Who doesn’t love Asian food? Ok, outside of Bo, because Bo is a SUPER plain and picky eater. It drives me nuts because ordering in Chinese food at 10pm on a Saturday night has never an option being married to him. Pity me. Ok, you don’t really have to pity me, because when I put these copycat P.F. Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps down in front of him, he DEVOURED them.
Mission accomplished.
So, maybe I can’t order in Chinese food at 10pm, but I can sure as hell enjoy it at 6pm with the whole family around the dinner table before soccer, or hockey, or dance, or whatever else these three kids have us running around to. Because did I mention, these only take 30 MINUTES to get on the table!
P.F. Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps are a breeze to make!
These chicken lettuce wraps are so easy to make, and you can even make the sauce a day ahead of time to speed up your night. Then it only takes the 15 minutes to prep and cook up the rest!
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Kids and lettuce wraps? Is she nuts? They don’t always go hand in had. You’ve got to hold the wraps carefully, and if everything starts spilling out the lettuce can get slippery for them. So, for my younger two, they’re happy to just have the chicken put right on top of a pile of rice. Then they can just dig in with a spoon. Oliver likes to enjoy them just like we do though (that’s my boy!).
You could also put everything in a tortilla for them, or a tortilla boat. Seriously, if you haven’t seen the tortilla boats in the grocery store yet check them out. You could also make your own bowls, like Monica at The Yummy Life! The smaller size is PERFECT for the kids, and super easy for them to pick up and eat themselves.
As far as toppings go? My standard is some rice, bean sprouts, chopped cilantro, toasted and salted peanuts chopped up, and some Sriracha sauce. Mmmmmmm. I’m going to have to make these again this week, they’re SO good!
All you have to do is brown some chicken in a skillet, whisk together your sauce ingredients while the chicken is cooking, and then simmer it all together for five or ten minutes until it’s deliciously coated. Did I mention delicious?
If you love Asian flavours, check out these favourites of mine too:
Did someone say leftovers?
Oh, and lunch tomorrow? I swear this tasted even better the next day when I rolled up a couple of wraps just for me while the big kids were at school and Sophie napped. Ok, so maybe it tasted as good as the night before, but it was the fact that I had 10 MINUTES OF PEACE TO MYSELF that pushed it over the top.
Here’s your recipe, I know you’re going to love it as much as we did! Let me know some of your favourite things to order-in on your take-out nights in the comments. I need some more recipes to try and perfect at home!
P.F. Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
Chicken Mixture
- 1.5 lbs ground chicken or turkey
- 2 tbsp peanut oil
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 2 sweet peppers, diced
- 1 can water chestnuts, drained and diced
Sauce Ingredients
- 6 tbsp soy sauce
- 6 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 1/2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
- 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
To Serve
- Bean sprouts
- Sriracha sauce
- Toasted and salted peanuts, chopped
- Cilantro
- Rice
- Large lettuce leafs to wrap, or tortillas (or serve over rice).
Instructions
- Whisk together all the ingredients for the sauce. This can be done the night before and stored in the fridge.
- Heat the 2 tablespoons of peanut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground chicken, and cook gently, breaking up the pieces with a spatula. When the chicken just starts to brown, add in the diced onion. Continue cooking until the onion starts to turn translucent. Add the diced peppers and water chestnuts.
- Drain any remaining liquid from the pan. Add the sauce, bring to a boil, and then lower to a simmer for 5 minutes until everything is coated and the sauce has thickened up a little bit. See notes if you want a thicker sauce.
- Serve in lettuce leaves with rice and other toppings you enjoy. You can also use tortillas, pour it over noodles, or just serve it right on top of rice. That's how the kids like to eat it!
Notes
If you want the sauce to be a bit thicker, slowly stir in a slurry over med-high heat until you get the desired consistency. You can make a slurry by mixing together 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, and just enough cold water to make it runny (about 1 1/2 tablespoons of cold water. Stir it into the meat and sauce mixture slowly, while at a bowl. Only use as much as you need, so shouldn't need the whole slurry.
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