Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Honey-Peanut Drizzle Recipe

Monday, April 30, 2012

Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Honey-Peanut Drizzle

Posted by Cassie / 125 comments » / Appetizers, Main Dishes, Poultry

I’ve said before that Mexican food is my #1 favorite. But coming in as a very close second is Asian food. Asian food of any kind is food that I will never turn down. And in fact, I think it’s my favorite cuisine to cook at home. I often use these flavors for a quick dinner of chicken and vegetables, etc.

We ate dinner out a couple weekends ago and I had lettuce wraps. Ever since that dinner, I had been craving them. And the fact is – they are so stinking simple to make at home. Not to mention they are full of veggies and ingredients that we always have on hand.

I cooked these for a quick weeknight dinner last week and really had no intention of posting them. And then I decided that they were too good, and too simple not to share. These will become a regular on our menu for their versatility and big flavors!

The honey-peanut drizzle is a simple sauce that I use fairly often. It’s a twist on the sauce that I used for this spicy peanut noodles stir-fry, I added a little more spice to the drizzle and I loved it! The mix of cooked veggies, raw peanuts and the fresh lettuce provides a completely satisfying texture contrast.

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Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Honey-Peanut Drizzle

Yield: serves 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Lettuce wraps full of Asian flavors with a spicy honey-peanut sauce.

Ingredients:

for the tacos:
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
1 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
4 green onions, sliced, divided
1/3 cup carrots, cut into matchsticks
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 (5-ounce) can sliced water chestnuts
1/2 cup peanuts, crushed, divided
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped, divided
1 tsp. Sriracha sauce
1 tsp. soy sauce
1/2 cup cabbage, shredded

8-12 Fresh lettuce leaves, to serve

for the drizzle:
1 Tbs. creamy peanut butter
1 Tbs. honey
1 1/2 tsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. ginger, freshly grated (or 1/4 tsp. ground ginger)
1/2 tsp. Sriracha sauce
1/4 tsp. sesame seeds

Directions:

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large non-stick skillet. Saute the yellow onion, garlic, half the green onions, carrots, and garlic. Add 1/4 tsp. salt and stir. Cook the vegetables until they are fragrant and soft, 7-8 minutes.

While the vegetables are cooking, mix the ingredients for the sauce together, cover and refrigerate until serving.

To the veggies, add the chicken, water chestnuts, remaining green onions, half of the peanuts, half of the cilantro, remaining salt, and pepper, Sriracha and soy sauce, and stir well. Allow the mixture to cook for 1-2 minutes more.

Serve the mixture in lettuce cups and garnish with cabbage, remaining peanuts and cilantro, and honey-peanut drizzle.

Cassie's Notes:
To make these vegetarian, simply omit the chicken and add tofu, chickpeas, mushrooms, edamame, etc. in place of the protein.