Meow Recipes

Monday, June 13, 2022

Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Lime Drench

Chicken lettuce wraps on a plate with a lime drench sauce poured over the top

It’s that time again, friends, where we forego all utensils and just stuff lettuce wraps with mountains of crumbled-crisp ground chicken, fluffy quinoa, and/or rice for added satisfaction, and some other garlicky gingery sauteed veggies into crisp butter lettuce leaves and have at it with our hands.

Then we absolutely d-r-e-n-c-h these wraps with a flavor-packed sweet/punchy/limey sauce, maybe a thwap of spicy mayo, and make A REAL NIGHT OF IT.

In This Post: Everything You Need To Know

What goes in this recipe (and other options for fillings)
The best lettuce for lettuce wraps
How to make spicy mayo
Other ways to use this lime drench

Ingredients for chicken lettuce wraps and lime drench sauce in bowls

What Goes In These Chicken Lettuce Wraps

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These lettuce wraps are the perfect way to use up any veg you have hanging around or any CSA or home garden abundance you may have later this summer so we wanted to put it at the top of your noggin. Oh, and you might just start a personal contest to see how many things you can cover in lime drench.

Our favorite combo for the filling was:

ground chicken (could use ground pork, too!)
carrot + zucchini (but feel free to swap out/add other veggies you may have!)
quinoa/rice blend for a little more oomph (we kept it easy here with a pre-cooked packet of it)

All of it gets sautéed and zuzhed around with a bunch of garlic and ginger and green onion, a little swizzle of soy sauce, so it really packs a flavor punch!

The dreamy lime drench is only a jar-shake away! Like all great sauciness. The lime drench inspo came from a cookbook called The Perfect Blend by Tess Masters (affiliate link). And a drench it is – you’ll need the juice of about 5-6 limes! Then some other yums, like, soy sauce, sesame oil, a little brown sugar, and let’s just keep that garlic/ginger party going, shall we?

Endless Options For Fillings

Okay, there is definitely room for fun and flexibility here if your fridge/pantry/heart is telling a different story than the ingredients listed here. You can mix up the meat choice, give ground pork or ground turkey a whirl. The added veggies can obviously be swipped and swapped as you please.

We love a grain add-in just so everything feels a little more satisfying, but if you’re not feeling the quinoa/rice blend, you could certainly add in just white or brown rice only, or omit completely!

We’ve also tried a mushroom & walnut version that made for a really good for a vegetarian option. You could try a tofu crumble as well, which we’ve use in other yummeroo lettuce wraps like these guys.

Lettuce For Lettuce Wraps: Let’s Talk

Not all lettuce is created equal when it comes to lettuce wraps. You definitely want something that will keep a little crunch for A+ texture benefit and not just wilt when the warm ingredients hit it. You also want something a little more sturdy that will hold its shape, so you don’t pile all that deliciousness in, drench it on up, and then it all just kinda plops out the bottom. You also don’t want it to have too strong or a naturally bitter taste.

Some lettuces that work best:

Butter Lettuce. Our absolute fave! Especially if you can find a head of living butter lettuce. Also known as Boston or bibb lettuce, it has big rounded leaves that are sturdy but still pliable, making it ideal for filling and wrapping. The taste is also mild and well…buttery! A perfect compliment.
Leaf lettuce. Also a great option and either green or red would work. It’s fairly easy to find and it has broad leaves that will still hold a little crunch once filled. Trim the stems off to get nice rounded leaves for wraps.
Romaine. The leaves are more narrow so it’s really more of a boat situation, less of a wrap, but they have a nice crunch! But because that crunch is so nice, it also means these leaves can snap more easily on you. Oh no, filling-plop!

Maybe you want to get a little adventurous and do some swiss chard or savoy cabbage or collard greens? The world is yours!

How To Make Spicy Mayo

If you are not already a part of Club Spicy Mayo, please consider becoming a member today! Here’s how you apply:

mix half a cup of mayo with a few tablespoons of sriracha

There! You’re in! Now proceed to make everything you eat even better by using it.

It’s of course not *required* on these lettuce wraps, but it is very appreciated, you know? Really gives it a special bit of heat and creaminess that is unbeatable. Here are some other fave uses for spicy mayo:

What Else To Lime Drench (Yes It’s a Verb)

AN ACTUAL VERB. Which means you must go forth and do this. We’ve definitely given it a whirl as a super tangy salad dressing for a simple spring mix. But maybe you want to brush it over some grilled chicken or fish or veggies? Could this be a great taco sprinkle? Will it up your rice or noodle bowl game?! Do you just need to add a little tang to whatever you’re eating? So much flavor, it seems a shame to not start dreaming and scheming with it.

