From FROZEN chicken tenders to a better-than-restaurant-quality meal, these Asian Peanut Lettuce Wraps are a cinch to prepare. Whisk together the easy peanut sauce and pull the chicken out of the freezer. Your pressure cooker makes it all so much quicker and easier!
It’s not a huge secret that a pressure cooker can cook up frozen chicken in a flash, with no defrosting required, but for this recipe, the secret is literally in the sauce. Oh yes, the sauteed onions, garlic, and peppers that go in the pot along with the chicken definitely make a difference, but the Asian Ginger Garlic Peanut Sauce? THAT’S the serious magic in this recipe.
I was rummaging through the big freezer last week … the one we keep shoving stuff into and then we forget what’s there and it stays there for WAY too long and when you pull it out, it’s almost unrecognizable. Do you have one of those?
So here I was, digging through the freezer, seeking some salmon I was SURE I had in there, when I ran across a bag labeled “salmon” that had frozen chicken tenders in it. By chicken tenders, I mean the breast meat pieces that have been cut into nice little slices for easy cooking that my son loves. Except the bag was open. I mean it was WIDE open. And the chicken was seriously freezer burned. And then I realized that there was no salmon to be found … the salmon I THOUGHT was there was actually mis-managed chicken. And I was kicking the previous me that thought it was a good idea to reuse a salmon bag to hold chicken tenders … and then not seal it properly. WHY did I do that?
My immediate reaction was to throw it away, but then I thought, if I cook it in the Instant Pot and shred it up with some good sauce, it should be at least edible, right?
The results were delectable, WAY better than I expected. Now, to be honest, I can’t say the freezer burned chicken turned out perfect and, as a regular practice, I recommend making this recipe with NON-freezer burned chicken tenders, but my easy lettuce wraps definitely tasted better than a recent visit to a pretty posh restaurant’s Asian chicken lettuce wraps. (That said, if you happen to have some freezer burned chicken tenders and you don’t want to waste food, then it might not be a bad idea to give this recipe a try.)
Let me share that restaurant experience with you. My friend and I went out for happy hour at one of the nicer restaurants in town. The kind of place with white tablecloths, white cloth napkins, and wait staff dressed impeccably in black and white. I didn’t even order the lettuce wraps, honestly … my friend ordered those. I decided on a quesadilla (I love quesadillas, but rarely order them at restaurants). We thought we would share … and we did. The quesadilla was TEENY and seriously, it wasn’t spectacular … they forgot the black bean and corn salsa it was supposed to come with and when (upon my insistence) they did bring it out, it was just canned corn and black beans tossed together with no flavor, but still the quesadilla was WAY better than the lettuce wraps. Keep in mind I’m insanely picky, but I found their lettuce wraps way too salty and just lacked the kind of flavor I expected. The sauce was just NOT up to par. I’ve eaten at this place before and had really good food, so I was very disappointed. My friend kept asking me if I wanted more of her lettuce wraps and I politely declined. (Despite the less than spectacular food, we were happy that at least we had something in our bellies and we were ready to go out dancing!)
Seriously, friends, it’s SO freaking easy to make a good peanut sauce. It’s just a matter of whisking together some peanut butter, honey, soy sauce, garlic and ginger. In this recipe, I used peanut butter powder for extra protein and fiber and a little Sriracha for an extra kick of heat AND flavor.
The Instant Pot takes care of the chicken. Please let the chicken rest in the juices for a bit afterwards. That helps the chicken absorb back some of the moisture it lost in the cooking process.
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Instant Pot Asian Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 5 min
- Total Time: about 1 hour (with time to pressure and depressurize)
- Yield: 6 – 8 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Pressure cooker
- Cuisine: Asian
Description
All the delicious Asian ginger garlic flavor you expect from a 5-star restaurant, but made at home from FROZEN chicken in a pressure cooker. Make extra sauce because you’ll want to have it on hand … it’s so good!
Ingredients
For the Asian Ginger Garlic Peanut sauce:
- 6 Tablespoons peanut butter powder (PB2 or PBFit)
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 4 Tablespoons soy sauce (or tamari, for gluten free)
- 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 2 Tablespoons sweet chile sauce
- 1 Tablespoon water or chicken broth
- 7 – 10 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped fine
- 1 Tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger root
- 2 teaspoons Sriracha (or more, to taste)
For the chicken:
- 12 – 16 oz. frozen chicken tenders
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 of a sweet onion, finely chopped
- 2 – 3 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
- 3 – 4 mini sweet peppers, finely chopped
- 1 cup chicken broth
To serve:
- Fresh romaine or butter lettuce leaves
- Topping options: fresh cilantro leaves, sweet pepper slices, chopped peanuts or cashews, fresh ripe avocado pieces, shredded purple cabbage, matchstick carrots, Sriracha
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.
- Saute the chopped onion and garlic in the sesame oil either in the Instant Pot or in a frying pan. Add the peppers and cook just briefly.
- Pour the broth into the Instant Pot. Add the veggies (if not already there!). Set the chicken tenders on top and drizzle with about 1/2 – 3/4 cup of the sauce
- Pressure cook for 5 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally. Check that the chicken is done (internal temp at 165 F), but then unplug, cover the pot and let sit for about 15 minutes longer to soak up more of the juices.
- Drain off the excess liquid, saving the onions and peppers. Shred the chicken then add the cooked onions and peppers back in. Stir in some (or all) of the remaining sauce (until it’s saucy to your liking) and stir to mix well.
- To serve: spoon the warm shredded chicken mixture into fresh lettuce leaves. Sprinkle with toppings of choice. Serve with any leftover sauce and Sriracha for drizzling.
Notes
© Copyright 2020, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. I love it when you share, but please do not use my images on your own site/page without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. Sharing, pinning, and tweeting is always appreciated as long as the shares and pins link back to here for the recipe. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 lettuce wraps
- Calories: 228
- Fiber: 3.5g
- Protein: 20.2g
Keywords: Asian, Chinese, Thai, Gluten free, Heart healthy, Chicken, Poultry
Nutrition Facts use 12 oz. chicken (since that’s how much I had).
5 comments
Any ideas hour long in a crock pot instead?
Hi Teresa,
I haven’t tried it, but I would suggest 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low, but with a crockpot, for safety, you should thaw the meat before you cook it. Give it a try and tell me how it goes!
Thanks for asking,
Ann
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