Cilantro-Mint Chicken Lettuce Wraps

By Zainab Shah

Published May 22, 2025

  • Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
45 minutes
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
40 minutes
Rating
4(107)
Comments
Read comments

A Desi cilantro-mint chutney adds verdant, fiery flavors to tender shredded chicken in these herbaceous, tangy lettuce cups. The heat from the green chiles, warmth from the cumin and cooling sourness from lemon juice and Greek yogurt are stellar supporting acts for the otherwise everyday chicken breast, creating a chicken salad of sorts. Make the green chutney in advance and use any extra as an accent for other meals; it’s especially good with samosas, kebabs, fritters, on sandwiches, in yogurt and with any meal that includes rice and curry. Any leftover chicken salad is excellent for sandwiches or on its own.

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: Give recipes to anyone

    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.

    Subscribe

  • Share this recipe

  • Print this recipe

    or to print this recipe.

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:4 servings 

  • Fine sea salt

  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 8 ounces each)

  • 2 loosely packed cups mint leaves

  • 1 loosely packed cup cilantro leaves and tender stems

  • 3 to 5 Thai green chiles, stemmed

  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)

  • 2 tablespoons full-fat Greek yogurt 

  • 2 teaspoons cumin seeds or 1 teaspoon ground cumin

  • 1 teaspoon sugar

  • 2 garlic cloves (optional)

  • ½ head lettuce, leaves separated

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

12 grams carbs; 84 milligrams cholesterol; 197 calories; 1 gram monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 4 grams fat; 4 grams fiber; 578 milligrams sodium; 29 grams protein; 4 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Add 4 cups of cold water to a medium saucepan wide enough to hold the chicken in a single layer. Stir in 3 ½ teaspoons salt. Place chicken breasts in a single layer in the pan, smooth-side down. Cover the pot and bring the water to a boil over medium heat (which takes about 10 minutes).

  2. Step 2

    When the water begins to boil, flip the chicken breasts, turn off the heat and let the chicken cook, covered and undisturbed, for 15 minutes. Transfer the poached chicken to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    While the chicken rests, make the chutney: Combine mint, cilantro, chiles, lemon juice, yogurt, cumin, sugar, garlic (if using) and 1 teaspoon salt in a blender. Blend on high speed, scraping the sides occasionally, until the mixture is thick and mostly smooth. (The chutney can be made ahead and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.)

  4. Step 4

    Shred the chicken and mix with about ½ cup chutney in a large bowl. (To store the chicken salad, refrigerate in a covered container for up to 3 days.)

  5. Step 5

    Arrange the lettuce leaves in a single layer on a large plate. Place 1 to 2 heaping tablespoons of chicken salad on each of the leaves and serve.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Ratings

4 out of 5
107 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Comments

Doc O

Made as directed, the mixture was too dry to puree in our blender. We ended up adding a total of one cup of Greek yogurt and about 3 TLB of lemon juice to be able to blend the mass into a thick sauce. Our lettuce refused to form "cups"; so we just coarsely chopped it and added it to the shredded chicken and all of the sauce. It made for a spicey, herby chicken salad, but was even better with some golden raisins and roasted peanuts. Served with crostini, it made for a nice summer lunch.

TLeighMD

The flavor is top notch, delish. Only comment is that it might come off as a bit dry if your chicken isn't super moist. I ended up adding more sauce. I think you could add more yogurt or mayo too. Highly recommend.

Mary Ellen Navas

This sounded fresh and delightful but instead I found it dimensionally wrong: too spicy and lacking a counter balance. It needs something sweet, maybe currents in the chicken salad, and something crunchy, as a topping maybe chow mien noodles? Details: I followed the recipe exactly except I did not have 3-5 Thai chili peppers, I used two small serrano peppers with half of the seeds and membrane removed. I served it with naan and extra yogurt to smooth out the heat. A wrap would work. Help?

Harriet

Be careful in choosing your mint for this recipe. I suggest smelling the different mints available at the farmers market and choosing the one you find most pleasant. I have made this with three different types of mint, and the results are vary greatly. I have no problem preparing g the chutney in my mini blender.

Meg

In keeping with the palette, added roasted salted pistachios.

Blythe

There’s definitely something wrong with the measurements for the chutney. You don’t end up with a 1/2 cup! Adding more yogurt but I wonder if there was a mistake.

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

or to save this recipe.