Thai-Style Minced Chicken Lettuce Cups
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Based on the popular Thai dish Larb Gai, this is a quick, easy, and flavorful weeknight dinner.
This recipe is based on Larb Gai, the popular Thai dish made from minced chicken, fish sauce, lime juice, chilies, and fresh herbs. You can have it on the table in 30 minutes, and it can be served in lettuce cups or over rice.
What you’ll need to make Thai Minced Chicken Lettuce Cups
As you can see from the photo, the recipe is inexpensive to make with ingredients found at your local supermarket. One of the key ingredients is fish sauce. Contrary to what you might expect, it doesn’t add a “fishy” taste, but rather a salty, savory, umami flavor. If you’ve never cooked with it, I’ll warn you that it smells pretty bad (my kids RUN out of the kitchen when I use it), but please don’t let that deter you — it absolutely makes the dish! If possible, buy a brand imported from Thailand or Vietnam, and don’t worry about buying a large bottle; it keeps forever.
Step-by-Step Instructions
For the chicken, begin by cooking the onions and ginger in oil until soft.
Add the minced garlic and cook one minute more.
Add the ground chicken and use a wooden spoon to break the meat apart.
Add the fish sauce, soy sauce, lime zest, lime juice, brown sugar and red pepper flakes, and cook until the chicken is done.
Off the heat, add the fresh cilantro, mint, scallions, and nuts.
Stir to combine.
Spoon into lettuce cups and serve with finely sliced carrots, herbs and Sriracha sauce.
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Thai-Style Minced Chicken Lettuce Cups
Based on the popular Thai dish Larb Gai, this is a quick, easy, and flavorful weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 large head iceberg or butter lettuce
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large red onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger (you'll need a thick 2-inch piece) (see note)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 pounds ground chicken (not all breast meat)
- 1½ tablespoons soy sauce (use gluten-free if needed)
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- ¼ cup light or dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons lime zest, from 2 limes
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, from 1½ limes
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 large scallions, white and green parts, finely sliced
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- ¼ cup chopped fresh mint
- ¼ cup chopped cashews or peanuts
Optional For Serving
- Sriracha
- Finely sliced carrots
- Lime wedges
- Cilantro and/or mint sprigs
Instructions
- If using iceberg lettuce: fill a large bowl with cold water. Place the head of lettuce on a cutting board; cut off the stem, then cut around the inner core of the lettuce and remove (do not cut all the way through the lettuce; just deep enough to remove the core). Discard the flimsy, ragged outer leaves and then place the head of lettuce in the bowl of water. Gently pull apart the leaves, then place them on a paper towel to dry. Cut any large leaves in half. Chill the lettuce cups in refrigerator until ready to serve. (If using butter lettuce, you won't have any issues pulling apart the leaves so this step is not necessary.)
- Heat the oil in large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and ginger and cook, stirring frequently, until soft, 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
- Add the ground chicken and turn the heat up to high. Cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until partially cooked through, about 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar, lime zest, lime juice and red pepper flakes and continue cooking, stirring frequently to break up the meat, until the chicken is cooked through, 5-6 minutes more. Off the heat, stir in the scallions, cilantro, mint and nuts. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Spoon into lettuce cups and serve with optional garnishes.
- Note: Check out easy guidance on how to peel, grate, and chop fresh ginger here.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The meat mixture can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months and reheated in the microwave om on the stovetop until hot.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 580
- Fat: 33g
- Saturated fat: 7g
- Carbohydrates: 30g
- Sugar: 20g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 45g
- Sodium: 1565mg
- Cholesterol: 195g
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Easy to make. My family loved it! This dish will become a regular at our table. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
My husband, parents, and toddlers loved these lettuce wraps! I loved that this was one of the few recipes that didn’t have peanut butter in it. I tweaked it a bit by adding some shiitake mushrooms and some oyster sauce but the foundation for the recipe was terrific. It’s definitely going to be a make again recipe. Thanks so much!
Wow, Clare — so impressed that your toddlers ate this! It’s a tough sell to my big kids 🙂
I have left over shredded chicken breast. Do you think it would work instead of ground chicken?
Hi Tori, If it is raw it will work but not if it is already cooked.
I am already sold by the fabulous reviews. My question is how far ahead can these be made and refrigerated before serving? I would like to bring them to a Derby party.
Hi Mary, You can make the chicken mixture 1-2 days ahead but I wouldn’t fill the lettuce cups or they’ll get soggy. I would probably serve the cups next to the chicken and let people assemble themselves.
Fan-freakin-tastic! Followed the recipe exactly, and hubby and 2 boys devoured them! Hard to find a winner for all, but this did the trick. A bit labor intensive, but it came together in the end so it was totally worth it! We topped it with a PF Chang style sauce we made with rice vinegar, mustard, and a touch of soy. YUMMMM!
This is the second recipe I’ve tried from this site, and I am very glad to have discovered it-cant wait to make more!
This one is a winner! Easy, tasty and infinitely versatile. I make this a lot.
I tend to ditch the sugar, mint, cilantro and sriracha and use thai curry paste instead (red, yellow or green, whatever I’m in the mood for). The curry paste gives it a great flavour with a nice spicy kick.
Last time I made it, I used pork mince instead, and I added some peeled and diced cucumber a couple of minutes before I finished cooking. Very yummy — I’ll definitely be trying that again!
When you say pork mince…do you mean ground pork? Did you use the fish sauce with the pork mixture as well?
Ah, yes, sorry. Pork mince is British for ground pork 🙂 And yes, I use the fish sauce and soy sauce with the pork mixture as well. (Except when I’ve run out and don’t realise, anyway!)
Awesome! I am so making this tonight!!!!
This recipe received an “A” from every member of the family! (That’s a big deal!) I was a little nervous about the fish sauce, but I stuck to the recipe and used 3 tablespoons, and it wasn’t “fishy” or overpowering at all. We all had so much fun eating this meal together, and I have added it to the rotation.
I’ve made these several times and they are just delicious!! Easy, quick, and the fresh herbs and lime juice/zest really make this dish stand out. My toddler will eat it, too, and I feel like it’s a great way to expose him to new flavors. I’m a huge fan!
Made this last week and it was wonderful. Even my 17 year old son – who initially looked at it and said “That’s dinner?” – ate three wraps. He added a dollop of peanut butter to his third one.
This recipe is da’bomb. Oh my goodness, it’s one of those rare recipes that reap huge dividends but it’s soo simple to put together AND the infusion of all the aromstic herbs & spices just transports you & everyone else in your house to Thailand. The smells are just amazing and if you can believe it, after all those delicious odors, the taste is .. to die for. Why even a beginner can sample the unique pleasure of putting a dish together that is simple [the illustrated steps will keep you on the right path] but really wonderful in the coming together and most importantly–the taste. A stellar recipe !