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Patty Catalano
Patty CatalanoFood Editor
Patty is the Food Editor at The Kitchn, where she develops all of your favorite recipes and writes about her most beloved grocery finds. Previously, she worked as Alton Brown’s Research Coordinator and podcast producer and in the Oxmoor House test kitchen. She loves maple syrup, coffee and board games. Patty lives in Atlanta with her husband and two children.
updated Jun 23, 2021
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It's surprisingly simple to make these sweet and savory wraps at home — and they're even better than the original.
Serves4Prep15 minutesCook16 minutes to 18 minutesJump to Recipe
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If there’s a restaurant dish that’s more deservingly popular than P.F. Chang’s chicken lettuce wraps, I’ve yet to find it. The sweet and savory seasoned ground chicken is piled into cool and crunchy lettuce leaf cups, making for the best-ever appetizer or stand-in for the main meal itself. It’s surprisingly simple to make these wraps at home — and I promise they’re even better than the original.
When It Comes to P.F. Chang’s Lettuce Wraps, It’s All About the Sauce
The special sauce is what makes the chicken wraps so tasty. If you order them at P.F. Chang’s, you’ll notice salty soy sauce is the main flavor. Here, oyster sauce is the key to adding meaty and salty flavor to the chicken without an overt shellfish flavor. You’ll start by mixing the oyster sauce with pantry staples including rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, chile-garlic paste, and cornstarch (which thickens the sauce so that it can better coat the crumbles of browned chicken).
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While the restaurant uses iceberg for their wraps, tender butter lettuce leaves have a better shape to cup the filling, and they won’t break as you fold and eat the wrap. For a finishing touch, top the lettuce wraps with a nest of crispy rice noodles.
Copycat PF Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps
It's surprisingly simple to make these sweet and savory wraps at home — and they're even better than the original.
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 16 minutes to 18 minutes
Serves 4
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
For the crispy rice noodles: (optional)
- 1 cup
vegetable oil
- 1/2 ounce
dried rice sticks, such as Maifun
For the lettuce wraps:
- 3 tablespoons
oyster sauce
- 3 tablespoons
rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon
low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon
toasted sesame seed oil
- 1 teaspoon
cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon
chili-garlic paste or sambal oelek
- 2 tablespoons
vegetable oil, divided
- 4 ounces
(2 cups) cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
- 1 pound
ground chicken
- 1/2 teaspoon
ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon
kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon
garlic powder
- 1/2 cup
drained and chopped water chestnuts (about 1/2 can)
- 1/2 cup
sliced scallions, divided
- 1 head
butter lettuce
Instructions
Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat until it reaches 375°F. Break the dried rice sticks into small pieces and add to the hot oil. Fry until the rice sticks puff and turn white, 30 to 45 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.
Whisk the oyster sauce, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch, and chili-garlic paste together in a small bowl until no lumps remain; set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the mushrooms and cook until browned and the moisture evaporates, about 8 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, then add the chicken, ground ginger, salt, and garlic powder. Cook, breaking the meat up into small pieces, until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the water chestnuts and half of the scallions. Cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Pour in the sauce and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and transfer to a serving bowl.
Remove the leaves from the head of lettuce and arrange on a serving platter.
Serve by scooping about 1/4 cup filling into the middle of each lettuce leaf and topping with scallions and crispy rice noodles, if using.
Recipe Notes
Storage: Refrigerate leftover filling and lettuce leaves separately in airtight containers for up to 5 days. Store crispy rice noodles in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Filed in:
Chicken
easy
Ingredient
Main Dish
video
asian
