Why should you care about this PF Changs Lettuce Wraps Recipe? Here’s why:
So you waited until the last minute to make reservations for Valentine’s Day, and everywhere is booked. If you’re thinking you’ll hit up the local sit-down chain restaurant, think again – there’s no greater buzzkill on V-Day than having to cool your heels in a restaurant lobby for two hours. That’s right, guess who’s not getting any tonight? The early bird gets the worm, so to speak.
The way I see it, you have two options: try your chances downtown, or make something at home. And why not try cooking something yourself? Trust me – your likelihood of getting lucky will increase exponentially if you treat your date to a home cooked meal, especially if you doll it up with a few candles and a bottle of vino.
This recipe is pretty easy – my friend Lisa made it just last week, and she downright hates to cook. Despite the long ingredient list, you can throw this together in about 30-45 minutes. If you’re really pressed for time (or cash) leave out the pouring sauce. It doesn’t need it unless you’re going for that full-on restaurant taste, which I actually try to avoid.
You could even make this recipe with leftover chicken from another dish, if you’ve got some lying around. Recycle those leftovers in style!
Wanna-be PF Chang’s Lettuce Wraps Recipe
Ingredients for pouring sauce:
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 2 tablespoons gluten free tamari (or regular soy sauce if you’re not concerned about gluten)
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon hot water
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
Ingredients for stir-fry sauce:
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
Ingredients for chicken stir-fry:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed to 1/2″
- 1 – 8oz can sliced water chestnuts, minced to the size of corn kernals
- 1/2 cup mushrooms, minced to the size of corn kernals
- 1/2 onion, chopped fine
- 3 cloves garlic, minced fine
- 6 large leaves of iceberg lettuce or nappa cabbage
To make the pouring sauce:
- In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in 1/2 cup warm water, then add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil. Mix well and throw in the fridge until you’re ready to eat.
- Just before serving, combine 1 teaspoons hot water with dijon mustard and garlic and mix in small bowl. Add to the pouring sauce, 1/2 a teaspoon at time to taste.
To make the stir-fry sauce:
- Prep the stir fry sauce by mixing soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar in a small bowl.
To make the chicken stir-fry:
- Combine oils and add to wok or large frying pan. Heat oil over high heat until it glistens, about one minute. Add chicken and saute until mostly cooked through, about 5 minutes.
- Turn the heat under the wok down to medium-high. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, wait one minute, and then add garlic, onions, water chestnuts, mushrooms, and the stir-fry sauce you prepared earlier. Stir-fry everything until the mushrooms have cooked through, about 4 minutes, and remove to a serving dish.
- Serve stir-fry with iceberg lettuce or nappa cabbage leaf wraps and top with pouring sauce.
Variation: you can do the same thing with ground beef, if you like.
I seriously challenge you to take these up against the actual PF Changs Lettuce Wraps Recipe, and let me know what you think.
If you like these lettuce wraps, check out these other recipes:
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I still keep coming back to this recipe. It is so wonderful I decided to share the secret with my Facebook friends. Thanks.
I made these tonight for my family and my son who is allergic to wheat. I just used San-J Wheat-Free Organic Soy Sauce. My whole family loved them. The pouring sauce was good but definitely not necessary, as the stir-fry sauce has plenty of flavor!
Thanks!
I agree with the previous comments about not seeing anything in the current recipe about cellophane noodles nor ginger. Was there an older post where these were included? I’m looking forward to trying these. I’ll even include the mushroom’s, even though I hate them.
Thanks for posting it.
how far in advance could you make this? Two days?
I am planning on making this for a weekly communal dinner. About how many does this serve?
Hey…
We just made this today – just replaced the chicken with extra firm tofu…
It disappeared in a matter of min… Loved it! Thanks…
My partner had these for the first time in Hawaii and loved them, went back three nights in a row…I am making these tonight… wish me luck… watch this space..
I just finished these and they turned out great! I used ground turkey also and loved it. My only recommendation changes would be a little less sugar, a bit too sweet for me and add a dash of cayenne pepper to your desired spice level took it to the next level.
I love this recipe. I use it a few times a month, and it is so easy and delicious. I actually tend to make a large batch and use it as the entree. Thank you for this recipe, it got me trying new things in the kitchen.
Hey Steph,
I saw that someone mentined the cellophane noodles which I don’t see as part of the recipe. Do you know how those are made?
This is great but instead of ketchup I use hoisen in the gyoza (pouring) sauce.
and red pepper flakes in the chicken mixture. Also, I would mince the chicken instead of cubing it. Then use garlic chili sauce and hot mustard at the end before serving the gyoza sauce. Great recipe!
The cellophane noodles are rice noodles and all you do is throw them in hot oil and watch them instantly expand. Then take them out and let them drain. Voila!
**do NOT actually throw the rice noodles in hot oil. you WILL have a bill from the local fire department and possibly a disaster. :-I p.s. don’t know if hoisen is gluten free, probably not…
I made a vegan version of this by using tofu and it was outstanding! I did everything as stated except I stir-fried extra-firm tofu instead of the chicken. Absolutely delicious. Can’t wait to try it with chicken.
I’ve been dreaming about this recipe of yours ever since Wendy made it for her adoption post! I’m only missing the rice wine vinegar … will pick that up next week and then I’ll be in business.
Thanks, Stephanie!
Shirley
You had me at PF Changs!!! Can’t wait to make these
Thanks for this great recipe! I posted it on our blog today along with some photos and linked back to you.
WOW awesome recipe!!!
My 13 year old son and I made this. It isn’t hard to make at all. The first time is just teedious. We got the rice noodles and fried them (Be FAST because it is a flash fry and puffs up fast!)
I didn’t have mushrooms on hand or water chestnuts so I improvised. I used chopped carrots and a heaping handfull of cashews chopped up. Also, we didn’t have sesame oil so I threw in some sesame seeds.
GREAT DISH!! Thank you SO much!!
Using carrots and cashews is a good idea – I will have to try that. It sounds really good.
Just made these tonight, very good, and very close to the original. A new favorite of ours, thanks for your efforts!
Thanks! So glad you like them.
This was so yummy! Thank you!
Just made these for dinner tonight and they were AWESOME!!! Great recipe! I pulsed the veggies and then the chicken in my food processor to make it into small peices just like it is a Chang’s. MMMMMM…..
I loved this recipe. I added red bell pepper for color and serrano pepper for some heat. These were excellent and will be added to my small list of favorites. The boyfriend went crazy over them.
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