Paleo Chicken Lettuce Wraps – Fresh, flavorful, and FAST, these easy chicken lettuce wraps will be on the table in no time. They’re a major crowd pleaser!
I read the French Kids Eat Everything book
Perhaps the most dreamy concept in the book was the idea that French kids eat well (and politely) in restaurants. Try as I might, I just can’t imagine it at the moment. The idea is that it’s a training process–you go enough times and practice enough that everyone gets it, which makes perfect sense.
Well, as grad school students, we only go out to eat about once a month (if that), and I just can’t bear the idea of wrestling and wrangling two tiny people while I’m at a restaurant trying to enjoy a meal I paid for someone else to make. Instead, I opt for making our “take out” meals at home and saving the meals out for date nights with Michael. I’m also sure that as we keep practicing (and the kids get older) that our dining out experiences will get better and better.
Lettuce wraps and egg drop soup are two of our favorites. We’ve got an egg drop soup recipe we’re happy with, but I was still trying to get the lettuce wraps just right. We finally did it!
These little gems are so delicious and savory. There’s lots of flavor, (thanks to ginger, garlic, scallions) and they’re perfect for scooping into little lettuce leaves. Just a really great combination of textures and flavors. Just what I love in a lettuce wrap.
Best of all, these fit perfectly into our dietary restrictions, and there aren’t any mystery additives in them. Yum!
Notes on the recipe:
Not a chicken fan? LOTS of readers have made these with ground pork or turkey over the last few years without any trouble! I just don’t care for ground turkey (it’s too strong-tasting to me). You can also grind your own chicken, like we did. We ground our own chicken using a 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs and our food processor. Worked like a charm!
Fit your own diet. If you don’t have any dietary restrictions, you can use soy sauce for this recipe. If you need something gluten free, we go with tamari, and if you need something paleo, coconut aminos works beautifully.
Like this post? You might also like…
- Slow Cooker Butter Chicken (Paleo & Whole30)
- Chicken Zucchini Poppers (Paleo & Whole30)
- Pumpkin Taco Soup (Paleo & Whole30)
- 1 lb ground chicken (we ground raw chicken thighs or chicken breast in our food processor)
- 6-8oz button or baby bella mushrooms, finely minced
- 1 (8oz) can water chestnuts, drained and minced
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp avocado oil (olive or coconut oil would work well too)
- ¼-1/3 cup coconut aminos, GF tamari, or soy sauce
- Lettuce leaves (romaine hearts or iceberg lettuce work well)
- Cilantro
- Prepare the filling by heating the oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until lightly browned and cooked all the way through.
- Add mushrooms, water chestnuts, green onions, ginger, and garlic. Cook until fragrant and cooked through. Add 4 Tbsp coconut aminos or tamari and stir to coat chicken mixture.
- Add additional sauce as desired (remember you don't want it too wet, or it will make eating your lettuce wraps a very messy, soggy experience).
- Scoop mixture onto lettuce leaves. top with cilantro, if desired, and your favorite dipping sauce.
These look so good! I’ve only had lettuce wraps once before, but can’t wait to try these. It’s one of those moments when I wish I could reach through the screen and eat one.
We made these with ground pork last week and they were delicious! My little ones got a kick out of getting to fill up their lettuce cups themselves, and my husband requested that we make it a regular in the dinner rotation. Thanks so much for sharing!
I really enjoyed this recipe. My husband is on Paleo and trying to make recipes that please us both. This clearly fit the bill.
I added a few items; snow pea pods, hoisin sauce, yellow peppers and shredded carrots. Delicious. Thanks for sharing!
Love the additions….since I don’t like mushrooms I must try!! Minus hoisin for Whole30
Yum. We have a tofu lettuce wrap recipe that we love, but I will definitely be trying this one!
So good, Emily! I’m going gluten free just because this month and have fallen in love with all things lettuce wrap. This meal was a cinch and I added onions and bell peppers to add a few veggies (and to make it a one pot meal). This is definitely going to be repeated this month and whenever I don’t really want to make anything that takes more than ten minutes…ok twenty minutes.
Oh, I’m SO glad you liked it! I can’t wait to hear what you think after a month! Good luck, friend!
