade it many times and it’s always a favorite.
This was a very fast, easy to make and delicious meal! My family loved it! Thank you.
Yay! Glad the whole family enjoyed these lettuce wraps Jenn :)
Looks so delicious. Can’t wait (weight) to try it!
My boyfriend and I loved this recipe so much we made it twice this week! Only thing was the first time we made it the sauce was a bit too runny, so the second time we made it we heated the sauce in a saucepan to reduce it a bit before adding it to the chicken and wow that made it perfect!
Sooo delicious and easy and healthy!! Thank you for this recipe!
Quick, simple and delicious! I added some spiralized carrot and zucchini at the end for crunch and extra veg as I didn’t have any water chestnuts. Also swapped black strap molasses for half a tbsp of maple syrup.
Thank you Lisa, for so freely sharing your wonderful recipes. I come back to them again and again and will definitely add this one to my (long!) list of faves xoxo
Happy to hear you’re enjoying so many Downshiftology recipes Sarah, along with these lettuce wraps!
Absolutely delicious!
Thank you
DELICIOUS !!!! My whole family loved it even my picky teenager.
Happy to hear the whole family enjoyed these lettuce wraps!
I just made this recipe and loved it!!! I toasted some pinenuts and added them on top. Excellent recipe. Thanks for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe Grace!
These r amazing!
Glad you enjoyed these lettuce wraps Jessica!
So quick and easy. Definitely one of my favorites!
I made these but with peanut butter instead of almond butter (it’s what I had) and these were great. My husband is already asking for it again. Quick and easy and presentation is great.
Amazing! Happy to hear you both enjoyed these lettuce wraps!
So good! This is our lunch form the week 😊
This recipe is easy to throw together and packed full of delicious flavours! It makes it’s way into meal rotation every couple of weeks.
Wonderful! Glad you love this recipe Nicky :)
Beyond worth it and so easy! Website has amazing meals but we’ve always come back to this one. So far have made it around four times! We used honey instead of black molasses and it worked fine. Keep it up!
Happy to hear this one is becoming one of your favorites to make Ryan! It’s always a classic and light meal to make.
Absolutely delicious, I only had soy sauce and no almond butter and ended up having to add some salt but it turned out great. This would make a great wonton filling!
Hi Stephanie – Glad this recipe turned out great in the end!
I had not made this for quite a while and forgot just how delicious this is! My two young adult sons dubbed it ‘better than PF Chang’s’ chicken lettuce wraps. Needless to say I had to double the recipe!
Hi Annette- So glad the whole family enjoyed this recipe so much!
I’ve made this recipe at least three or four times, and it’s just as delicious every time. The first time I made it, I was missing a lot of ingredients–but somehow it was still amazing, even with my substitutions! Here’s what I substituted:
almond butter -> peanut butter
molasses -> maple syrup
white wine vinegar -> apple cider vinegar
All the substitutions worked well, in my opinion. I’ve also tried it with iceberg lettuce instead of butter lettuce, and that added more crunch (but butter lettuce is better if you really want to focus on the flavors of the meat!). Lisa, thanks again for your amazing recipes!
Hi Susan- So glad you’ve enjoyed this recipe so much already! This is a great dinner staple :)
Thank you for listing the substitutions, its very helpful!
Made this today and it is amaZing! I substituted watercress for apple and it was still delicious, I also added chopped jalapeños in the start with the onions. Also I omitted the molasses for Whole 30. For my husband I put in honey. I served it with guacamole. Will make it again!
Hi there – I’m so glad you and your husband loved these lettuce wraps, even with your small adjustments :)
We loved this recipe! It was the perfect combination of flavorful with a slight creaminess.
I always used regular recipes that had hoisin sauce as an ingredient and just would not include it since it wasn’t gluten free. It always turned out kind of bland & I never liked lettuce wraps that much. We LOVED these and I will definitely add this to my recipe rotation. :)
I used regular molasses and it was perfect!
Hi Amy – So glad you loved these lettuce wraps! They’re one of my favorites to make for a fresh and savory combination :)
Our family loves these!
Hi Kelly – Happy to hear your family loved this recipe! It definitely is a winning dinner meal with kids.
I don’t have blackstrap molasses. Do you think I could substitute Grandma’s Original All Natural, Unsulphured Molasses? I’m thinking it wouldn’t make a huge difference. Thanks. Looking forward to trying this.
I think that would be fine as well.
We’re trying to make more gluten free recipes in our home and this one has become a staple. We love how satisfying it is while still feeling light and fresh! We’ve made it at least half-a-dozen times since we found it.
Hi Mike – Amazing! This is definitely a gluten free recipe to keep on hand, especially during the warmer months :)
I don’t know why I have not rated this recipient yet. I meal prep salads every week and have included this recipe every other week for months now. I make the filling and put it over shredded butter lettuce. Because it’s a salad a usually add red cabbage and shredded carrots. And I top it all with a little bit of Choosen Foods Tamari Ginger dressing. So yummy.
Hi Jennifer – I’m so glad you’ve included this into your meal preps! And I love the additions of the red cabbage and shredded carrots. The combination sounds delicious.
Making this tonight—very excited about it! One question—I have 2 huge jars of blackstrap molasses and I’d love to have more recipes that i can incorporate it into. So—do you have more?? Bc that would be great!
I also use the molasses in my spring rolls recipe. You should definitely give that one a try as well!
Soooooooooooo good and so easy to make. Feels like you’re eating at P.F. Chang’s. I added a squirt of mustard and chili garlic paste. I also got rice noodles and fried them to sprinkle on top.
