Chicken Cashew Lettuce Wraps
These recipe for easy Chicken Cashew Lettuce Wraps is perfect for lunch or dinner, or even as an tasty appetizer.
Lettuce wraps have been a popular menu item around here for awhile. And thankfully a few friends have made their own version that I’ve had the pleasure to test out. So when I started thinking of ways to cut back on calories, but not flavor, lettuce wraps were one of the first things that came to mind, specifically, Chicken Cashew Lettuce Wraps.
This lettuce wraps recipe creates the perfect combination of savory, spicy and crunchy that I just love. Plus they’re easy. And I always like easy. Don’t you?
This is a simple recipe for Chicken Cashew Lettuce Wraps. Top them off with your favorite hot sauce, basil or more cashews and you’ll have a winner for sure. And while most restaurants offer them as appetizers, I think they’re perfect for the main course. Definitely.
Enjoy!
Chicken Cashew Lettuce Wraps
This is a simple recipe for Chicken Cashew Lettuce Wraps. Top it off with your favorite hot sauce, basil or more cashews and you'll have a winner for sure.
Ingredients
For stir fry sauce:
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
For Cashew Chicken:
- 2 chicken breasts (about 3/4 lb. total), diced
- 8 leaves of greenleaf or iceburg lettuce
- 3 tablespoons canola oil (or oil of choice)
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1/4 cup cashews, chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For stir fry sauce:
- Mix all stir fry sauce ingredients making sure to dissolve brown sugar. Set aside.
For Cashew Chicken:
- Heat canola oil in pan over medium to medium high heat. Add diced chicken and brown (about 4-5 minutes). Remove chicken from oil.
- Add onions, garlic and 1 teaspoon soy sauce to pan; brown. When onions and garlic are brown and tender, add stir fry sauce, browned chicken, and cashews. Saute mixture for a few minutes and remove from heat.
- Spoon chicken mixture into individual lettuce leaves. Add your favorite hot sauce, more cashews or basil.
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Now THIS is the kind of recipe I need in my life. I’m back focusing on Weight Watchers and I need some full flavor but low fat recipes. I’m salivating.
I love lettuce wraps too, nice picture.
This picture is incredible…even edible looking! I was just thinking about how to use the left-over pork tenderloin I fixed for supper last night and you’ve just given me the answer. We love lettuce wraps so I’m going to substitute the pork for chicken. By the way, I’m making a collection of your recipes… my very own Yum Yum cookbook… it will have to do until yours is out! Love your ideas!
Hi Amy, I would love to cook this recipe, however, I am unsure what ground red pepper is. Would it be similar to paprika or is it hot like chili powder and is it a dried powder. I am not from another planet by the way (Australia)!
Hey Ann!
Ground red pepper is hot. It is a dried powder. Paprika will not give you the same result and the heat of ground red pepper is more concentrated than that in chili powder. You could use ground cayenne pepper or even a hot sauce, although I’m not sure what amount of hot sauce would correlate to 1/4 tsp. of ground pepper.
:-] Amy
I used red pepper flakes and ground them a bit with a mortar and pestal.
I like to use crushed red pepper in mine! Love this recipe!
Lettuce wraps are one of our favorite things around here. Now I’m starving… thanks a lot 😉
We had these for dinner tonight…they rock! 3 of the 4 kids liked it, too! (Too spicy for Carebear!)
You can leave out the red pepper to keep it from being too spicy..My kids cant do too much spice so I leave it out and it doesn’t take away from the taste at all…
Those lettuce wraps look really good!
I have tried 2 previous recipes, but this looks like it will be the best by far…can hardly wait to try it!
I am so happy I made these tonight! They were loaded with flavor and were so easy to make. They had the perfect amount of spice, too. This will definitely be a regular around my house!!! Thanks for the amazing recipe.
These look so easy and yummy! I make a peanut lettuce wrap. I can’t wait to try this one! Thanks for stopping by my blog!
These look so good, I might be trying these tonight!
Just found this recipe on Tastey Kitchen and made them tonight. They are to DIE for. Love them!! They will be in heavy rotation at my house. Kudos!