Huge mistake thinking that your kids will suddenly take to eating in restaurants when they’re older. Although you have to be prepared to get up and walk around or bring distractions (we were big on places with patios), children come to accept as normal what they’re brought up with. When my son was two I took him wherever I went to eat and ordered appetizer sized portions of duck, vegetables, whatever. Most restaurants were very accommodating about it. He is now 14 and is better about trying things than I am. I can take him with me for injeera at an Ethiopian restaurant or sweetbreads at a French restaurant and it’s all good. Honestly, it was a small price to pay so that we could (and can) enjoy meals together throughout his childhood.
Jennifer – I’m glad that worked for you! My daughter has autism and struggles with the sensory overload of restaurants–everything from the noise (lights, sounds of people chewing, din of the room), to the visual stimulation (fluorescent lights, unfamiliar textures of foods etc), and the social stimulation (lots of people, lots of noise). It’s something we’re working on in therapy, but we hope to be where you are someday. Thanks for the comment.
Emily, I commend you on your gracious response to the “huge mistake… ” comment. I’m amazed when I hear someone quickly and directly tell another that they are doing something wrong without even knowing the particulars of their situation. That seems a breach of basic courtesy to me.
Thank you, Rhonda! Such a happy comment to start my day.
I just made these for my 15 year old son’s after school snack, and he loved them! Yay, trying to lose weight and go Paleo over here. Thanks for this recipe.
Would this still be good without the water chestnuts? 🙂
Sarah – Yes! The water chestnuts just lend a little crunch. You could skip them entirely, or sub something else crunchy (carrots, toasted almonds, etc.)
You don’t have to use water chestnuts. I used Riced frozen carrots and cauliflower instead and it worked out beautifully.
Yum!! These were such a hit! I can’t believe how delicious coconut aminos and Dijon as a dipping sauce is. Holy cow. I used 1/2 turkey and 1/2 pork. I thought about coming home to these leftovers all day. These will definitely be a frequent guest at our table!! Thank you so much for sharing.
Meg – I’m so glad that you loved them! We made them when my mom was in town last week and I LOVE THEM!
Hey friend, I know it’s been a year, but I have to contribute a couple thoughts. We take our FOUR kids ages 5 months, 2.5 years, 3.75 years, and 4.9 years (as of Nov 2015) out to dinner ALL the time. They rock it. Sure, things knock over, but we’ve had $100+ dinners at nice restaurants here in Seattle, and we’ve taken them all. I was a test kitchen for Karen le Billon’s second book because she transformed MY life with her first. I didn’t eat well, let alone consider that my kids could. We have regular dinner parties (every Friday) where our kids join us at the table, albeit more briefly, and they only eat what we eat. Beets and all (but not liver because I’m not there yet myself). Do try it! Whatever we instill early, we don’t have to fight later…
I made this last night and it was so yummy. Brought the little leftovers for lunch today, thank you for sharing!
I’m so glad! They’re one of my very favorite recipes.
Made these for dinner tonight and I loved them! Definitely will be making these again especially since I am left with yummy leftovers.
Making these tonight! Although I’m subbing out the chicken for shrimp and adding a few more veggies! My husband is stoked to try it.
Oh, wow. This looks delicious! Besides the dijon mustard coconut aminos, any other recommendations for sauces to go with this?
If you’re not doing Whole30, you can dip them in something like hoisin sauce, sweet chili sauce, or whisk together some ginger, garlic, and tamari/soy sauce/coconut aminos. Hope that helps!
These are delicious, is there a way to know how many calories they are per serving?
Debbie – I’m so glad you liked them! I don’t have nutrition facts available on my site, but you can plug them into a recipe calculator online. My favorite one is MyFitnessPal (the site or the app). You can import recipes straight from the web!
This recipe is AMAZING! Healthy, super flavorful, and filling. Next time I’ll try it with half the amount of soy sauce, just to cut some of the saltiness out (since I didn’t use coconut aminos). Thanks for posting this!
Casey – I’m SO GLAD to hear how much you enjoyed the recipe. It’s one of my favorites! I make it all year long!
We had them tonight for dinner! They were DELICIOUS! Will fix again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Great Recipe. I swapped out the coconut amino for Whole Foods brand Teriyaki sauce. It’s what I had! It worked well. I did not need to make any other sauce to go with it. Thanks!
Yum! Used leftover chicken ( just chopped it up) and lettuce I bought at farmer’s market yesterday. Whole family loved it! Wish there were leftovers, but every bit eaten:) Thank you for a delicious, fresh, healthy recipe.
