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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Comments
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I tried these and they were wonderful. I had tried a different recipe before, but found that the flavor was not as robust as yours. I also like to serve these with a prepared lettuce wrap sauce ( I used Lee Kum Kee). Chicken is a big part of our diet, so these are a nice change from a whole piece of meat.
Hey Jenn! I absolutely loved this recipe. I made it last week for myself and my husband. It’s been hot as heck here on Maui and I wanted to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible. I prepped everything in the morning, used romaine lettuce instead of iceberg, cooked the meat up just before serving. It was fantastic! Definitely a keeper. Thanks for your creativity.
These were fantastic! I do not know about the technique of peeling the lettuce leaves in water; that tip was extremely helpful! I could not find fish sauce at the grocery store so I subbed 1 tbsp of anchovy paste and 2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce. These came out light and refreshing.
This recipe was delicious. Very flavorful and healthy and easy. Love all the food I’ve been making from this website.
My daughter made this recipe on Tuesday and we’re having it again two nights later. It is my husband’s birthday and he chose to have this again! Last time we halved the recipe because I thought one pound of chicken would be enough….big mistake. Tonight we’ll be making extra for leftovers.
All I can say is, “Wow!” I made this dish the other night using ground turkey. As usual, Jenn’s dish was a hit for the entire family! It was the right amount of savory and spice, and the lettuce cooled it down in the mouth beautifully! I love that so much of it can be prepared in advance! Although I would say that for my family, this dish was more appropriate as an hearty appetizer. My kids and hubby chowed it down in 5 minutes flat and I had nothing more to feed them!
LOL 🙂
These were fun to make and really good! Kids and adults scarfed these down and declared them delicious. They have a sweet-spicy flavor that is really unusual. I will be making these again soon! Thank you for another winner. I love your recipes and pictures. :o)
I make this dish once a week. My children take any leftovers in their lunches to school. My family eats it without the lettuce or sriracha sauce. This is one of my favorite recipes.
Dear Jenn, I love all your recipes because they are all exquisite! I have tried and have great success with many of them. Today I made the Thai chicken lettuce cups, but it seems there is a little mistake with the pictures b/c the photo with the popcorn and another with carrots appear there and also the last photo is the minced chicken. Always it’s perfect but today there is a mismatch, so I’d rather advise you.
Have a great week and thanks again for sharing your wonderful and well described recipes!
Thank you, Ingrid. That is very strange! I will look into it 🙂
I made this over the weekend for my husband to try. Happy, happy, joy, joy! We practically finished it off, just the two of us!