AMAZINGLY EASY AND INSANELY DELICIOUS CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS

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Chicken lettuce wraps are so very delicious.  I have loved/ate them at PF Chang for a while but now that I know I can make these babies at home, well it is on.  I am pretty sure this is going to become my go-to recipe for a quick but delicious meal to make.

When I say they are quick to make I am extremely serious.  It is a meal from start to finish, at most, is 30 minute or less to put on the table.  I honestly have no clue why I have not made them before.  Maybe fear of the unknown.  Which is crazy considering I love to cook and I love making a meal for pennies compared to what you pay for in a restaurant.  Now I know you can say but it is a pleasure to go out to dinner and I will agree but come on sometimes you just do not feel like going out but you have a craving for something that you can eat at one of your favorite restaurants. Or maybe, if you are like me, just do not wish to deal with the crowds and wait time to eat out.  Sometimes that is more hassle than cooking.

There are tons of copycat recipes out there but I have to say this one is more like the real one from PF Chang.  The first time I made this I made it with ground chicken.  Since I have "ground" my own chicken.  I took some chicken breast and cut them into cubes and tossed them in my food processor.  So, easy and so cheap!!  Or frugal.  The thing is we actually have a meat grinder I could have used but I chose to try chopping it in my food processor to see if there was a difference in taste.  I actually like the chopped chicken better but by no means am I saying the ground chicken is not any good because it is insanely delicious.  

Again this is so easy and so quick.  Start by browning your ground or chopped chicken.  

Even this does not take long.  As you see I am using one of our many cast iron skillets.  This one is a BSR Red Mountain series that is pre-1930.  On this particular skillet, the number on the bottom is hand scripted indicating that it might be before 1930.  BSR is Birmingham Stove Range.  I love this skillet.  Scott has fun with me because a lot of times this is my go-to skillet to use.  Keep in mind at one time cast iron was hand poured and cast.  

While the chicken cooks gather your ingredients to make your sauce. 

Make the sauce and set it aside.

You should also have time to chop water chestnuts and onion as you, chicken cooks.

I have to admit I have a secret ingredient I use.  Now you can buy this at the stores but I make my own and can it.  Have to say my sriracha has some kick.  

Again my recipe is a bit different from some you might find online.  I was trying to make this quick and simple but tasty.  Add your sauce into your browned chicken.

Add the water chestnuts and onion.  Yes, your onion is going in raw. 

Cook this until your onion is tender.  

That is it.  You are done.  Well, you need some lettuce to put your chicken into but you are done.  

I thought well I might need some sauces but I am telling you, this is so incredibly tasty you do not need any sauce.  Plus my version is a bit saucy, kind of like me.  If you like fish sauce here is a really good recipe that can be added on your chicken lettuce wrap.  It is a recipe for Thai Nam Pla Prik sauce.  

CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground chicken or finely chopped chicken
• 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
• 4 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 medium yellow onion diced
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/2 to 1 tablespoon sriracha sauce (optional)
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce (I use light)
• 1 1/2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 5 ounce can of water chestnuts diced
• butter or romaine lettuce

Directions

• Preheat skillet, add cool oil to the hot pan.  Add ground chicken and brown.
• While your chicken browns make your sauce by adding hoisin sauce, minced garlic cloves, sriracha sauce, soy sauce, and ginger paste to the bowl and mix together.
• Open and drain the water chestnuts and dice.  Also, dice your onion.  Set aside. 
• Once the chicken is browned add the sauce and then add the water chestnuts and onion.  Cook until onion is tender.  

I used a lid on my skillet to help the onions cook quicker.  You are not trying to brown the onions on cook them soft.  By using a lid this helps to steam them and cook quicker.  

I honestly think this is as good as if not better than the restaurant version.  

For my followers that new this recipe was coming out soon, I am sorry it took me so long.  I hope you will make this and leave me some feedback.  As I always say please feel free to play with my recipes to you and your families taste.  I am serving mine with a side of Hibachi style rice.  

ENJOY!!!

UPDATE

Funny, I forgot I was out of soy sauce and while making this I had to run to the store and pick up a bottle.  While I was driving I received a text from my friend Kim (Moffitt) and she told me she was going to make these tomorrow.  I told her I was in the process of making them again today.  So, Miss Kim here are the updates for you to read.  

I posted this last night and was in a bit of a rush.  I have tried to go back and clean up my errors.  I have always said English is not my subject but I do love to blog so please deal with my mistakes because like you, I am human.

I have been known to go back to a recipe and change it up and I try really hard to come back and update with comments or changes.

At the time of posting this, I had made it 2 times and the only difference was the chicken.  The first time I used ground chicken.  The next time I used chicken breast that I had cubed and processed in my food processor. As I mentioned above, I like it better when chopped finely in my food processor.  However, both ways are really good.  Heck, I might just think I like it better in the food processor because it is so much cheaper.  I am one of those that look at the sale ads and buys stuff and will divide it and freeze it for later.  Another substitute would be ground turkey in place of the chicken.  I have not used ground turkey so I can not say how it changes the flavor.

I just made another batch of these yummy darlings for dinner and I made several changes just to see the difference.  

This time I used garlic hoisin sauce instead of the plain hoisin sauce.  I did just to see how it would change the flavor.  In doing so, I did not use the minced garlic.  I had garlic and I could have minced it but again I wanted to see the difference in taste. 

Next, I switched up on the ginger paste.  Ginger paste is something I had in the fridge and at the time of cooking the prior batches, I did not have fresh ginger.  Weird considering we grow ginger.  If you wish to use ginger paste it is normally found with the fresh herbs in the produce section of your grocery store.  My switch was to ginger powder.  I had garlic paste and meant to use it but I totally forgot to add it into my sauce so I subbed out the 1 tablespoon of ginger paste to 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger. 

I also decided to cook my onions for a couple of minutes and then add the chicken to my skillet.  Again, I could not tell a difference at all in the flavor.  Grant it, I did not caramelize the onions which would change the taste.

Overall the changes I made only changed the price of the dish by making it more frugal.  FYI less expensive.  The overall flavor is still wonderful.