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Looking for a quick, flavorful, and healthy dinner? These easy lettuce wraps have it all. Ground chicken, crisp vegetables, a touch of honey, zesty lime, and fresh parsley come together for a wrap that’s light but satisfying. They’re perfect for a busy weeknight, or anytime you want something tasty without a lot of fuss!

These wraps can easily be enjoyed on their own as a full meal, or served alongside a sliced baguette and fresh fruit. Feel free to swap in your favorite vegetables: broccoli, yellow squash, onions, mushrooms, water chestnuts, or carrots all work beautifully. To make this recipe vegetarian, simply replace the meat with one can of drained and rinsed chickpeas. If you prefer, you can skip the wraps entirely and serve the filling over a bed of lettuce, in a tortilla, or even over rice, noodles, or a baked potato.

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Instructions for easy lettuce wraps

The image shows the ingredients for easy lettuce wraps. — ingredients for easy lettuce wraps

Prepare veggies.

Peel and mince the garlic. Wash, remove seeds, and finely chop the Fresno pepper. Clean and chop the bell pepper, zucchini, and celery. Control the amount of heat: you could always include the Fresno pepper seeds, use a hotter pepper, serve with additional fresh chopped peppers, or substitute red pepper flakes.

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook and stir the garlic and veggies in extra virgin olive oil.

I like to give the veggies a bit of a head start, so I just cook and stir them together for a few minutes before adding the meat.

Add the meat and freshly ground black pepper.

Cook and stir, breaking the meat up into small pieces. Continue until the chicken is cooked through, about ten minutes. If needed, drain excess liquid.

Prepare the sauce.

Zest and juice the limes into a small bowl. Add the honey and soy sauce and whisk until well combined. If you need to avoid gluten, then swap out the soy sauce for tamari or coconut aminos.

Add the sauce and cashews to the skillet.

Cook and stir a few minutes, just to make sure everything is heated through and well mixed.

Parsley is next.

Wash and pat the parsley dry. Discard the bottom 2-3 inches of the stems and coarsely chop the rest. Stir it into the skillet. If you’re not a parsley fan, try a bunch of fresh cilantro instead.

The image shows the skillet with the veggies, meat, cashews, and parsley. — Nearly done!

Final steps

Arrange the lettuce on plates and scoop the filling onto each leaf. Enjoy!

easy lettuce wraps

5 from 1 vote

A great dinner recipe that hits the sweet spot for ease, affordability, healthfulness, and taste! It's easy to adjust to gluten-free or vegetarian. Several variations are suggested in the recipe notes.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 15

Total Time 35

Servings: 4 (three wraps each)

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian

Calories: 444

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

3 cloves garlic
1 Fresno pepper
1 bell pepper
2 small zucchini
4 stalks celery
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 pound lean ground chicken
freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 limes
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tbsp honey
3/4 cup cashews
1 bunch curly parsley
12 leaves Romaine lettuce

Method

Clean and mince garlic. Clean, remove seeds, and finely chop Fresno pepper. Clean and chop bell pepper, zucchini, and celery.
In a large skillet over medium heat, cook and stir garlic, Fresno pepper, bell pepper, zucchini, and celery in olive oil, about 3 minutes.
Add chicken and black pepper, cooking and stirring to break up the meat into small pieces. Continue until chicken is done, about 10 minutes. Drain liquid if necessary.
In a small bowl, whisk together the zest and juice of three limes, soy sauce, and honey. Add to the skillet with the cashews. Cook and stir, about 2 minutes.
Clean and chop the parsley, discarding the bottom 2-3 inches of the stems. Stir into skillet.
Arrange lettuce leaves on plates and fill each with the mixture from the skillet. Enjoy!

Notes

If Fresno peppers aren’t available, use your favorite or substitute 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper. Adjust the heat level to your preference.
Change out the vegetables if you’d like. Broccoli, yellow squash, onions, mushrooms, water chestnuts, and carrots would work well.
Use a different ground meat if you prefer, such as turkey or beef. If you’d like a vegetarian lettuce wrap, then replace the ground meat with canned chickpeas.
Soy sauce is generally not gluten-free, so look for a gluten-free version if needed. Alternatively, try tamari or coconut aminos.
Try cilantro instead of parsley if you like.
Butter lettuce would also work well. Use your favorite.
If you prefer not to eat as a wrap, serve on a bed of lettuce and eat as a salad. Alternatively, serve over rice, noodles, or a baked potato.

Give these easy lettuce wraps a try tonight. They’re fresh, flavorful, and come together in no time. You might just find they become a new weeknight favorite!

lettuce wraps with text "Fresh, flavorful, and fast: try these easy lettuce wraps!"

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Fondly,

Crysti