Recipe of the Week: Chicken Lettuce Wraps

If last week’s abundance of comfort food left you feeling bloated, let me present a lighter meal this week. Karrie Truman, of the blog Happy Money Saver, has a wonderful chicken lettuce wrap recipe that will leave you feeling healthy and satisfied. Inspired by the notoriously tasty lettuce wraps at P.F. Changs, Truman whipped up an incredible blend of veggies, chicken and an Asian-inspired sauce, which she claims is “the stuff that fairy tales are made of.”

Sound intriguing? What’s more, it’s freezer-friendly, meaning you can make a batch of them Sunday night to ensure you have delicious meals throughout the week. If you decide to make these wraps mid-week (say, tonight?), no worries: Truman suggests chopping the veggies, mixing the sauce, and storing it in the fridge before you start your day. Come dinner time, all you’ll have to do is cook the chicken and mix it all together.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Prep time: 25 mins
Cook time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 lb finely diced, cooked chicken breasts or ground chicken 
• ½ cup diced carrots 
• 1 red bell pepper, diced 
• ½ cup snap peas, diced 
• ½ cup red onion, diced 
• 1 tsp minced peeled ginger
• 1 tsp minced garlic 
• 2 T green onions, chopped 
• ¼ cup peanuts, chopped (optional) 
• 4 T oil Green leaf or romaine lettuce leaves 
• Hot, cooked rice

Sauce:

• ¼ cup sugar 
• 1 tsp garlic powder 
• ½ tsp black pepper 
• ½ tsp salt 
• 1 ½ tsp ground ginger 
• ¼ cup soy sauce 
• ¼ cup rice vinegar 
• 2 T oil 
• 1 tsp hoisen sauce (found in Asian aisle at your grocery store)

Instructions:

1. Chop veggies and chicken. Mix sauce ingredients together and set aside.
2. Heat oil over medium to medium-high heat in a large pan or wok. Add chopped veggies and sauté until they are tender-crisp, about 3-5 min. Add chopped chicken and peanuts (if using) and stir to combine. Pour half of sauce over chicken/veggie mixture and continue to cook until the mixture is heated thoroughly.
3. Serve immediately with rice in green leaf or romaine lettuce leaves. Garnish with extra green onions and serve with extra sauce on the side.
4. If freezing, store the cooked chicken and veggie mixture after you’ve added the sauce in a gallon sized freezer bag. Defrost in fridge and reheat in skillet over medium heat until heated through. Serve over rice in lettuce leaves.