Thank you! Awesome recipe for myself and celiac roommate!
Yay! I’m happy you both enjoyed the recipe Kelly. And that sounds amazing with the squirt of mustard and chili garlic paste – yum!
Making these for the second time this week. Very good, I would be fine with 1/2 Tbls. of ginger.
Hi Kathryn – So glad you’re loving the chicken lettuce wraps. Thanks for the tip on the ginger as I know others will find this helpful if they’re not as fond of ginger. :)
Hello, just starting a low carb high fat diet, type 2 diabetic for 28 years. Is there a substitute for molasses? I watched a Dr. Berry video that said no molasses
Most substitutes for molasses would be other sugars (brown sugar, maple syrup, etc) which would still not be diabetic friendly, unfortunately.
These are AMAZING! I’ve made them 5 times now and keep forgetting to write a review. They are my SO’s favorite and he requests them all the time! We both prefer them with dark meat but still very good with white meat. Thanks for another fantastic recipe! You’re the best!
Yay! Happy you both love the recipe. And I agree, it’s great with dark meat as well! Thanks Steph! :) x
These are SO GOOD!!! I made the Asian chicken as part of my meal prep this week. It is absolutely delicious and tastes so much healthier than the PF Chang’s version. I love knowing exactly what is going into my food. Thank you for another incredible recipe!
Yay! Glad you enjoyed the recipe Kristen. It’s one of my favorite recipes as well. :) x
I used your recipe as a basis for my (now famous around family and friends) asian chicken lettuce wraps. One suggestion I would make is to add mushrooms. They are paleo, nutrient dense, and delicious. Most lettuce wraps have some type of mushroom (generally crimini or shiitake) in them.
Yes, mushrooms would be a great addition to this recipe. Glad yours are now famous as well! ;)
Isn’t this recipe to high in carbs for Keto ?
Every person’s body is different and while 30 grams of carbs is the average daily allowance on keto, it can also range from 20-50 grams. So it depends on what else you’d be consuming on the day that you eat this recipe.
Absolutely DELISH!!! I adjusted a bit for our needs using low sodium tamari and tahini instead of almond butter (tree but allergy). It also keeps really nicely in the fridge.
Perfect subs! So glad you enjoyed the recipe Christie! :) x
Made these for my family tonight and they were ah-mazing!!! So so good! We have a long list of your recipes we plan to try! I have 4 little girls who are hard to please!
Yay! That makes me so happy to hear. Glad your family enjoyed the recipe Ali! :) x
These are delicious. I used coconut aminos. How do you modify for whole 30
Hi Margaret – just swap coconut aminos for the tamari (as you did) and then leave off the mung bean sprouts. :)
Loved this recipe!!! Super easy to make for a quick dinner or meal prep for the week!
Yay! So happy you enjoyed the recipe Courtney! :) x
This recipe has become a family favorite! Works well with ground turkey or beef as well as chicken. I also love adding it to a bowl of lettuce and spiraled zucchini or some rice noodles. DELICIOUS!
Yay – thanks so much! Love to hear that Katie! I haven’t tried it with rice noodles yet, so now I’ll have to whip up another batch as well. ;) x
Delicious! I used half amount of water chestnuts diced them. Used Coconut aminos for Tamari! Made in 35 min total!
Awesome! So happy you enjoyed the recipe!
This recipe is DELICIOUS! Given my food sensitivities I pretty much never eat Chinese food out any more. How cool to be able to cook these lettuce wraps so they are healthy and safe for me to eat! My husband loved them too. I don’t know how you figured out that combination for the sauce ingredients, but I am so glad you did. THANK YOU!
That makes me so happy to hear Ellen! And I can totally relate to your fear of eating out with food sensitivities. But the good news is that you now have this recipe to enjoy at home! And it did take me a few tries to get that sauce just right. ;) x
Oh my gosh Lisa!!! These are delicious!!!! My entire family ate these right up ( including my 4 kiddos). It is not very often that I can make something that all 6 of us can agree upon. This recipe is definitely going in the “ make again” pile. Thank you for sharing.?
Yay! So happy you and the entire family enjoyed the recipe Aubrey! It’s definitely a favorite of mine as well. :) x
What a great weeknight dinner. It looks so easy and full of flavor.
It sure is! It’s a great 30-min recipe the whole family will love. :)
Love the flavors in these lettuce wraps. That sauce sounds fabulous…can’t wait to try!
It’s such a simple sauce but adds an enormous depth of flavor. Hope you enjoy them!
Great video as always Lisa! I love asian lettuce wraps and this recipe sounds reaaaally good!
Thanks so much Marie! And it’s so easy to make them at home! :)
Asian chicken wraps are one of my favorite lunches of all time. I honestly don’t eat them enough. Yours are motivating me…so pretty and scrumptious. Thanks for sharing :)
You can also make them ahead of time and then re-heat for lunch throughout the week. Super easy! :)
These look so amazing! So many bright and fresh flavors. I have been wanting to cook more Asian inspired dishes, can’t wait to try them!
Hope you enjoy the recipe! And you may love my Asian-inspired Cauliflower Fried Rice recipe as well!
O.m.g. My 3, 4 and 5 year Olds loved loved these! They were so happy! It took my husband back to our last pf chang visit 8 years ago in Mexico! But this was so healthy/yummy/guilt free! Thank you!
What other meal of yours would you pair this up with?
So glad the entire family loved them Francesca! I tend to eat these all on their own (and devour a good heaping portion). But a side of my cauliflower fried rice would definitely pair well! :) x https://downshiftology.com/recipes/cauliflower-fried-rice/
That looks just delicious!!!