These low sodium lettuce wraps are a really great summer meal. You can probably find locally grown (fresh!) lettuce or Napa cabbage this time of year, AND it is quick and satisfying. Plus it is like eating little lettuce tacos. How do you beat that?
Happy 4th of July, people! I don’t usually do a whole heck of a lot for the 4th of July and this year is no exception. But overall it’s been a pretty great day, and I hope yours was great as well. We joined a local CSA and have gotten a ton of Napa cabbage. I made kimchi (also awesome, btw) and thought that I’d try to use the rest of the cabbage for lettuce wraps. Yeah I know, I know. They are lettuce wraps for goodness sake. But I had cabbage, so they became cabbage wraps for me. 🙂 You can use whatever lettuce you like for these, though butter lettuce is one of our favorites. If you are like me and opt for cabbage, stick with Napa cabbage, as it is more leafy with a more delicate flavor than other cabbage.
Oh and keep an eye on the water chestnuts that you use in this recipe. The sodium can vary pretty widely, but you should be able to find one that is either sodium-free or pretty close to it. We use Sun Luck brand, which has 0 mg sodium. The only other “special” instructions I have for you is to use a microplane to grate the ginger. If you don’t have a microplane, you can dice the ginger very fine and use that instead. I prefer to grate it, since I think the flavor is really highlighted that way.
PrintChicken Lettuce Wraps
SODIUM COUNT: 245.2 mg per serving; 980.6 mg in the entire recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
- 1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp sriracha
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 8 ounces mushrooms (chopped into 1/4” cubes)
- ¼ medium onion (diced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 4 green onions (thinly sliced)
- 1 can water chestnuts (diced (Sun Luck brand has 0 mg sodium))
- 3 cups cooked rice
- Butter lettuce or Napa cabbage leaves (for serving)
Instructions
- Combine the fresh grated ginger, soy sauce, sriracha, water, honey, balsamic vinegar, and rice wine vinegar in a bowl and set aside.
- Coat a nonstick pan with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add the ground chicken and cook until the chicken has cooked through, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms, onion, and the garlic to the pan and cook for about 4 minutes or until the mushrooms have softened. Add the sauce to the pan and continue to cook for about 4 – 6 minutes, until the mushrooms, onions, and garlic have finished cooking and some of the liquid has cooked off. (There should be just a bit of extra sauce in the bottom of the pan. )
- Put the green onions and water chestnuts in the pan and cook for about 30 seconds more, or until the new additions are warmed through.
- Serve each lettuce leaf with a 2-4 tablespoons rice and a few tablespoons of the meat mixture. (Like a mini lettuce taco!)
Notes
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION – Yield: 4 servings
Sodium: 245.2 mg, Calories: 345.3, Total Fat: 2.0 g, Saturated Fat: 0.5 g, Cholesterol: 65.8 mg, Carbohydrates: 48.5 g, Fiber: 2.6 g, Sugar: 8.6 g, Protein: 31.7 g.
Made this using romaine because it looked better than the butter lettuce or napa in our market that day.
Also used Coconut Aminos (Coconut Secret brand) in place of low sodium soy sauce. Even though low sodium soy sauce is still better than regular soy, coconut aminos is a fraction of even that. The Coconut Secret brand is only 90mg/1tsp. Measurements are 1/1 in recipes that call for soy sauce. Unfortunately, I have not found this in any of my local markets and only been able to purchase online through Amazon.
This was delicious! I made it for my family, and made it the next week for a small gathering because one of our friends is allergic to soy, and the coconut aminos fits his dietary restrictions too.
** Braggs Liquid Aminos is easily found in most markets however, take note that it is not soy free and is quite a bit higher in sodium than the Coconut Aminos. Sodium amts are similar with low sodium soy sauce and Braggs.
★★★★★
Such a helpful comment; thank you! I have also started using coconut aminos since I posted this recipe. I have been fortunate enough in the last year or so to start finding it in local grocery stores (usually in the natural foods section). I really appreciate that you’re sharing your knowledge (and swaps) in the comments for others to see. ~Kathy
I am so happy to have found your site.
A sodium restrictive diet is new to one member of our family, but your recipes are allowing me to still only cook one thing that all of us enjoy.
Making the Mac and Cheese tonight!
looks great! one thing we do when making lettuce wraps is finely dice a Serrano pepper and throw that in the pan when we cook the chicken. this alleviates some of the sodium (from sriracha) and still brings the heat.
love this recipe and all the others I’ve tried! your website is definitely Tops for finding low sodium meals.