Nutrition: 330 Calories | 9g Net Carbs | 26.7g Protein | 19.1g Total Fat
A fun, simple meal or appetizer, this PF Changs lettuce wraps recipe is filled with ground meat, vegetables, and a savory garlic ginger sauce.
A few months ago I started a new thing with my kids. One night a week, one of the girls gets to plan and make dinner with me. They rotate weeks, so everyone gets a turn. It has been a really fun addition to our weekly routine. They love helping me cook, and I get special one-on-one time with each of my daughters. It’s also one meal I don’t have to plan, and they learn about cooking and their favorite recipes. They really look forward to making dinner and are now planning their next meal weeks in advance. Just last week, my middle daughter planned to make these PF Changs lettuce wraps. It is one of her favorite meals and so easy to make, a 10 year old can do it. Since we love them so much, I thought it was time to share the recipe with you.
Brown the Meat and Prep the Vegetables
One of the reasons this recipe is so quick is because there’s not much preparation. The basis of the filling is ground meat, either turkey or chicken. So, heat up a frying pan with a little olive oil, and brown up the ground meat. While the meat is cooking, chop up some carrots, canned bamboo shoots, and a small onion in the food processor. The food processor is the fastest way to make the vegetables really small, but you could chop them by hand too. Instead of bamboo shoots, water chestnuts work great and add a nice crunch. I’ve also added in celery from the fridge when I needed to use it up. The vegetables are so small, you could add a variety of things, and the kids would never know.
Sauté the Vegetables
Break up the ground meat as it is cooking, stirring occasionally until it’s nicely browned. Once the meat is brown, add the chopped vegetables to the pan. Stir the filling together and sauté the vegetables for about five minutes stirring occasionally.
Make the Garlic Ginger Sauce
At the same time the vegetables are cooking, make a garlic ginger sauce in the food processor. You’ll need fresh garlic, fresh ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, ground cinnamon, and ground cloves. So put all the ingredients in your food processor and blend it until the garlic and ginger are completely pureed. Just a dash of cinnamon and cloves adds that extra something that keeps everyone wondering, “What’s that flavor?”
Here’s an extra tip for fresh ginger. Its stores great in the freezer. When you bring a large ginger root home from the grocery store, peel the whole thing. Then, cut the root into one inch chunks, and store them in a freezer bag. You can use the ginger frozen, right out of the freezer for all kinds of recipes. Chop it in the food processor like in this recipe or grate it on a zester. A one inch piece of ginger is about one tablespoon.
As soon as the vegetables have cooked for a few minutes, add the sauce to the filling in the pan. Stir it in with the meat and vegetables, and let the filling simmer for five to ten minutes. Once the filling has absorbed the sauce, sprinkle chives or green onions on the top. We like to serve our lettuce wraps family style with lettuce leaves on the side. We also have soy sauce, hot sauce and sesame seeds for optional toppings.
Other recipes to check out: Unstuffed Egg Roll Lettuce Wraps, Buffalo Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps, and Chicken Spiedie Lettuce Wrap.
PF Changs Lettuce Wraps Recipe – Easy Low Carb One Pan Meal
A fun, simple meal or appetizer, this PF Changs lettuce wraps recipe is filled with ground meat, vegetables, and a savory garlic ginger sauce.
Total Time: 30 min
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground Turkey or Chicken
- 1 Small Onion
- 8 oz Bamboo Shoots, drained
- 1 Cup Carrots
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 3 Garlic Cloves
- 1 Tbsp Fresh Ginger, about 1 inch chunk
- 4 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 3 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
- Dash Cinnamon
- Dash Ground Cloves
- 1/2 Cup Chives or Green Onions, diced
- Romaine Lettuce Leaves
- Optional: Sesame Seeds, Soy Sauce and Hot Sauce (like Sriracha) for serving
Directions
- Heat a large frying pan on the stove over medium heat. Add the olive oil to the pan and the ground meat. Break up the meat with a spoon. Brown the meat, stirring occasionally for about ten minutes.
- While the meat is browning, trim off the ends of the onion and peel it. Cut the onion into large chunks and add them to a food processor along with the bamboo shoots and carrots. Process the vegetables until they are finely minced.
- When the meat if fully cooked, add the vegetables to the pan. Stir them in with the meat and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While the vegetables are cooking, add the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, cinnamon, and cloves to the food processor. Process until you have a smooth sauce.
- When the vegetables are almost fully cooked, add the garlic ginger sauce to the pan. Stir everything together and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes. Garnish the filling with the chives.
- Serve the filling with lettuce leaves on the side. Fill a lettuce leaf with filling, top with sesame seeds, soy sauce or hot sauce as desired, and enjoy.
Nutrition:
Yield: 4 servings
Amount Per Serving: 330 Calories: , Total Fat: 19.1g, Saturated Fat: 3.8g, Cholesterol: 78.2mg, Sodium: 674.4mg, Carbohydrates: 13.5g, Fiber 4.5g, Sugars: 3g, Protein 26.7g
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