Chicken Lettuce Cups with Shiitake Mushrooms for Full GAPS

These chicken lettuce cups pair a warm, savory shiitake filling with cool, crisp leaves. Ground chicken cooks in coconut oil, followed by mushrooms, carrots, green onions, garlic and ginger. Coconut aminos seasons the chicken before cooking and brings the vegetables together at the end. Spoon a little filling into each leaf, fold it loosely and eat while the lettuce still has its crunch.

The batch serves four. Start the chicken’s 30-minute rest in the refrigerator, then use that time to chop the vegetables and wash the lettuce. The pan work takes about 25 minutes, so allow roughly 55 minutes from the start of the rest, plus any extra preparation time you need.

I cook in the morning before work on weekdays. For a meal like this, the useful stopping point is the cooked filling: refrigerate it separately and leave the lettuce unfilled until serving. You can reheat only what you need without turning the rest of the leaves soft.

Choosing the ingredients

Use plain ground chicken with no added bread crumbs, starch or seasoning blend. The shiitake mushrooms give the filling its savory depth. Remove any tough stems and chop the caps into small pieces. Chop the carrots small too, so they soften during their short turn in the skillet. Keep the green and white parts of the green onions; both go into the filling.

You will measure coconut aminos twice: ¼ cup for the chicken and 2 tablespoons for the vegetables. Keep those measures separate. Choose a soy-free product with a short ingredient list, such as coconut sap and sea salt, and check the current label for added sugar, starch or other ingredients. Tamari is made from soy and is not the substitute used here.

Coconut oil is the cooking fat. Use natural, nonhydrogenated coconut oil, with one tablespoon for the chicken and the other for the mushrooms. If you use the optional sesame oil, choose fresh, cold-pressed, unrefined oil and stir it in off the heat just before serving. Toasted sesame oil is not the oil specified for this version.

Bibb or soft leaf lettuce makes a flexible cup. Separate the leaves carefully, rinse them and dry them well with a clean towel or salad spinner. Small inner leaves make smaller cups, so the number of cups will vary even though the filling still makes four servings. Cilantro and prepared cashews are optional toppings.

How to make chicken lettuce cups

1. Rest the chicken in the refrigerator. Mix the ground chicken with the larger measure of coconut aminos in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the vegetables, mince the garlic and ginger, and wash and dry the lettuce. Keep the raw-chicken bowl and utensils separate from the lettuce and toppings.
2. Cook the chicken. Heat the first portion of coconut oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and break it into small crumbles as it cooks. Cook for about 5–7 minutes, until it is cooked through and some edges begin to turn golden. Check that the chicken reaches 165°F (74°C), then transfer it to a clean bowl.
3. Brown the mushrooms. Add the remaining coconut oil and the chopped shiitakes to the same pan. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The mushrooms will release liquid; let that moisture cook away until the edges begin to turn golden.
4. Soften the carrots and green onions. Add the chopped carrots and cook for about 5 minutes. They should be tender enough to bite comfortably, with lightly golden edges. Stir in the green onions and cook for about 3 minutes more.
5. Add the garlic and ginger. Push the vegetables aside to clear a small space in the center. Add the garlic and ginger there. Stir for about 45 seconds, just until fragrant, then mix them through the vegetables before the garlic darkens.
6. Finish the filling. Return the cooked chicken to the pan with the smaller measure of coconut aminos. Stir until the chicken and vegetables are evenly combined and hot. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the optional sesame oil just before serving.
7. Fill the lettuce leaves. Put a dry leaf on a plate and spoon a few tablespoons of filling into its center. Add cilantro and prepared chopped cashews if using them. Fold the edges around the filling and serve immediately. Start with less filling; you can always add another spoonful.

If the filling looks watery, check the mushroom step. Browning begins after their released moisture has evaporated. A crowded pan makes that take longer, so follow the change from a wet pan to lightly golden mushroom edges rather than moving on simply because ten minutes have passed. Dry lettuce matters too: water caught in its folds runs straight onto the plate.

Full GAPS choices

This version is for Full GAPS once the ingredients and raw vegetables are introduced and tolerated. The raw lettuce, browned filling and optional nut topping make it a different preparation from a soft Introduction Diet meal. It is not an Intro recipe or a No-Plant GAPS recipe.

The coconut-aminos version keeps the chicken and vegetable measurements but leaves out the original sherry and tamari. Coconut oil does the cooking; the optional cold-pressed sesame oil is a finishing oil. The result is dairy-free and egg-free, but it contains sesame if you add that oil and cashews if you use the nut topping. Coconut aminos also contains coconut.

For the cashews, start with plain, uncoated nuts. Soak them for 1–3 hours, then drain, rinse and dry them fully before chopping and measuring the finished ¼ cup. Cashews have a shorter soaking time than many other nuts; do not leave them soaking overnight or beyond six hours. You can simply omit the topping if nuts are not part of your meals yet. Nut preparation and drying are separate from the lettuce-cup cooking time.

Serving and storing the filling

Set out the hot filling, dry leaves and optional toppings separately so each person can fill a cup as they eat. For another chicken meal with similar flavors, try chicken and cauliflower fried rice. If you prefer a different wrap filling, the turkey lettuce wraps with almond sauce have their own complete recipe.

For leftovers, refrigerate the cooked filling in shallow, covered containers within two hours, or one hour if the room is above 90°F (32°C). Keep the refrigerator at 40°F (4°C) or below and use the filling within 3–4 days. Store washed, dried lettuce separately. Reheat the filling to 165°F (74°C), then spoon it into fresh leaves. The 3–4-day make-ahead window is for the refrigerated filling, not assembled lettuce cups left sitting out.

Questions before you cook

Why are there two amounts of coconut aminos?

The larger amount seasons the raw chicken during its refrigerated rest. The smaller amount goes in after the chicken returns to the cooked vegetables. They are separate additions, not alternative measurements.

Can I leave out the sesame oil and cashews?

Yes. Both are optional in this WFLI version. Leave the chicken, vegetables and two coconut-aminos measures unchanged. Keep sesame and nut toppings separate when serving anyone who needs to avoid them.

Why are my lettuce cups falling apart?

Choose flexible, intact leaves and avoid overfilling them. Dry each leaf, spoon the filling into the center and make several small cups rather than one heavy cup. Add the hot filling only when you are ready to eat.

Does the 55-minute estimate include chopping?

It includes the 30-minute refrigerated chicken rest and about 25 minutes of cooking. Chop and wash during the rest. If that preparation takes longer, allow the extra time. Preparing and drying the optional cashews ahead is not included.

Equipment for this recipe

A large sauté pan gives the mushrooms room to release their moisture and brown. You will also need a medium mixing bowl, a clean bowl for the cooked chicken, a knife and cutting board, measuring cups and spoons, and an instant-read thermometer. A salad spinner is useful for drying leaves, though a clean towel works too. This recipe needs no blender or food processor.

For more help planning Full GAPS meals, the Two-Week Full GAPS Meal Plan is listed in the WFLI Shop. It is a planned printable, so check the Shop for its release rather than expecting an immediate download.