Looking for a copycat recipe for chicken lettuce wraps like P.F. Changs?
My sister came up with one that has lower carbs than the typical recipe but is still loaded with flavor. I'm still eating somewhat lower-carb meals since losing my menopause weight, and thankfully there are so many flavorful keto/low-carb recipes out there. This is a favorite for sure.
My sister Terri is also watching her carbs and the other day she asked if I knew of a recipe for chicken lettuce wraps like P.F. Changs. We looked online and were shocked that the one we both thought sounded really good had super high carbs – pretty surprising for a lettuce wrap. So she went to work and came up with this tasty recipe instead which has MUCH fewer carbs.
She said, “Tell your readers that they may be ordering those chicken wraps at P.F. Chang’s thinking that they’re being ‘good’, but they’re really not!”
Terri’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps like P.F. Changs
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Sesame oil
- 2-3 cloves crushed garlic
- 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger finely chopped
- Celery-about 2 ribs chopped
- 4 ounces cooked chicken preferably pasture-raised chicken, cut up small
- 1/2 can sliced water chestnuts chopped (optional)
- Crushed red pepper to taste
- 2 Tablespoons fermented soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon balsamic glaze, balsamic vinegar, or rice wine vinegar
- 8 or more crispy almonds chopped
- 4 green onion chopped
Instructions
- Saute garlic and ginger in sesame oil for a minute or so, then add the other ingredients (all except the green onion and almonds) and cook everything until hot. To serve, place 2 Tablespoons of the mixture in a cold romaine leaf or red leaf lettuce. Add green onions and almonds on top.Serve with buttered rice or fried rice on the side for those who are not eating low-carb.My note: We use organic lettuce and can’t wait to get it from our garden again this summer! The Romaine leaves aren’t as easy to roll up and eat, so I tossed it in a bowl like a salad. If you like extra sauce, you could mix up a little more fermented soy sauce and balsamic glaze.
Thanks, Sister!
If you make these, please tell us how your recipe is different?
More you might like:
- Again, here's my post about how I finally lost my menopause weight.
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- More posts on dieting and cutting carbs.
Tammy Jo says
Hi! I was just wondering what brand of fermented soy sauce you use and where you purchase it? I am presuming this is different that Regular Soy Sauce? Thanks!
KitchenKop says
Yep, it’s different than regular for sure. Just ask for “fermented soy sauce” or “Tamari” at your health food store, they’ll have it. 🙂
Naomi says
My bottle of Kikkoman’s soy sauce states that it is naturally fermented. Is this not to be trusted?
KitchenKop says
I double checked with Sarah (TheHealthyHomeEconomist.com) and she said that yep, that’s fine. 🙂
Naomi says
Thank you, Kelly. I’ve been using it but was wondering about it and had been meaning to check it out with some of you guys. I don’t always trust labeling. I do appreciate all you do for us!
Tammy Jo says
Thanks Kelly and Naomi! I had the same brand and was wondering too. But, mine is a low sodium version. Do you think this is okay?
KitchenKop says
I think that’s fine, too. 🙂
Lilia says
Hi Ginny, I love to use ground chicken too, do you happen to live in WI? I buy my ground organic free range chicken and ground turkey from a private farm near Milwaukee, matter of fact I have some thawing in my fridge right now for this recipe that I hope to make on Friday. They don’t ship so if you’re not from the area then maybe you could try finding a chicken farm close by. Also, I’ve never tried this but I remember seeing an episode on Alton Brown where he used a food processor to grind his meat. I guess it might be worth a try.
Naomi says
I checked to see why MasterCook’s ingredient analysis was delegating so many carbs for the almonds, and it is because it can’t count carbs based on quantity of almonds, as in “8 almonds”. It is based on cups of almonds, as in ” 28.96 grams per cup”. Since I don’t have any almonds at the moment, I estimated 8 almonds to be about 1/8 cup and inserts that amount into the recipe. Voila! Now it tells me that each serving has 2 grams carbs. Yay!!! I’m so glad I figured it out, and I sincerely apologize for the misinformation I posted earlier.
