P.F. Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps Salad transforms the popular restaurant appetizer into a savory main dish salad, loaded with copycat ground chicken filling, shredded carrots, sliced cucumbers, diced avocado, toasted almonds, and an Asian-inspired Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette!
1tablespoonfresh gingerpeeled and finely minced or grated
2tablespoonssoy sauce
2tablespoonsrice vinegar
1 ½tablespoons(toasted or regular) sesame oil
1tablespoonhoney
6tablespoonsextra-virgin olive oilOR canola oil
For the chicken:
1poundground chicken
4clovesgarlicminced
1tablespoonfresh gingerpeeled and finely minced or grated
¼cuphoisin sauce
2tablespoonsrice vinegar
1tablespoonsoy sauce
1tablespoonoyster sauce
1tablespoonsweet red chili sauce
1teaspoontoasted or regular sesame oil
3green onionschopped
½cupwater chestnutsdiced
For the salad:
12 to 16ouncesBibb lettuce (OR butter lettuce OR romaine lettuce)torn or chopped
1cupshredded carrots
1cupsliced cucumber halves
¾sliced or slivered almondstoasted
1large avocadodiced
Instructions
Prepare the vinaigrette by measuring all of the ingredients into a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake vigorously until the mixture is well-blended. Alternatively, you may chop the garlic and ginger in a mini food processor, then add the remaining ingredients and process until blended. Set the dressing aside.
In a large saucepan set over medium-high heat, brown the ground chicken. Stir in the minced garlic and ginger and cook for another minute until fragrant, stirring occasionally.
While the chicken is cooking, combine the hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sweet red chili sauce, and sesame oil in a small bowl. Pour over the cooked chicken/ginger/garlic in the saucepan and stir well to combine. Mix the green onions and diced water chestnuts into the chicken mixture. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the saucepan from the heat and set aside.
Fill a large salad bowl with the lettuce. Top with the chicken mixture, the shredded carrots, the sliced cucumbers, the toasted almonds, and the diced avocado. Just before serving, drizzle with Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette, to taste, and toss well to combine.
Notes
The green onions and water chestnuts can be increased, reduced, or omitted. For example, I used half of an 8-ounce can of sliced water chestnuts, but feel free to use the entire can if you like.
You can use more or less lettuce depending on your preferred ratio of salad to toppings.
I cut half of an English cucumber in half lengthwise, and then sliced, to yield 1 cup cucumber slices.
To toast your sliced or slivered almonds, spread them out on a sheet pan and bake them in a preheated 350° oven, checking every 2 minutes. You will know they are done when they are fragrant with just a hint of color. They will probably be toasted in about 5 minutes, but watch them carefully as they can burn in an instant!
Use a spoon, rather than a knife, to scrape the soft skin off of your ginger before mincing or grating.
If you're worried about your diced avocado browning too quickly, you can toss the pieces with a splash of lemon or lime juice before adding to the salad.
For a little bit of heat, you can stir a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes or a few teaspoons of Sriracha into the cooked chicken mixture.