Lettuce wraps filled with spicy chickpeas and topped with a creamy cilantro sauce. These quick and flavorful lettuce wraps make a nutritious fiber packed meatless lunch or dinner in minutes!
I fell in love with chickpeas at my local Indian restaurants with their chickpea curry. Chickpeas are super filling and delicious and make a delicious meat replacement. Lately, I’ve been making these spicy crispy chickpeas and adding them to my salads, pizza and just about anything else!
They are cooked on the stove-top and are ready in just 5 minutes! Today we’re turning this hidden gem into a filling flavor-packed lunch.
To begin you will need canned chickpeas. I do not suggest using dry chickpeas because they take very long to cook but if you must, I suggest cooking them in the pressure cooker. The next step is to simply drain the chickpeas and combine them with the spice blend and pan “fry” for 3-5 minutes or until the chickpeas are browned and crispy.
Next, pack the crispy spicy chickpeas into romaine lettuce leaves or tortilla bread and fill with your favorite toppings. Tomatoes, onion, avocado, cucumber, olives, and thinly sliced carrots are all delicious additions and will add flavor and texture.
The final step is to whip up the creamy jalapeno cilantro sauce, generously drizzle it on the wraps and enjoy!
Watch Recipe Video Below!
Spicy Chickpea Lettuce Wraps with Cilantro Jalapeno Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 15 oz can chickpeas, garbanzo beans, about 2 cups
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chili powder, or paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 6-8 romaine lettuce leaves
- Diced onion, tomato, avocado, cucumber for topping, optional
For the cilantro jalapeno sauce
- 1/2 cup yogurt, sour-cream or mayonnaise*
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, include the cilantro stems
- 1 jalapeño
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Drain and rinse chickpeas and pat with paper towels to remove excess water.
- In a medium bowl, add dried chickpeas, olive oil, chili powder, cumin and generously season with salt and pepper. Mix until the chickpeas are fully coated with the spices.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive in a pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chickpeas and saute for 3-5 minutes or until the chickpeas are crunchy.
- Divide chickpeas evenly into 6-8 lettuce leaves and drizzle with cilantro sauce. Top with chopped onions, tomatoes, avocado, or cucumber if desired.
- To make cilantro sauce: add all the ingredients to a blender and pulse for 30-60 seconds.
Notes
This was a quick and healthy lunch, but I had a hard time throwing an entire jalapeño into my Ninja blender. It just didn’t blend up. Not sure if it’s supposed to be sliced first? I agree with the garlic powder not being part of the instructions, so I unfortunately missed putting it in the dish. Perhaps this would enhance the flavor next time. Overall, interesting flavor combos and was healthy and delicious!
Make a lot at once since the recipe takes a long time to whip up due to number Of ingredients and need to make sauces.
These turned out pretty good. The garlic powder wasn’t in the instructions, but you can assume it gets added with the other spices. I like how easy to make and healthy they are.
I made this with veganaise. It was the best lunch I’ve had in a while. So impressed.
Hey, could you please tell me how many cals per serving?
Thank you for this recipe! This is my go-to for a healthy, light lunch.
So glad you like it!
This was SO good! My family is a big fan of chicken lettuce wraps, but only eat meat sparingly and with all the sauce I was adding, I was worried about how unhealthy it was for my family. I came across your recipe, and this is our new favorite! We made added several veggies and used fresh garlic instead of powder. My kids love it, too. We use the leftover chickpea liquid to make vegan chocolate mousse for dessert.
So glad to hear that you and your family enjoyed them, Amber!
I found this recipe while trying to use up some bib lettuce, and this recipe is killer! The sauce is amazing (the chickpeas were good, as well). The sauce would go well on so many other things. Excellent recipe. Thank you!
So good!!
SO GOOD! im on ww so i cut down in olive oil still turned out incre! Thank you for sharing