Vegan Chicken Lettuce Wraps
I love Asian food — namely, any dish with sweet, sticky sauce.
Growing up, my favorite place to eat was our local Chinese buffet where I would load up on Sweet & Sour Chicken, Egg Rolls, Crab Puffs, and Sesame Shrimp.
In college, I continued my love affair with Asian fusion, working briefly at a Pei Wei on campus.
I’ve learned to make pretty much all of my favorite dishes at home, using healthier alternatives than they use at restaurants.
My favorite dish recently: Chicken Lettuce Wraps.
Not just any chicken lettuce wraps though – Vegan “Chicken” Lettuce Wraps!
This recipe uses seitan, an excellent addition to many recipes calling for ground beef, chicken or turkey.
Seitan is like tofu, but made from wheat protein instead of soy. That “wheat protein” specifically is gluten.
So, if you have Celiac’s Disease, this meat alternative is not for you.
Dressed with all of the traditional Asian flavors, these faux-chicken lettuce wraps taste just like the real thing.
If you’re planning on partaking in Meatless Monday tonight, I encourage you to give them a go!
- ½ T. Sesame Oil
- ½ Sweet Yellow Onion, diced
- 1 Garlic Clove, minced
- ½ lb Ground Seitan
- ½ C. Mushrooms, roughly chopped
- ½ C. Water Chestnuts, roughly chopped
- 4 Green Onions, diced
- ½ T. Ginger, minced
- 3 T. Low Sodium Soy Sauce
- 1 T. + 1 tsp. Maple Syrup or Honey*
- 1 T. Coconut Vinegar
- 1 Mini Romaine Head
- Salt + Pepper to taste
- Crushed Peanuts (optional)
- Heat oil in a frying pan and add garlic and onions. Saute for about 3 minutes.
- Mix soy sauce, honey, and vinegar together in a small bowl.
- Add all remaining ingredients and sauce to the pan and cook for about 3-5 more minutes.
- Rinse mini romaine heads and remove leaves. Fill each leave with a scoop of vegan "chicken" mix.
- Top with optional crushed peanuts and/or more green onions.
- Enjoy!
This recipe makes a great dinner for two or a pretty impressive appetizer for summer soirees.
Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner says:
yum looks right up my alley! Hope you will think about joining our Meatless Monday link up sometime :)
Lauren @ The Bikini Experiment says:
Sounds like an interesting alternative. Lettuce wraps are always good! I order them in restaurants, but they would be fun to re-create at home too.
Tina Muir says:
Hi Whitney, not sure we have met, but it is nice to meet you :) So happy to see you join us today, and what a recipe to start, this sounds delicious!!! Hope to see you again next week?
Pragati // Simple Medicine says:
YUM! These look/sound delicious. I love the presentation too. So pretty!
Anastasia says:
This recipe looks really good! I’m going to try them sometime soon and the Asian salmon recipe too.
Krissy @ Pretty Wee Things says:
This looks delicious. What is it about lettuce cups…everything in lettuce cups looks so yummy! I will have to check out the article on gluten too. X