These Sesame Hoisin Chicken Lettuce Wraps are crisp, nourishing, and so delicious! A healthy weeknight meal in under 30 minutes.

Close up of chicken lettuce wraps on a wooden serving board.

Crispy Crunchy Lettuce-Wrapped Goodness

Lettuce wraps might sound underwhelming, but it’s all about what you stuff them with. And when you stuff them with ground chicken slathered in a lip-smacking sesame hoisin sauce, lettuce wraps become a hot request very quickly!

This recipe brings sweet and savory East Asian-inspired flavors to your plate with Hoisin sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and hot chili sauce. For extra crunch and flavor, we love topping them with a quick pickled sesame cucumber salad with carrots.

Bright sweet flavors and refreshing textures—what’s not to love?

What to Serve With Sesame Hoisin Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Chicken lettuce cups placed on and around a wooden serving board with serving bowls.

Ingredients You’ll Need

  • Ground chicken
  • Sesame oil
  • Garlic
  • Hoisin
  • Ketchup
  • Low sodium soy sauce
  • Rice vinegar
  • Garlic chili sauce
  • Ginger
  • Scallions
  • Cucumber
  • Carrot
  • Bibb lettuce

The Gist on How to Make Chicken Lettuce Wraps

  1. Start by making the cucumber and carrot salad. Pop the diced cucumbers and shredded carrot into a small mixing or serving bowl. Add the sesame oil, rice vinegar, and sesame seeds. Toss to coat and set it aside while you cook up the rest of the meal, giving the salad a stir every once in a while.
  2. Heat the sesame oil in a large skillet or braiser. Add the chicken. Because chicken has little to no fat content, you may have to add a bit of water to the skillet to prevent sticking. Cook the chicken through, breaking it into crumbles, for about 5 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic, ginger, hoisin, ketchup, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, garlic chili sauce, and sriracha. Stir everything until well combined and all of the chicken is coated. 
  4. Let the mixture simmer on low, stirring periodically. It will thicken up and become a nice and saucy mix. When done, stir in the chopped scallions.
  5. Serve with lettuce cups and the cucumber carrot salad.

Braiser full of cooked hoisin sesame ground chicken and shallots stirred in.

Useful Tools for This Recipe

Recipe Tips + Tricks

  1. Because ground chicken is so lean, it may stick to the pan when cooking—even with the oil. At the first hint of it sticking, just add a bit of water, as needed.
  2. Ground turkey or ground beef can be used in place of the ground chicken if you prefer.
  3. Any Asian-style garlic chili sauce will work; Sriracha or Sambal Oelek is what I prefer.
  4. If you can’t find a nice bibb lettuce, romaine will do the trick.

Have You Made This Recipe?

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Side shot of two lettuce wraps on a wooden serving board.

Other Ground Chicken Recipes You’ll Love:

Side shot of two lettuce wraps on a wooden serving board.

Sesame Hoisin Chicken Lettuce Wraps

These Sesame Hoisin Chicken Lettuce Wraps are crisp, nourishing, and so delicious! A healthy weeknight meal in under 30 minutes.
5 from 21 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 18 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 198kcal
Author: Dana Sandonato

Ingredients

Quick Pickled Cucumber and Carrot Salad.

  • 1 cup diced cucumber
  • 1 large carrot, shredded or julienned
  • 1 TBSP sesame oil
  • 1 TBSP rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds

Sesame Hoisin Chicken Lettuce Wraps.

  • 1.5 lbs ground chicken
  • 1 TBSP sesame oil
  • 4 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
  • 1 TBSP grated ginger
  • 1/3 cup ketchup
  • 1/3 cup hoisin
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 2 TBSP low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 TBSP rice wine vinegar
  • 1 TBSP garlic chili sauce (Sriracha, Sambal Oelek, etc.) Go ahead and add more for extra heat!
  • 2 scallions, sliced
  • Bibb lettuce

Instructions

Quick Pickled Cucumber Salad.

  • Transfer the cucumbers and carrots into a small mixing or serving bowl.
  • Drizzle in the sesame oil and rice vinegar, and sprinkle in some sesame seeds; toss to coat. Set it aside while you cook the chicken, giving the cucumbers a stir every once in a while.

Hoisin Sesame Chicken,

  • Heat the sesame oil over medium heat in a large skillet or braiser. Transfer the ground chicken to it, cooking it for about 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Break it into crumbles with your spatula as you go.
  • When the chicken is cooked, add the garlic, ginger, hoisin, ketchup, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, garlic chili sauce, and sriracha. Stir everything until it's well combined and all of the chicken is coated in the sauce. Let the mixture simmer on low, stirring periodically, for 3-5 minutes or until it thickens up.
  • Stir in the chopped scallions.
  • Serve with lettuce cups and the cucumber carrot salad!

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 198kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 666mg | Sugar: 8g