Denise – I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
This recipe is delicious! Made many versions of lettuce wraps previously without a recipe, but I liked the addition of water chestnuts and mushrooms in this one. I did not have coconut aminos or cilantro but added seasame seed oil, Chinese five spice, and red peper flakes. Also I used ground beef. So surprised we didn’t even need the soy sauce or substitute! Very tasty and an easy yet strict paleo meal. Oh and always made so much better with fresh Boston Bib lettuce.
Yum! Those adaptations sound delicious!
Hi Emily,
Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe. It is exactly what I was looking for, simple, healthy, and without any rich, sugary jarred sauces. I will definitely make it again, probably very soon. I think I’ll try your brownie recipe next😁
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And I hope you LOVE the brownies!
I made these tonight and they were a huge hit with my 2 teens and hubby. I did chicken and venison. YUM!!! I loved the simplicity and delicious flavor.
So glad to hear that Marianna! I just LOVE them!
This was delicious and so easy! I had to omit the mushrooms due to an allergy, but they were not missed!
So glad you enjoyed them Lisa!!!
We are making these again. I passed the recipe to my college kids too. Such a easy healthy meal.
I substitute jicama for the water chestnuts and it was so good. Thanks again!
Ooh! I still need to try that!
Your peanut sauce is delicious, it tastes just like my favorite dressing! I add tahini, sesame oil, and sesame seeds sometime when I top soba noodles in a power bowl. Thanks for sharing, I am so happy to home make it now!
Ooh yum!
Where is the recipe for the ginger dipping sauce?
Melissa – If you look in the recipe card (under the title) our dipping sauce recipe is written in italics. “For a dipping sauce, we mixed together equal parts dijon mustard and coconut aminos/tamari.” You can make as much or as little as you like.
If you don’t want to go that route, you can simply mince up a little ginger (about 1 tsp) and stir it into 1/4 cup or so of some tamari/soy sauce/coconut aminos. Hope that helps!
These are great. How many calories per serving.
Valerie – Thanks for your comment! I don’t have nutrition software yet, so nutrition facts aren’t yet available for my recipes on my site (hopefully soon!). You can plug the recipe ingredients into any free online calculator. My favorite is My Fitness Pal (the free site or free app) since you can import recipes directly from the web!
Thank you!
My pleasure!
Well I found this recipe yesterday and bought a few bits I was missing but what are the coconut amino for? I love the sound of this recipe and the changes and adaptions from others in the comments. This is going to be made tonight/ tomorrow and am looking forward to it.
If you follow a paleo diet or avoid soy, you use the coconut aminos in place of the soy sauce/tamari. It’s just lovely!
Do you grind the chicken in the food processor while raw or after it has been cooked?
Before! It’s ground raw chicken 🙂
Hi! THis looks delish! I want to try this out and I’m wondering what the sauce you’re using in the pics. Any whole 30 approved sauce recipes? Thank you.
Leah – I mixed together a little coconut aminos, dijon mustard (Annie’s brand is compliant), and some garlic. That’s it! It reminds me of the chili oil, hot mustard, and soy sauce mixtures they serve at PF Changs.
Made this tonight. Very good flavor and the food processor makes it a breeze! Next time, I would salt the chicken and add tapioca starch at the end to thicken that yummy juice.
Ooh, great tip! Thanks!
This was so tasty! I made it with all items listed plus some shredded carrot. Hubby (who is not following paleo or AIP, but wants to be supportive) REALLY loved it! We’ll definitely be repeating this! Thank you!
Oh, I’m SO happy to hear that! It’s always such a win when your family enjoys it too!
This was so good!!!
SO glad you loved them! I can’t get enough!
This was Amazing! I made a side sauce with almond butter, coconut aminos, lime juice, red pepper flakes and water. Similar to a peanut sauce. It was so crazy good. Thank you!
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing this with me! That sauce sounds DELICIOUS! I’ll try it!
Would this work in an instant pot or crockpot?? Looks delicious!
Elizabeth – That’s a great question! If I were doing it in the IP, I don’t think it’d be done any faster since it’s just a few quick minutes of cooking (and you’d be doing that in the IP on the saute setting). As for slow cooker, I think it’d probably be too much cook time.