My PF Chang’s lettuce wrap recipe is just as tender and juicy as at the restaurant. A perfect copycat recipe for your quick weeknight dinner! 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.
- 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.
{ 66 comments… read them below or add one }
PF Changs is upscale fast food. It has no provenance nor history.
Why copy recipes that have been created in a corporate kitchen setting, rather than recipes passed down through generations.
There really are better places to eat than corporate fast food, aren’t there?
IMHO
I agree, BUT – I find that snubbing a dish just because of its origin is a little obtuse. Why ignore the potential in a recipe that can be taken home, made your own, and added to your own personal repertoire? It’s not like PF Chang’s invented lettuce wraps. They just made one recipe that I particularly like, giving it a spin I hadn’t thought of.
Stephanie: please accept my heavy handed comment. It wasn’t my intention to speak in the manner that my words pronounced.
My apologies. I’m a restaurant reviewer for NJ Monthly, Edible Jersey and the Morris Cty., NJ Daily Record newspaper. Often, I get wrapped up in the fine dining and not so fine dining…and fast food is another language entirely. I think my difficulty lay in the PF Chang name, not the dish. I often seek out a very similar preparation for a local Thai restaurant- please accept my apology.
No worries. In fact, I welcome the discussion because honestly, it’s not something I’d given much thought to. You definitely made me think about the origin of recipes and the merits thereof, so thanks.
If I had read the copy more closely, I would have seen that my friend from the real time internet Stephanie Manley penned this recipe.
Please accept my heartfelt apology Stephanie for my boorish behavior. Friends don’t do this. My blunder. wb
Whether or not this recipe is based on one from a fast-food type of restaurant, it tastes darn good. While I appreciate recipes that have a story and are passed down from generation to generation, I believe that we can make our own stories by sharing good food with the people we love.
True. And who’s to say that these restaurant recipes aren’t someone else’s old family dish, redone on a mass scale?
Ok, I get snubbing MacDonalds, and Twinkies…but stuff that tastes great to you, and you can recreate, more healthfully, and no doubt less expensively, at home? That is a no brainer. Forget provenance; it’s all about palate. And joy. (My cooking joy of the moment is the blog round up SummerFest–check it out over at The Sister Project.)
I’d have to agree with this – it’s all about palate, regardless of origin. Especially when it can be improved upon!
I came here via Paige and her RT on Twitter, and I agree with the sentiment of not worrying about where the recipe came from in terms of recreating it in a tasty healthy way at home.
I was actually thinking about this question of restaurant recipes from a different perspective though because of a personal project, and I’ve found that it’s hard to try to follow actual recipes from restaurants, good recipes from places that use quality local ingredients because of quantities and such. You’d think it would be fairly easy for an experienced cook home cook to just adapt and cut down recipes, but I’ve been surprised to find that it’s harder than it seems.
I agree. Snubbing a recipe just because it came from a chain restaurant is folly. Even chains come up with great ideas. A personal favorite of mine is one I learned when I worked at Lyon’s restaurant. It’s a recipe I still make today, and one I need to post on my blog.
I love it that much. Who cares where it came from?
You worked at Lyon’s? I worked at their corporate office like fifteen years ago, doing marketing stuff. How funny! Would love to see this recipe when you post it.
Your lettuce wraps look delicious! This is a great dish, any time of year. (And who cares who created the recipe; not me!)
Thanks, Kalyn! Besides the flavor, I think they’re so good because they let you eat with your hands, which is always fun and takes me back when finger foods were the best thing ever.
I know a lot of people find these wraps incredibly addicting. Whenever we were ordering takeout for my office, people would fight over them!
I am excited to try these out sometime (just have to wrangle together all the sauces – moving west made me ditch many pantry items). But I am wondering about turning them vegetarian.
Do you think I can just drop the chicken, or would I need to to sub in tofu to give them some heft? It sounds like most of the other items in the filling would probably cook down.
I think subbing tofu or some other seitan-based chicken analogue would be great. Though, if you’re gluten free, seitan would be out since it’s made with vital wheat gluten. If this isn’t an issue for you, then go for it!
I have made them with tofu. They were very good.The chicken-based recipe I copy-kat’ed had oyster sauce and fish sauce in it too – this was where my search for gf and vegetarian oyster sauce started. I might have to try your recipe now since it doesn’t have either of those in it. I subbed in more hoisin and gf soy sauce instead.
http://beyondriceandtofu.com/2010/06/05/p-f-changs-lettuce-wraps-vegetarian/
This is a dish that I would love to make. I have never been to P.F.Chang, but I am sure this bright and appetizing dish will be my favorite.
Will try this. In France, I really liked the wraps at the Vietnamese restaurants with mint leaves inside. Ever thought of adding mint?
My mom actually made this over the weekend for us. I’m not sure what recipe she used or where she got it. It was good. I’m like you – I don’t care what restaurant it’s from or who came up with it if it tastes good!
I’ve had versions of this recipe from a variety of different locales–including a very local Malaysian restaurant in our town (not to be confused with PFC’s). At home, we’ve tried it with pork and it was tasty.
Any time there’s a healthy version of a food that was (formerly) on my list of no-no’s, I’m game. Thanks for posting this. Just printed it out and am looking forward to making it!
If I go to P.F. Chang’s, it’s usually for the lettuce wraps! Love ‘em, though as a veggie I go for the tofu version. Looking forward to seeing how this recipe adapts to tofu. Thanks.
