Celebrate the Chinese New Year with these Asian Chicken Zoodle Lettuce Wraps symbolizing prosperity and long life. These lettuce wraps use ground chicken, mandarin oranges, and vegetables stir-fried in a soy sauce with ginger, chili garlic sauce , and garlic. Top these lettuce wraps with zucchini noodles, or your favorite rice noodle. 

Asian Chicken Zoodle Lettuce Wraps

You guys know my love for lettuce wraps, right? I could eat them every single day if you let me.

I love the crunchy lettuce and all of the delicious ingredients you can put inside that little wrap. I especially love any type of Asian inspired lettuce wrap. In celebration of the Chinese New Year I knew I wanted to share these Asian Chicken Zoodle Lettuce Wraps with you guys.

These lettuce wraps are filled with ground chicken that is simmered in Kikkoman Soy Sauce , garlic, ginger and chili garlic sauce and topped with mandarin oranges, zucchini noodles {or zoodles}, matchstick carrots, fresh cilantro and peanuts. Maybe they should be called Loaded Lettuce Wraps? 😉

For those that like Asian cooking as much as I do there are a few things I always have on hand in my pantry and one of these things is Kikkoman Soy Sauce. In every Asian style lettuce wrap that I make I use soy sauce and it also works great in Asian stir-frying and in Asian soups.  

Like fine wine, Kikkoman Soy Sauce is aged for several months to develop its characteristic rich, yet mellow flavor, appetizing aroma and distinctive reddish-brown color.  Kikkoman Soy Sauce is traditionally brewed and a flavor enhancer. And when paired in Asian dishes it really helps bring out all of those delicious flavors.

Another nice thing about Kikkoman soy sauces is the variety they offer. For example, if you are trying to cut back on your sodium intake, you can simply use Kikkoman Less Sodium Soy Sauce in this recipe. Or for a gluten-free version try their Kikkoman Gluten-Free Tamari Soy Sauce .

Did you know that February 8th marks the start of the Chinese lunar year, 4714, the Year of the Monkey?  Of all of the holidays in the Chinese calendar, the 15-day New Year festival is the most exciting and colorful.  The Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival, a celebration of renewal and coming prosperity.

Today’s Asian Zoodle Lettuce Wraps have symbolic Chinese New Year foods: the lettuce represents prosperity, the mandarin oranges represent luck and noodles represent long life. If you didn’t need more reasons to want to make these delicious lettuce wraps?

You will noticed I lightened up this dish with zucchini noodles but if you want to keep things authentic you can use your favorite noodle, like rice noodles.

When making these Asian Chicken Zoodle Lettuce Wraps you can get creative. Do you have ground turkey on hand instead of chicken? Go ahead and use it! Are you thinking that rice noodles or thin spaghetti would be a fun addition instead of the zoodles. Do it! Do you like extra spice, like me? Add an extra teaspoon of red chili garlic sauce. Maybe and mandarins aren’t your thing? These taste great without them. What I am getting at is that these are very customizable to your tastes and can be fun to experiment with!

Forget take-out or going to your local Chinese restaurant and make these Asian Chicken Zoodle Lettuce Wraps at home, I promise you won’t be disappointed. This is the perfect way to celebrate the Chinese New Year with family and friends with a fun twist on traditional Asian food.

Continue to Content

Asian Chicken Zoodle Lettuce Wraps

Yield: 8

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Celebrate the Chinese New Year with these Asian Chicken Zoodle Lettuce Wraps symbolizing prosperity and long life. These lettuce wraps use ground chicken, mandarin oranges, and vegetables stir-fried in a soy sauce with ginger, chili garlic sauce , and garlic. Top these lettuce wraps with zucchini noodles, or your favorite rice noodle.

Print

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped sweet onion {about 1/4 of a medium onion}
• 1 green bell pepper {about 1 cup}
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb. ground chicken
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 2 Tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 3 Tablespoons Kikkoman Soy Sauce
• 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce, more or less for spiciness
• 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped {plus extra for garnish}
• 3 green onions, green part chopped
• 1 cup mandarin oranges, drained
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 medium zucchini, spiralized
• 1 head of Bibb/Boston Lettuce, washed and separated

Optional garnishes:

• Peanuts
• Cilantro
• Crushed red pepper
• Matchstick carrots

Instructions

1. Heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet and add the onion, sautéing for 2 minutes. Add the green peppers and garlic and continue to sauté for 2 more minutes.
2. Add the ground chicken, fresh lime juice, ginger, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce and continue cooking until the chicken is browned, about 7-8 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Once the chicken you can add the zucchini noodles in and cook for two minutes if you like them softer otherwise serve them raw alongside the chicken. Stir in the cilantro, green onions and mandarin oranges and serve alongside the Bibb lettuce. Garnish with peanuts, matchstick carrots or other garnishes of you choice.
4. Refrigerate the chicken in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Notes

This recipe makes 8 cups of the chicken mixture with the mandarins and zoodles in it. Serving size is 1 cup or 1/4 cup of the mixture in 4 lettuce wraps.

I added the zoodles raw but if you like them cooked just add them into the turkey mixture at the very end and let them heat for 1-2 minutes.

This recipe makes 8 cups of the chicken mixture with the mandarins and zoodles in it. Serving size is 1 cup or 1/4 cup of the mixture in 4 lettuce wraps. 

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.