Simplified Chinese Lettuce Wraps. A few years ago, my friend introduced me to P.F. Changs. Before that, I always thought Chinese food only came from family-owned strip mall restaurants or cheap buffets. Yes, I still dream of you $3.50 heaping plates of Chinese goodness! And the General Tsos Chicken from Nelson Dining Hall! But I digress
I love Chinese food, so needless to say. I fell in love with P.F. Changs too. Our favorite dish to get there was Chang’s Chinese Chicken, their version of General Tsos. We’d split an order of that and also get the spare ribs appetizer and the Chinese lettuce wraps. Perfect for the two of us and oh-so-good.
This copycat Chinese Lettuce Wraps recipe turned out pretty good…like most copycat recipes, not exactly on point but close enough for at home. I love it because it’s a crockpot meal, so it’s not only delicious, but it’s also super easy. The kids in our family even loved the wraps…I had to convince them to try them first by telling them they were Chinese tacos!
I paired our Chinese lettuce wraps with some leftover fried rice and Chinese veggies from our last Chinese food run. I found that most Chinese dishes freeze really well.
Simplified Chinese Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
TO MAKE THE LETTUCE WRAPS:
4 pieces chicken breast - minced
1 medium red onion - diced
1½ cups mushrooms - diced
2 cloves garlic - finely chopped
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 head iceberg lettuce
½ cup peanuts - chopped
TO MAKE THE DIPPING SAUCE:
¼ cup sugar (white sugar)- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice- 1 tablespoon spicy mustard
Instructions
- Put diced onions, mushrooms, garlic and chicken in a crockpot.
- In a separate bowl, mix together soy sauce, brown sugar and red wine vinegar until the sugar dissolves. Add to crockpot.
- Cook on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours, stirring throughout to keep veggies and the chicken moist.
- To make the dipping sauce, mix sugar with soy sauce and water, then add the rest of the ingredients.
- To serve, take large leaves of iceberg lettuce, add chicken mixture, add some chopped peanuts, roll up, dip in the dipping sauce and enjoy!
