A lot of people are out there searching for copycat recipes, and this PF Chang’s lettuce wrap recipe is one of the best out there. I know because I’ve eaten it many, many times, both in the restaurant and here at home, so I’ve had a lot of time to refine it and make it the best it can be, using fresh chicken and natural ingredients. This easy copycat recipe quickly became a favorite at our house, and I think it will be on constant rotation at your dinner table as well.
Americans love to eat out, and it’s pretty clear that this habit is tough to let go of when the economy tumbles, taking your dining-out budget along with it. So why not try to make your favorite restaurants dishes at home? Using copycat recipes, you’ll even be able to change them up a bit, using fresher, healthier ingredients than you’d likely find at a chain restaurant.
There are lots of great sites out there that specialize in copycat recipes, one of the best being Copykat.com. On this robust cooking blog, Stephanie Manley (the copycat herself) masterfully recreates some of America’s favorite dishes at home, for much cheaper (and much healthier!) than you’d find at your local TGI Friday’s, Macaroni Grill, or Outback Steakhouse. So, give copycat recipes a try and see what you think. And then leave a comment to let me know about your favorite copycat recipe, either that you’ve found or created yourself.
Copycat Recipe: PF Chang’s Lettuce Wrap Recipe
Recipe for dipping and pouring sauce
- 4 tablespoons sugar or agave nectar
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce or gluten free tamari
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons ketchup or canned tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon dark sesame oil
Recipe for stir-fry sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or gluten free tamari
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar (not packed tightly)
- 1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
Recipe for stir-fried chicken
- 1 teaspoon hot water
- 1 tablespoon nice dijon mustard (use the good stuff, it will make a difference)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into half-inch cubes”
- 1 – 8oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained and minced
- 1/2 cup minced mushrooms (minced to the same size as the water chestnuts)
- 1/2 yellow onion, minced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 6 large leaves of iceberg lettuce
Method for Pouring Sauce Recipe
- In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in 1/2 cup hot water. Blend in soy sauce or tamari, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and dark sesame oil. Mix well and set aside in the refrigerator until the rest of the dish is ready.
Method for Stir-Fry Sauce Recipe
- In a small bowl, combine soy sauce or tamari, brown sugar, and rice vinegar. Mix well and set aside.
Method for Stir-Fried Chicken Recipe
- In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon hot water, dijon mustard and minced garlic and set this aside.
- In a wok or large frying pan over high heat, combine olive oil and sesame oil. Heat until it shimmers, about one minute. Add chicken chunks and stir fry until entirely cooked through, about five minutes. Remove from the chicken pan and allow to cool, but reserve the oil in the wok or pan, keeping it hot over a low flame.
- Take the pan or wok that you cooked the chicken in (with the still warming oil) and turn it up to medium-high heat. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, wait one minute, and then add the garlic, onions, water chestnuts, mushrooms, cooked chicken, and the stir-fry sauce. Cook everything, stirring constantly, until the mushrooms have cooked through and are tender, about four minutes. Remove from pan and place in a serving dish.
- Add mustard/garlic mixture that you set aside to the pouring sauce, 1/2 a teaspoon at time to taste.
- Serve the entire lettuce wrap recipe in a nice, big serving tray, complete with stir-fry and iceberg lettuce leaves, and pouring sauce in small bowls. Wrap the stir-fry in lettuce leaves, then top with pouring sauce.
I challenge you to try this copycat recipe against the lettuce wrap recipe at PF Chang’s. Let me know what you think!
If you liked this PF Chang’s lettuce wrap recipe, here are some other posts you might like:
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Awesome! my girlfriend and I love going to pf chang’s for some soup in the lettuce wraps . tonight we make them , after the gym , 4 eggs post workout snack . we’ve added broccoli , and green onions , and then talk to them with some fresh cilantro .
The sauce was great…we did add some chili oil for some heat
I have never thought of PF Chang’s as ‘Fast Food’! It is one of my favorite restaurants. I’ll give you that it’s a chain, but that allows them to keep prices down and provide an atmosphere of finer dining for us middle class! We just went to a Fine Dining Thai restaurant in January and spent 100 dollars for 2 people! And, although the food was delicious, I didn’t consider it worth the extra money. I really LOVE PF’s Lettuce Wrap’s and their Wok Seared Lamb. Thank you for providing this recipe! We just tried it for the first time, and it will become a staple in this house! I did ‘doctor’ the recipe a little though, to suit my own taste’s.
what are the green bits in the picture as well as when you go to PF Changs and order the lettuce wraps? Scallion?
Those are indeed scallions and water chestnuts.
In the recipe for the stir fry chicken, you list minced garlic twice. Once stating 2 garlic cloves and the second time, 3 garlic cloves. Can you clarify which it should be? Thanks so much! Can’t wait to try this!
I love this recipe!!!! So delish, i substituted minced carrots for the mushrooms because i hate mushrooms, and minced bellpepper for waterchestnuts because I hate them too! That sauce was divine!!
Wow, so many things wrong with this. Garlic listed twice. Missing: pine nuts, black mushrooms, mirin, scallions. DIJON? Really?? No. Chinese hot mustard. Just by reading it I wouldn’t try it.
Made this the other week – turned out really good! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
This was a 5 star hit at our house of 5 picky eaters!
Everyone ate their veggies rolled up and loved it. My youngest still thought he needed to dip his in ranch dressing … but at least he tried something new and ate more than one bite. After cooking the chicken and onions/garlic, I filled the pan with the mushrooms/waterchestnuts, and a bag of broccoli slaw/shredded carrots, bok choy, and made 4 times the sauce for our large family. Hardly any left for my left overs tomorrow! 
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