Kelly, I too want to tell you how much I appreciate all the legwork you do to garner information for us. I’m sure it must be like a full-time job for you. You are truly a blessing to me and all others who come here to read. Thank you so much!
Naomi
Ginny says
Thanks so much for the great recipe! I can’t wait to try it. One of my favorite things to use for these kinds of recipes is ground chicken. I wish I had a way to grind it myself, because I’ve never seen free-range ground chicken. We’ll just have to give it try this week.
Roxie says
I looked up the carb count for almonds and I found that there are 5.6 grams of carbs per 24 raw almonds, not 37 per 8 almonds. I wonder if maybe you inadvertently input the wrong type of almonds….
Hope this helps,
Roxie
Naomi says
Carolyn, will you post how that comes out? You could probably add a couple of things to give it more flavor than just vinegar flavor. In fact, I think I might try that myself.
Naomi
KitchenKop says
Hi everyone!
Yes, balsamic glaze is a reduced balsamic vinegar, and my sister found it at her grocery store. (I just used balsamic because I couldn’t find it.)
Kelly
Carolyn says
Naomi, Thank you for looking that up. I should have done that, instead of taking a walk with hubby & kiddos. I think I will give my kombucha vinegar a try, I have never reduced it down, but it ought to work.
Thanks again!!
Carolyn
Naomi says
Oh, by the way, when I entered this recipe in my MasterCook program, which gives a nutritional analysis of the recipe, and it lists 39 grams of carbs per serving, based on 7 servings. And that’s without the balsamic glaze since MasterCook does not have that item in its ingredient list. The carbs come from the almonds – 37 grams for 8 almonds. Do you think some of the carbs are removed through the soaking/dehydrating process?
Well, before I finished this post I googled balsamic glaze and the first thing that came up was that it’s another way of saying “balsamic vinegar which has been reduced down” to a concentrated form. If that’s true, Carolyn, you’ll need to definitely find a sub for that.
Naomi says
Thanks, Carolyn, I was wondering the same thing about the balsamic glaze, I’ve never heard of it. Unless it’s a glaze you prepare with balsamic vinegar or something like that.
kay says
It is a balsamic vinegar reduction type thing. Never bought it. It is a little pricey. It may have some sugar. People use it on strawberries even. It is kind of a specialty item, but then again, I don’t guess you’d have to use too much at a time.
Lilia says
Sounds delicious, can’t wait to try it!
Laryssa @ Heaven In The Home says
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! The lettuce wraps are very tasty, I’m excited about making them at home…and low carb to boot!
NancyO says
I was just thinking about a recipe for this yesterday. I’ve never had P.F. Chang’s, but have had it from another restaurant, and loved it. I’ll be trying it as soon as I get a chicken cooked! Thanks!
Carolyn says
WOW!! I am craving this now and have no lettuce or cabbage up yet. I do have one question, at the of sounding ignorant, what is basalmic glaze? I have allergies to basalmic vinegar and is there perhaps a substitute I can come up with? We use greens ffor wraps as we have given up rice, corn and gluten containing products due to celiac.
Sara, thanks for the great idea of ricing cauliflower. I mash it for fake mashed potatoes and love it. We gave up rice a year ago and since then have not made “Chinese food” as it is not very fun without the rice. LIFE IS GOOD AGAIN!
Kelly, Thank you for all the leg work you do!!!
Carolyn
Sara says
That sounds yummy; I love the lettuce wraps, and while I do order them, I knew they were way too sweet to be healthy!
Last night we had pork fried rice and I substituted cauliflower for the rice—just steamed it and put it through the grater on my food processor. I’ve done it before and no one can even tell that it’s not rice! I can tell because I feel so much better after eating it!