Comment or tag us over on instagram to let us know what you are lime drenching! We really, really want to know. #operationlimedrench

Here’s to a summer full of sun on our faces, joy in our bones, and plenty of handheld eats.

Lettuce Wraps: Frequently Asked Questions

How can I make these vegetarian?

Replace the chicken/pork with crumbled tofu! You can see this recipe for how to do it. Another option is to just do rice and veggies, and a crumbled mushroom-walnut texture is great, too.

What kind of lettuce is best for lettuce wraps?

Our recommendation is butter lettuce – preferably buying it as a head of lettuce. It has large leaves, is pliable, and has the perfect buttery flavor. This is often called “Living Lettuce” with the root still attached. Remove the leaves, give them a quick rinse, pat dry, and you’re ready to wrap.

How spicy is spicy mayo?

It’s a choose your own adventure! We usually do 1/2 cup mayo with 2-3 tablespoons of sriracha, but if you prefer more or less heat, all you have to do is increase or decrease the amount of sriracha to taste. And if you add too much, just add more mayo until you find your perfect level of spice.

Source Notes: The lime drench portion of this recipe was inspired by some very delicious lettuce wraps featured in The Perfect Blend by Tess Masters (affiliate link). Thank you Tess for teaching us to lime drench! A dream!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Lime Drench

Author: Lindsay
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: Makes enough for about 8 lettuce wraps, or 4 servings

Print Recipe

Description

These lettuce wraps are a SUMMER DREAM. Mountains of crumbled-crisp ground chicken, fluffy quinoa, and/or rice for added satisfaction, and garlicky gingery sautéed veggies in crisp butter lettuce leaves.

Ingredients

Units

Lettuce Wraps and Filling

1 lb. ground chicken or pork (I prefer chicken)
1 inch piece ginger, grated
4 cloves garlic, grated
3 green onions, sliced (white and green parts)
1 zucchini, diced (optional)
1 carrot, diced (optional)
1/2 to 1 cup cooked brown rice and/or quinoa (see notes)
lettuce (leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, or romaine can all work)
spicy mayo (1/2 cup mayo + 2-3 tablespoons sriracha)

Lime Drench

juice of 5–6 limes (totaling 1/3 to 1/2 cup lime juice)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1–2 tablespoon brown sugar (more lime juice = more sugar)
a teeny bit of your grated garlic and ginger from the filling prep

Instructions

In a large skillet, brown the chicken with a little bit of olive oil until fully cooked and crumbled.
Set aside a little of your grated garlic and ginger for the lime drench. While the chicken is cooking, shake your lime drench ingredients in a jar.
Add the remaining garlic and ginger, green onions, zucchini, and carrots to the chicken in the skillet. Sauté for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables have softened and are very aromatic. (The chicken doesn’t have a lot of fat, so I often add an extra drizzle of oil, or soy sauce or even a bit of water to pull the flavor from the bottom of the pan.)
Add the rice and quinoa to the filling. Cook until softened and heated through. Season to taste.
Fill your lettuce cups with the filling, pour the lime drench over it, and top with a little thwap of spicy mayo. Voila! So many vegetables and SO MUCH FLAVOR.

Equipment

The equipment section may contain affiliate links to products we know and love.

Notes

Cooked rice and quinoa: I often use just a cup or so of the precooked packages like Seeds of Change (affiliate link) – and it’s optional to add this in, but I like it because it makes the lettuce wraps feel more satisfying since it adds a carb element to the mix.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Category: Dinner
Method: Stovetop
Cuisine: Asian-inspired

Keywords: lettuce wraps, lime juice, ground chicken, healthy recipe, dinner recipe,

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Other Crunchable Lettuce Wrap Recipes

Firecracker Vegan Lettuce Wraps (WITH NOODLES!)
Tofu and Brown Rice Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce (similar to these here, but with creamy dreamy peanut sauce)
Roasted Cauliflower Lettuce Wraps with Korean BBQ-Inspired Sauce
Creamy Miso Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Garlic Ginger Sauce

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Monday, June 6, 2022

Saucy Gochujang Noodles with Chicken

Spicy, peanutty, noodley bit of super easy comfort food coming your way with these saucy gochujang noodles!

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Summer has summer-ed and the outside shouldn’t hog all the heat for itself, let the sauce have some! Thank you ever so to the subtle heat of the gochujang sauce and rich creaminess of the peanut butter, thank you to the twisty twirls of the little ramen noodle bricks, and bless those piles of fresh herbs on top.

This new pal is so easy to throw together you might just find yourself making it again and again and ok yes sure, why not one more time this week.

Ingredients For Gochujang Ramen Noodles

Ingredients in bowls for spicy gochujang noodles.

