Let’s get Healthy with Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps for Lunch or Dinner or even a fun appetizer. These bite size wraps are simply delicious and oh so easy to make right at home!
Phew! The Holidays are over and it’s time to get back to eating healthy.
Okay, well healthier because we all know I love to indulge in some yummy chocolate or a Creamy Alfredo sauce with French Bread! Mmmmm, my nemesis for sure.
Now that I can focus, I love Cashew Chicken and have really found how much I love lettuce wraps.
Watch for a quick Tasty Chicken Lettuce Wrap Video
4 Servings | Ready in 20 minutes | Good for Dinner | 6qt Instant Pot
I LOVE Cashew Chicken! Truly my favorite recipe, so why not serve as a Lettuce Wrap? It’s just great!
I love cutting the carbs and eating healthier, it does a body good.
Bringing these two into one protein filled lunch or dinner is perfect in my book. Packed with tender bites of chicken breast seasoned perfectly in a soy, hoisin, and sesame oil sauce is magic in your mouth.
Add some celery, green bell pepper, onion and water chestnuts and everything is accounted for. It’s a true party and everyone has shown up! Well the ingredients anyways!
Bringing these two into one protein filled lunch or dinner is perfect in my book. Packed with tender bites of chicken breast seasoned perfectly in a soy, hoisin, and sesame oil sauce is magic in your mouth.
Add some celery, green bell pepper, onion and water chestnuts and everything is accounted for. It’s a true party and everyone has shown up! Well the ingredients anyways!
Meal Planning:
Meal planning helps me to eliminate what I want out of my diet and account for more of what I do want in my diet. Chicken, fish, and lots of vegetables are high on my list of ingredients I want to cook with.
Making sure my meals are packed full of flavor is also a big deal in my book. No one wants to diet, no one wants to cut out those simple pleasures of a bite of chocolate out either.
Time is also a big factor in my book too. I just don’t have enough time to spend all day in the kitchen and meal planning and prepping for the week is so helpful.
With a little bit of organization I can plan a weeks worth of meals using similar ingredients but different flavors to keep my week packed full of amazing foods.
Chinese Take Out
If you love Chinese Take Out, then STOP! Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps are a cinch to make right at home. In fact, don’t ever order Chinese Take Out again.
Making Cashew Chicken at home allows you know to know exactly what ingredients go into the mix. No extra oils, salts, sugars, fats. Phew!
I always wonder why eating out adds so many calories.
Making Cashew Chicken fresh at home eliminates the worry of hidden calories you know nothing about and you can eat the extra calories in a hidden piece of chocolate before bed.
Shhhh….don’t tell my husband!
What is Cashew Chicken?
Although the name itself implies the basics of the ingredients, but is a far cry from what is really in this recipe.
Cashew Chicken is a Chinese American dish of Chicken and cashews with a thick or thin sauce of garlic, soy and chicken broth.
Often times an oyster or sesame sauce is included in the recipe as well. Vegetables can also be added, many that are preferred are onion, garlic, celery, water chestnuts, and bell pepper.
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Is Cashew Chicken Sweet?
Although Cashew Chicken does have some sweeteners in the recipe, this is not a sweet recipe.
The salt from the soy sauce is tamed down a bit by a small amount of sweetener to bring a perfect balance of flavors complimenting this dish.
Quick Tips
Smaller leafs of lettuce work best for Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Butter Lettuce, or even the smaller Romaine Lettuce leaves are perfect for wrapping this Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wrap up
How to Cook Cashew Chicken?
The possibilities are endless! From a hot wok, to the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker you can achieve great results in making Cashew Chicken.
Make sure to wash your vegetables before dicing them up. You never know what chemicals or dirt are on them.
A smaller cubed chicken is also preferable for this Cashew Chicken Wrap recipe, so take the time and cube your chicken into nice small bite sizes portions. It will make serving and eating Lettuce Wraps so much easier too.
When cooking for 2-3 people, this recipe is so perfect as it can be made in small portions to accommodate a small crowd, but don’t be fooled as it’s easily made in larger portions to serve at your next gathering with friends or family.
Cashew Chicken Wraps is a low-carb recipe that can also be served over a bed of cauliflower rice as well if you prefer.
I don’t miss eating a white rice at all in this Cashew Chicken recipe. A healthy Lettuce wrap is a light and refreshing way to serve Cashew Chicken.
Instant Pot
Instant Pot Pressure Cooking is trending for sure and let me tell you why! Making recipes in a Pressure Cooker will cut your time, significantly.
Making Cashew Chicken Wraps can be done in minutes with the Instant Pot. Seriously, I’m not kidding! With a 1 minute cooking time, you can have a meal on the table in 15 minutes from start to finish.
The luxury of a pressure cooker is while the ingredients are being heated up to pressure, they are also cooking.
So in this recipe, the small cubes of chicken are cooking and continue to cook while under extreme pressure, which is why it takes less time over all to cook. It’s a win win in my book, and for my family.
