During the summer, I’m on the hunt for a cool, crisp meal that is fast to make and light. These coconut chicken wraps are all of those things. You can poach chicken for the wraps or just use a rotisserie chicken! While the chicken is the base of these wraps, the star is actually the coconut sauce!
The combo of coconut milk, sriracha, chicken, and crunchy veggies makes for one great wrap!
The Coconut Sauce
This wrap is centered around what is essentially a chicken salad. The sauce, which is a combo of coconut milk, sriracha, soy sauce, cayenne pepper, and five spice powder, is the star of the show here. You whisk all this together and whatever you put in it will be delicious!
If you don’t have five spice powder, you can easily leave it out or substitute it with curry powder for some complexity.
One tip: I think this recipe does benefit from using the full fat coconut milk. The richness helps balance the wrap ingredients.
How to Poach Chicken for these Wraps
As far as the chicken goes, I tried the wraps two different ways with almost no difference. You could poach a few chicken breasts in barely simmering water until they are just cooked through.
I do this by slicing my chicken breasts in half longwise so they cook faster and poaching them in lightly salted (barely simmering) water for 15 minutes.
If this is too much work to bother with, just use a rotisserie chicken! Exact same results!
These days, the rotisserie chicken will probably be more economical as well.
Stir the shredded chicken into the coconut milk mixture. It might look a bit wet, but the chicken will actually absorb some of the mixture if you let it sit for a few minutes.
Toppings for these coconut chicken wraps
Crunchy veggies finish off this awesome wrap. You could use a variety of things, but I kept it simple with carrot, cucumber, lettuce, and fresh cilantro. These are really important because they add some good crunch to the wrap.
Note that I don’t like cheese in this wrap. It doesn’t really go with the coconut flavor in my opinion.
Other topping options: Spicy peppers, radishes, avocado… you get the idea!
How to make a coconut chicken wrap
When you’re making a wrap, I recommending using the lettuce and veggies as a base for the chicken. When you are piling on the chicken, drain off most of the excess sauce. You don’t want the wraps to be soaking wet.
Add a little extra sriracha if you want some extra heat!
Want other chicken wrap ideas? Try these sweet chili chicken wraps or these open-faced Buffalo chicken Lettuce wraps!
BOOM! One delicious wrap!
We had these for a light dinner at the Crunch Time House, but it should go without saying that they would be great lunch fare also!
The nice thing about these wraps is that you can make one with leftover chicken right out of the fridge and the wraps are good cold!
If you need a quick and simple lunch to finish out the summer, these are always a winner!
Spicy Coconut Chicken Wraps
Ingredients
- 1 pound shredded chicken
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1-2 tablespoon sriracha chili sauce
- ½ teaspoon five spice powder, Optional
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 large wraps
- Sliced cucumber
- Shredded carrot
- Crispy lettuce
- Fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Poach chicken in lightly salted water in steaming water until it’s just cooked through. Then cool chicken and shred into chunks. Alternatively (and faster) you can use a rotisserie chicken!
- In a medium bowl, whisk together coconut milk, sriracha, soy sauce, five spice powder, and cayenne. Stir in shredded chicken and let sit while you prep the other ingredients.
- To make a wrap, add a handful of chopped lettuce to a wrap. Top with chicken mixture (drain off most of the liquid). Then top with other crunchy veggies and an extra drizzle of sriracha if you want it spicier.
- Roll wrap tightly and slice in half for serving or wrap in foil for easy transporting!
- Store wraps in the fridge until you serve them.
Susan
Looks like the perfect lunch when we need something on the run.
Glad that you included the picture of the coconut milk. I use coconut milk instead of cows milk and it is different from the can, so now I realize that you normally use the can in your recipes,
Many thanks for all the ones that are now family favourites and in high rotation around here !
Nick
Hey Susan, I think i’ve only seen coconut milk in cans! How do you buy yours?
Susan
I buy it in cans for recipes, but also have the option of brands like Silk for example, that are a coconut beverage that I use in lattes and smoothies and also ice coffee as too much dairy doesn’t agree with me. In Canada we have many different brands of coconut milk, almond milk, rice milk and cashew as well.
Kim Dixon
I can’t wait to try this recipe. My husband and I are trying to eat clean. Can get a little boring when you’re just learning what to eat and what to avoid.
where am i
Look how attractive and delicious these Spicy Coconut Chicken Wraps are! It makes my mouth water. Can’t wait to try it. I’ll probably be able to do it.