A handful of pantry/fridge staples probably already on hand for this baby, but then round up the rest and get ready. We’re using the standard crinkly ramen from the little packages (minus the spice packet) but any stir fry noodles would also work great here!

For the sauce:

soy sauce
gochujang sauce (like this one*) or gochujang paste (will be spicier)
tomato paste
peanut butter
brown sugar
sesame oil
garlic
broth or water for thinning

For the noodle paradise:

ground chicken (ground pork could work too!)
ramen noodle bricks (just the noodles)
fresh spinach
fresh herbs, chili oil, and sesame seeds for topping

The type/brand of gochujang sauce will also determine your spice level. When testing with the P.F. Chang brand, it was definitely on the mild side and was totally kid-able. But other brands like Bibigo packed more heat.

What Is Gochujang?

If you’re not familiar, gochujang — a staple ingredient in Korean cooking with an absolutely delicious lingering heat and strong umami flavor — mixed with some other ingredients like soy sauce, vinegar, and a sweetener. Gochujang itself is a spicy-sweet-savory paste that is made from fermented soybeans, red chile pepper flakes, sticky rice, and salt and it is commonly used to flavor meat dishes, soups and stews, and sauces. You can read a little more about how it’s made and used from Christina Chaey over at Bon Appetit.

For this recipe, we actually used a gochujang sauce which is premixed with other ingredients, mostly because it is almost always available at our local grocery store. But also because it is a little less potent than the paste, closer to a mild sriracha, whereas the paste is thicker and spicier.

If you happen to have the paste, it is definitely a deep and interesting flavor and can of course be used here! But you might consider adding a splash of soy sauce and honey to balance out the flavors.

Let’s Make These Delicious Weeknight Noodles

Easy peasy is the name of the noodle game here so you could definitely whip these up on a weeknight. Or multiple weeknights in a row, should your heart to desire. Let’s get to it.

Sauce. Whisk the sauce ingredients (minus the extra broth) in a small bowl or just give them all a jar-shake until thick and creamyish.
Chicken. Get your ground chicken browned up in a skillet and season generously.
Noodles. Again, we just used the wavy noodle ramen bricks and cooked until softened.
Magic. Once the chicken is done add your fresh spinach and the cooked/drained ramen, cover in sauce and toss everything over heat to combine. Add extra broth as needed to get to your optimal sauciness.

Serve those noodles piled in a bowl, absolutely showered with fresh herbs, green onions, sesame seeds, maybe a little chili oil. YES.

Just a quick textural note, these noodles will get stickier (still very delicious!) the longer they rest, so you may have to add a little water to loosen things up and get back their silkiness when you’re returning for seconds, thirds, fourths or leftovers.

Subs and Jazzers For This Noodle Pile

What is truly great about a weeknight wonder like this is that you can really make it your own! You can swap ground pork or ground turkey for the meat, or if you want to make it vegetarian you could try:

vegetarian crumbles
crispy tofu (try this technique)
or just pile in the veggies (peppers? roasty brocc? mushrooms? could all be great!)

If you don’t have or can’t find the gochujang sauce or paste, you could certainly sub in some sambal oelek, sriracha or any other chili paste you might have. Just check the spice levels as you go!

And this would not be a noodle wonderland if you did not jazz it up with piles of fresh herbs on top — basil, cilantro, chives, green onions, or all of the above. Are you going to drizzle with sesame oil and squeeze on some lime juice and sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds on top? Man, we hope so.

Please report back on how often you are making these so we can feel totally normal and non-obsessive about how often we’re making these, ok? Carry on, noodle lovers.

Lifting noodles out of a bowl with chopsticks.

Sources: Sesame Gochujang Noodles (BA) and Spicy Short Rib Noodles (POY)

Gochujang Noodles: Frequently Asked Questions

How does this hold up for leftovers?

This makes for a very delicious lunch the next day! The texture does get stickier the longer it rests, so you may just need add some more water to loosen everything up and make it saucy again.

What’s the difference between gochujang sauce and gochujang paste?

Gochujang sauce is premixed with other ingredients, thinner in consistency, and more mild. Gochujang paste is thicker, spicier, and more potent than the sauce. We’re using sauce in this recipe!

How could I make this gluten-free?

Rice noodles would work great here!

How spicy is this recipe?

If you’re using gochujang sauce, they have a kick (because, well, gochujang!) but still somewhat mild. If you’re using the paste, definitely higher on the spicy levels.

How can I make this vegetarian?

Skip the ground chicken or sub in your favorite vegetarian sub (like tofu!).

Source Notes: This recipe was inspired by these Gochujang-Sesame Noodles by Zaynab Issa at Bon Appétit. You can also read a little more about gochujang and how it’s made from Christina Chaey over at Bon Appetit.