Tasty Eats by Erin: Chicken or Pork Lettuce Wraps

These homemade lettuce wraps are as good as any we've ever had in a restaurant and I felt good about serving and eating them! Even better they took less than a half hour to cook. We used pork, but chicken would work fine. The onion adds a great little crunch (so we didn't feel the need for water chestnuts but you can add them if you like) and the sauce is perfect. The fresh ginger is so good, but if you only have ground ginger that will work fine too. The hoisin sauce is very flexible and allows you to modify based on the ingredients you have on hand (and I promise you won't taste the peanut butter but it does help thicken it!) It was quick to make and just a few ingredients so it's worth it to make your own if you can. Kick up the hot sauce and add a little red pepper flakes if you like more heat but for us this was just right.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground pork or ground chicken
1/2 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, chopped finely (I used matchstick and chopped up into pieces)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, (peeled and grated) - or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
~1/2 cup homemade hoisin sauce
3 green onions, chopped - optional
lettuce leaves, rinsed and dried (butter, Bibb, iceberg - your preference)

Homemade Hoisin Sauce Ingredients (see link below to original recipe):
2 tsp sesame oil
4 Tbsp soy sauce or aminos
2 Tbsp peanut butter (we used natural with only peanuts and salt)
1 Tbsp brown sugar (or honey, syrup or molasses)
2 tsp white vinegar
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp (add to your taste!) of hot sauce (we love Hank's)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients for the hoisin sauce and whisk to combine. (This is what we used.) Set aside.

Cook ground pork or chicken in a skillet until cooked through. Add the chopped onions and carrots, minced garlic, grated ginger, rice wine vinegar, and homemade hoisin sauce and cook another few minutes until combined and slightly thickened. Serve in lettuce leaves with a side of rice or veggies. Top with green onions, if desired.