This recipe was simple and delicious. My only addition was a little bit of oyster sauce added in with the rest of the stir fry sauce ingredients (the restaurant I work at uses oyster sauce in their lettuce wraps, so I figured it would add a nice depth of flavor. Also, I had it in my fridge already :)). I will certainly be making these again. Next time I will buy ground chicken or turkey, because all that touching the raw chicken to dice it up into mush kind of grossed me out. I also made a quick fruit salsa from scratch to use as a healthy yet flavorful topping (that’s how we serve it at my work as well!) made of mango, avocado, tomato, cilantro, jalapeno, and a squeeze of lime. Absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe!
I didn’t have ground red pepper or ground ginger, so I made this with 1 tsp sriracha and 1 tsp minced fresh ginger… it turned out okay, but next time I need to put a LOT more sriracha. The only other problem I ran into was the sauce part of the filling staying too watery. I added a little cornstarch and a little corn syrup and it turned out perfect. Great recipe!
We diced the chicken pretty finely, added water chestnuts, added honey and green onions, and tripled the sauce and it turned out better than ever! This is the third time we’ve made this recipe, and we’ve finally found the perfect version of it for us! Try it out if you’d like!
I forgot, we tripled the sauce, with the exception of the rice vinegar. It was excellent!
Found this on Pinterest. Made it. Whole family enjoyed it, including a finicky 5YO and 2YO. Thank you for sharing your creation!
I prefer this recipe over the PF Chang lettuce wraps.
Awesome! I love this dish at PF Changs and I’d love to try it at home! 🙂
What a wonderful way to enjoy a great meal without all the fat and calories. Love it!
Velva
I just made these, and they’re amazing, easy and healthy. They’ve earned a spot as one of my regular dinners 🙂
Just made this recipe tonight after finding in on Pinterest. It was so delicious! We did cut back on the red pepper to suite out tastes though. Next time I think we will, slightly, cut back on the oil as well.
These were terrific, and a big hit! I stir fried some carrots and celery into the mix, served the mixture with butter lettuce, and topped with some chow mein noodles for some extra crunch…..very tasty!
Oooh…chow mein noodles would be a nice addition!
Amy
I made this last night!! it was so good! My husband even loved it and he is a bad eater! thank you so much for the recipe =]
Being a grad student with a busy schedule, this recipe was great! Super fast and really delicious. Will definitely be making this one again! Thanks.
These were so great! I added diced tofu to bulk it up and it was awesome!!! will be making again 🙂
I was so excited to try these based on these comments- they were horrible. I threw it away and ordered thai takeout… very disappointed, wasted a good 25$ at least
Well, gee, thanks for sharing Carla. I think everyone having different tastes makes the world go around. Have a happy day!
: ) Amy
1 cup of onion diced seems like a lot of onion???
OMG I made this last night and it was amazing. I served it over rice and doubled the sauce and it was just perfect. Will definitely be making again and again. Thanks for the great recipe.
I just made these for dinner tonight…YUM!!! Made a few changes for our own tastes, but so very good
Calories or weight watchers numbers?
I made this last night for supper! It was awesome! My daughter is just starting to dabble in stir fry flavors, and she enjoyed this. Thank you so much for an easy, light meal! 🙂
These were delicious. The only change I made was we used Butter Lettuce. It makes the perfect little “cups” for the chicken and is makes the filling seem rich…and….well…..BUTTERY!
I just made these for lunch and WOW. They are awesome! Didn’t change anything, except added a bit more cashews. My husband already wants more and the kids liked em too 🙂
I made this recipe for the first time for supper tonight and both my husband and I absolutely LOVED it!! Thanks so much! 🙂
What is the prep and cook time?
These were really good. Added shredded carrots and chopped cilantro to the top.
These are amazing!!!
I know I’m a little late to the show with this recipe- I just found it through pinterest. I cook a lot of Asian food- it’s my personal favorite. And I’ve tried countless lettuce wrap recipes because I can never find one that tastes just right- until now! I’m so excited! I have to admit that I did alter the recipe a little bit to suit my tastes but even without those subtle changes i’m sure it’d be fantastic. I added hoisin sauce and a little honey to the stir fry sauce (because I’m not too fond of sesame oil so I try to mask it a bit). I also shredded carrots and chopped some water chestnuts finely to add some more vegetables and crunch. Topped with chopped green onions. The red pepper was the *perfect* amount of spice. Thanks so much for a fantastic recipe! This will go in my permanent rotation 🙂
Just wanted to say thanks for the recipe! I quadrupled the sauce, doubled the cashews, used nm powdered red chilie, and added siracha on top of each lettuce wrap. It was spicy and delicious! Wonderful!
