Chicken Cashew Lettuce Wraps
This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This recipe for easy Chicken Cashew Lettuce Wraps is perfect for lunch or dinner, or even as a tasty appetizer. It’s light, refreshing, and ready in just 30 minutes.
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 these 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.
How to make these Chicken Cashew Lettuce Wraps
- To make the stir fry sauce, mix all the ingredients (soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, ground red pepper, ground ginger, and sesame oil) together and make sure to dissolve the brown sugar.
- To make the cashew chicken, heat the canola oil in a pan, add the diced chicken and cook for 405 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the oil, add the pinion garlic and soy sauce to the pan and let those brown. Add the chicken back in followed by the stir fry sauce and cashews.
- Divide the mixture into individual lettuce wraps and enjoy!
You’ll also love to try:
Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs
Chicken Piccata Recipe
Chicken Marsala Recipe
Coconut Chicken Soup
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.
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” 🙂
BEST and easiest lettuce wrap recipe EVER!! We are watching sodium so we swapped coconut aminos for the soy sauce. My son-in-law says he could eat this everyday. My new go to recipe!