Chicken Lettuce Wrap
Ingredients
- 2 Chicken Breasts
- ½ Diced Green Bell Pepper
- 2 Stalks Celery Diced
- ½ Medium Onion Diced
- ½ Cup Cashews
- ⅓ Cup Soy Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Hoisin Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
- 3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- ¼ Cup Water or Chicken Broth
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic
- 12 Lettuce Leafs for wrap
- Slurry
- 2-3 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- 3 Tablespoons Water
Instructions
- Directions:
- Wash: Celery, Bell Peppers and Lettuce
- Prep:
- In a small bowl combine Soy Sauce, Chicken Broth, Hoisin Sauce, Sesame Oil, brown sugar, garlic, and Rice Wine Vinegar. Stir to combine and set aside.
- Dice Celery, Bell Pepper and Onion and set aside.
- Cube Chicken Breasts into small bite size pieces and set aside
- Instructions:
- · Add cube chicken, diced onion, bell pepper, and celery to Instant Pot and mix to combine.
- · Add sauce and stir.
- · Close lid of Instant Pot and set to Manual Pressure for 2 minutes
- · Quick Release and open lid
- · Add Cornstarch slurry to thicken sauce
- · Serve on lettuce leaf
Meredith Hartzog
only 2 minutes to cook the chicken? or do you saute first??
Devour Dinner
Hi Meredith, I cut the chicken in very tiny pieces and then quickly saute. It's wonderful and perfect bites for a lettuce wraps.
Barbara T-G
Sooo yummy!! I made this for supper tonight and even my finicky hubby enjoyed it! The only thing I did different from the recipe was I didn’t think about cutting the chicken into little bitty pieces—I just did regular bite sized pieces. I wanted to make sure they were done, so in addition to the 2 minute high pressure cook I did a 5 minute natural release and everything was perfect!
Devour Dinner
Hi Barbara, this little recipe is a gem. I could eat Cashew Chicken every day. So glad you and your husband enjoyed it too! I like to cut small pieces of chicken since I'm eating this like a lettuce wrap. But larger pieces work too just fine!
Barbara
I can’t find the measurement for rice wine vinegar in the list of ingredients. Please advise.
Devour Dinner
Hi Barbara... It's 1 Tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar. It's updated now. Sorry!!!
Amanda Heshler
Where do you add the cashews in the recipe?
Devour Dinner
I add the cashews at the end and don't hesitate to add extras if you wish.
Kristin's Peppermints and Cherries
I love the lettuce wrap idea, and cashews are my favorite nuts!
Devour Dinner
I agree! Cashews are wonderful and so good in these lettuce wraps.
Crystal // Dreams, etc.
This looks so good! I sent it to a friend and I'm definitely going to try it out soon!
Devour Dinner
I'm so glad to hear! I hope you enjoy it!
Sue
Did you add the cashews before or after pressure cooking? (or does it even matter?)
Devour Dinner
I add them before cooking because I like them a cooked...however, I also LOVE Cashews and those extra on my plate because I love it..haha...it honestly doesn't matter!
karen
i love this recipe. i am a huge fan of lettuce wraps and am always looking for a good way to change it up.
Devour Dinner
I'm finding more and more ways to make Lettuce Wraps that are different from traditional wraps. Such a fun way to change things up too.
Alyssa
Do you only cook this for two minutes? Will the chicken be cooked in that short of time?
Devour Dinner
Great Question! YES. I cook this for 2 minutes. The Chicken is cut into very small bite size pieces. Small enough that they fit nicely on the Lettuce Wrap. Although this recipe is only under pressure for 2 minutes, it's also cooking from the moment you set the Instant Pot and it heats up. So the cooking process is actually longer. I've tested this recipe over and over and used a thermometer to make sure the chicken came to the correct internal temp and every time I have not had any problems.
Alexandra
These look absolutely incredible! I love all of the flavours, and the lettuce wraps just add such a wonderful touch.
Devour Dinner
I agree Alexandra! The flavors come together so perfectly and it's a great healthy option especially after all the holiday treats.
jenna | the urben life
These look sooo healthy and tasty! I love cashews so I've gotta try this soon.
Devour Dinner
I hope you do! And send a photo of it when you make it. I love to them!
Ayanna
Yummy! I just got an Insta Pot for Christmas and this would be a great recipe to try out.
Devour Dinner
Hi Ayanna! Cooking with the Instant Pot is a lot of fun. I hope you will continue to follow along. I'm happy to help answer your questions along the way. 😉
Denise Riehle
A new way to enjoy cashew chicken. I'm down with that! Thanks for the recipe ideas!
Devour Dinner
You are welcome Denise. It's a great recipe all year long!
Cayla
These lettuce wraps look amazing. We make lettuce wraps often, but have never had Cashew Chicken ones. Looking forward to making these for my husband!
Devour Dinner
My husband really liked these. Although he is a meat and potato sort of guy, he will indulge me on some more healthy aspects of meals..haha..but he told me I could make them again, which is always a good sign! 😉
The Mouse Mama
This looks absolutely delicious and super healthy for you! Great for all those new years health goals.
Devour Dinner
It sure is delicious and so easy to make too!
Amy @ Orison Orchards
Yum! I order these every time we eat at PF Changs. I'm so glad I can now make them at home!
Devour Dinner
I love PF Changs! So delicious...and making them at home is wonderful.
Candy
Lettuce wraps are always easy and so healthy. Cashew chicken is perfect filling
Devour Dinner
Agreed! I love Cashew Chicken as a filling for Lettuce Wraps too!