My new favorite way of eating more vegetables comes via this delicious recipe for Thai Chicken Lettuce Cups. One bite, and you’ll be hooked.
One of my favorite salads to eat is a Thai chicken salad from a local restaurant. When served, you get a huge bowl of chopped veggies, tossed together, with grilled chicken on top.
In this recipe, the colorful veggies come to life with a deliciously tangy but sweet peanut dressing. I’ve recreated this salad often at home, with this recipe, but since I adore all things handheld, serving this delicious mixed salad in lettuce cups seemed like the next logical move.
This recipe is straight from my Taco Tuesday Cookbook. 52 delicious, taco recipes, so you always have something fresh to serve on taco Tuesday!
A lot of people think that when a recipe looks colorful, it must be a lot of work, or that it has a lot of ingredients. This salad may have quite a few, but I guarantee that the chopping is worth it! Check out how easy it is to make in this quick video below.
If it looks easy, it’s because it is! The whole thing comes together inside a large bowl, and you can make a lot of salad and refrigerate it for later! Since there is no lettuce in this salad, the veggies won’t get soggy. Instead, it absorbs the dressing flavors as it marinates in them. If you are planning ahead to make this recipe later in the week you can keep your lettuce cups fresh using this method.
For a nut-free version, swap out the peanut butter in the recipe for a nut-free substitute, like sunflower butter, and omit the nuts. The flavor will be just as delicious, and it’s free or nuts.
This recipe is definitely for those of us who love crunchy food because every bite provides that ultimate crunch we love.
I might have an obsession with lettuce cup recipes; and if you do too, check out my other lettuce cup recipes here.
Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Lettuce Cups with Peanut Sauce
This recipe slow cooker thai chicken recipe is the perfect blend of Asian-inspired flavors in a taco or lettuce cup. Great for lunch or dinner!
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
Chicken:
- ¼ cup lime juice
- ¼ cup soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons chili paste (sriracha)
- 4 cloves garlic, grated
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- ¼ cup green onions, white part only, reserve green for serving
- 1 ½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (you can use thighs too)
Peanut Sauce:
- ⅓ cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
- 1 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon chili paste (sriracha)
- 1–2 tablespoons hot water
For serving
- 1–2 Boston Bibb lettuce heads, leaves removed and washed
- 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
- 1 cup shredded (matchstick) carrots
- 1 cup diced red bell pepper
- ⅓ cup chopped unsalted peanuts
- Green onions
- Cilantro
- Lime wedges
Instructions
- In the bowl of your slow cooker, whisk to combine lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, oil, fish sauce, chili paste, garlic, ginger, and onions. Add in chicken, cut into a few smaller pieces to make it fit in the slow cooker bowl, and stir to coat with sauce. Cook, on high for 4 hours or 8 on low.
- While the chicken cooks, prepare peanut sauce by combining peanut butter, maple syrup or honey, lime juice, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and chili paste into a bowl. Add one tablespoon of water and whisk to combine. For a little thinner sauce, add water to the consistency you’d like.
- Once chicken is cooked, remove chicken from slow cooker and cut into small chunks.
- In a medium bowl, combine chicken, shredded cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, peanuts, green onions, and cilantro.
- Scoop chicken and veggie mixture inside lettuce leaves and drizzle with peanut sauce.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tacos
- Calories: 501
- Sugar: 15.1g
- Sodium: 802.6mg
- Fat: 21.3g
- Saturated Fat: 6.9g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 45g
- Fiber: 6.1g
- Protein: 35.5g
- Cholesterol: 82.7g
LL
Very good, fresh, & healthy tasting! I forgot to add in the peanuts though! Unfortunately I don’t think it was worth making again to try it with the peanuts. It made a lot of leftovers, more than we can handle and while it seems like it’s be great the next day, I really didn’t find it to be. The presentation is great though and this is the best peanut sauce I have ever made!
★★★
Ali
OMG, made this tonight and it was soooooo good!! I used ground turkey instead of chicken and made it in a pan I stead of crockpot and still DELICIOUS! Totally recommend, and the peanut sauce was bomb!!
Laura Fuentes
I’m so glad you loved these Ali!
Marybeth
Do you recommend serving this warm or cold? Can’t wait to try it!
Laura Fuentes
I prefer it warm 🙂
Nicole
Can this be cooked longer than 8 hours on low?
Laura Fuentes
absolutely. it will cook a little longer and pull apart. after 10h the chicken sort of dries out.
meg
really enjoy making this Thai Chicken. I have made this with chicken and beef, both are very good.
★★★★★