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Made these for dinner!!!! I am a picky eater and it was an amazing recipe. I added mushrooms and water chestnuts. I may use a little less oil next time, but it turned out amazing!!! Can’t wait to make them again!!!!
I made these tonight an it was amazing. I made it exactly as the recipe states. My super picky husband even liked it only he ate his on a tortilla shell. Going in the recipe book!
Hello Katherine,
Yay! Our picky eater liked them too—on a tortilla too, of course. 😉
Loved these! Thanks for sharing.
This is amazing. I’m a really fussy eater and this has now taken second place (mums spaghetti bolognaise takes the cake every time). 5 stars
Hello Aimee!
Thank you for letting me know. Glad you enjoy it! I’m craving spaghetti now. 😉
I have made this recipe twice now…in one week! I love when I find a recipe that uses ingredients I already have in the house (except rice vinegar, which I did have the first time so I used a little bit of balsamic vinegar and lemon juice). This was a super quick dinner to make, and the flavors were fantastic! As soon as I cooked the chicken, I threw some sugar snap peas in the still-hot pan with a little oil, and they soaked up the flavors from the chicken while they cooked. I will be making this frequently!
Yay! So glad to hear it. Thank you for sharing your success!
5 STARS!!! I added 1/4 cup chopped cilantro to the mixture and lime for garnish. I also doubled the sauce. A new favorite!
Thank you! I’m totally trying it with cilantro. I may make it this weekend since our cilantro has bounced back a bit before the deep freeze hits. Thanks for the idea!
Love this recipe! All my kids like it, which always makes for a pleasant dinner. I like to add water chestuts an baby corn to bulky it up a bit. Thanks for the great recipe.
It does make for a much more pleasant meal time when everyone enjoys the same thing.
I have made this recipe for my husband and me several times now and we both love it! I usually double the sauce and add diced water chestnuts too. I’m going to make this for when my sister and her husband visit for Christmas and was wondering what you think a good side dish would be. Thanks!
This is such a tasty and satisfying dish! I’m glad to hear that y’all enjoy it.
Hmmmm … a few suggestions for side dishes: Ginger Roasted Carrots, Wasabi Cucumber Sesame Salad, Garlic Lemon Green Beans, or don’t laugh, more lettuce, a big tossed salad is always a favorite side dish for us.
I made this the other night and it was fantastic!! My husband loved it and begged, yes “begged” for me to make it again lol! I cooked some rice and Egg drop soup on the side and it was perfect. My picky kids loved it too! Thanks!!
That’s fantastic! Pleasing picky kids is a feat unto itself.
de these for dinner last night and they were awesome. I added some water chestnuts and shredded carrots to the chicken mixture, and doubled the sauce. I also added some honey and oyster sauce to the sauce mixture for a little more flavor. Next time I think I will triple the sauce recipe because we like more sauce on our lettuce wraps. A very good recipe that even my picky teenager liked and one I’ll definitely make again. Thanks for sharing it.
I’m glad to hear even a picky eater enjoyed it! 🙂
I added bell pepper, jicama, and cabbage! Served it as a dish (because I didn’t have any lettuce leaves). I found it delicious. My picky eater turned his nose up at it, but hell get hungry soon enough. Thanks for a delicious meal!
Nice additions! Sounds delicious and crunchy!
I love lettuce wraps! I have never tried them with cashews before, but I’m definitely going to try this recipe. I even have some in the pantry right now.
Hi! My husband and I are so excited to make these for a date night later this month! As I’m reading the recipe I just have a question. What kind of cashews do you use? I tend to have raw on hand, but am willing to buy roasted if it’s better. And salted or unsalted? Thank you 🙂
I have used a variety of cashews in this recipe. While I think roasted is tastier, use whatever you have on hand.
How would you make this vegetarian?
tothose of you that added hoisin and honey and sriacha, apprx. in what quanity? these look absolutly delish! cant wait to make them!
We make this recipe ALL THE TIME. Dinner goes on the table in no time flat. I also finely shred carrots for on top. The combo of flavors is just simply incredible. (we skip the cashews and don’t even notice it).
I use about 1.5 pounds of chicken and I double the sauce and it’s perfect (I do triple the amount of sugar, oops, but we like our chinese food sweet ! )
One tip— I use my food processor to chop the chicken finely – we like the smaller bites and the meat – to – sauce ratio is awesome!
I serve it on romaine lettuce “boats” 🙂