I can’t weigh in on the back and forth BUT I would like to try this recipe, Stephanie!
I love the flavor of these wraps and will try this at home. Thanks for interpreting the recipe!
First, Yum! We just had these wraps for dinner and I had to stop myself and walk away because I knew I was full but I really didn’t want to stop… it tastes so good.
A question for you… when you cook the chicken, do you get a bunch of liquid from the chicken? And if so, do you drain it or keep it when you add the chicken back? I kept it tonight but it made things really juicy
Love putting a spin on different finds from places I visit. I’ll definitely try this one. Thanks Stephanie!
I am going to have to try out your recipe. Lately I have been swapping out to organic raised chicken, and have a bottle of agave nector I have trying to use. Healthful choices are always good
Stephanie
I tried this recipe and my family loved it. I will be making it again this weekend. Thank you for sharing it.
Made this recipe this summer for a friend who was in the hospital and just wanted some REAL food, and was craving lettuce wraps. She LOVED them. (I did too, and it’s actually how I started following your site on my Google reader!)
This recipe is great, and the whole reason I now regularly read your blog. I’m planning on making this for New Years Eve!
Tried this recipe about a year ago and it quickly became one of my favorites.
Have had these at the restaurant….looking forward to trying this recipe!
Wow! it is almost midnight and my stomach is growling. pf chang’s lettuce wraps are my favorite. I know what i’m having for dinner tomorrow night!
pf chang lettuce wraps (((drool))))–what more can be said?!!
i haven’t tried PF Chang’s lettuce wrap, but want to try this recipe. Thanks!
This looks completely delicious. I am pretty good at making many different types of foods but really lack Chinese food skills. I’ve been trying to learn how to make several things and would like to try this. I can’t have lettuce so I’ll make it with lettuce for my family but may eat it with wonton wraps or something like that.
I’m bookmarking this for New Year’s Eve. Sound SO good! Thanks for posting it!
This recipe has become a very popular one in my house! Not only do my husband and I enjoy the wraps, but my children do as well! This blog has given me a new look on Gluten free foods, and given me hope that my children will and do enjoy food again!
Hi, I’m going to feature these in my Copycat Club monthly round up on Jan 7/11.
Thanks!!! They look soooo yummy!
I’m a celiac and I have an allergy to wheat—double whammy for me, so I must eat gluten free. PF Chang offers a gluten free menu and the wraps are listed on the gluten free menu. Yet, every time I eat at a PF Chang I get violently ill before I finish my meal. So I’ve given up eating at PF Chang. I’m going to give your wrap recipe a try—and frankly, if they don’t taste exactly like PF Chang, I don’t care; I just want a delicious wrap recipe.
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.
Wow, what a rude comment.
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! 
I loved this recipe! The only thing I ever order is the lettuce wraps at PF Chang’s and this recipe is very good– We added the rice noodles to the dish like PF Chang and used Bibb lettuce. To those who stated the garlic was used twice, it was for two different sauces ( the mustard sauce and the the pouring/dipping sauce. Listing this with each step made the preparation time so much easier so you didn’t forget ingredients. Granted I didn’t care for the Dijon mustard sauce, but not a fan of mustard sauce at the restaurant either– We tried it, but won’t make it next time but that is just a taste preference. This recipe was definitely a keeper. Not too hard to assemble either. I would give it 5 stars
Oops- I made a mistake, the two garlic amounts were for the mustard sauce and also in the stir fry vegetables/chicken part, not in the dipping/pouring sauce. Sorry for that!
Can these be made ahead of time and reheated? This would make great tailgate food? Has anyone tried reheating or even freezing them after all was made
thanks so much! tried this tonight and it was FANTASTIC
So glad you like it!
Loved the recipe. However, mine did not turn out like the picture. I think there may have been too much chicken and I confused the method for the chicken it said “Add chicken chunks and stir fry” I thought they meant the sauce, so I had to make more for step 3. Turned out great though. We topped with pine nuts for crunch.
Is this any less fattening than the dish at PF Chang’s? I know their version is one of the most UNHEALTHY meals. I would love to be able to make a healthy version of those wraps!!!!!
This is what I order every single time I have gone to PF Changs. Now I can do them at home!
and where are the fried noodles?
I noticed some of the comments snubbing PF Chang’s. I’m from Western Canada so I know good Chinese food. Now I live in South Florida, we don’t have good Chinese food, so PF Chang’s is about as good as it gets and my husband looooves the lettuce wraps. I personally am totally digging on your copy cat lettuce wraps!
Thanks, Kari! I totally agree. When I’m traveling around the country, I feel relief when I see a PF Chang’s. As far as big chains go, it’s pretty awesome.
We too love PF Chang’s Lettuce Wraps, so when browsing World Market I picked up a pre-made lettuce wrap sauce packet and made it with ground pork (ground chicken also was recommended), chopped carrots, water chestnuts, sliced green onions and peanuts. Really very good, but started looking for a homemade sauce recipe because didnt want to be dependent on buying a $4 sauce packet that served 4. Aminterested in trying this recipe!
Oh wow, I didn’t know they sold a spice packet. I might have to try it just to see what it’s like. I’m not personally a fan of prefab spices, but I’m curious! Thanks for the heads up.
It was actually a squishy sauce packet that you have to sqeeze out.
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