Pei Wei Nutritional Guide for Lettuce Wraps
Pei Wei, a restaurant chain in the United States, serves a variety of Asian foods, including salads, noodle and rice bowls and small-plate appetizers. One starter is the Minced Chicken with Cool Lettuce Wraps, also commonly referred to as simply lettuce wraps. Although its vegetable-centric name might convey healthful qualities, it contains more calories, fat and carbohydrates than any other Pei Wei small-plate appetizer.
Minced chicken in lettuce wraps. (Image: Jaimie Duplass/Hemera/Getty Images)Calories
Each serving of the lettuce wraps contains 310 calories. Each plate of lettuce wraps contains two servings, so you will consume 620 calories if you eat the entire appetizer yourself. Since most people eat about 2,000 calories a day, this appetizer may take up a significant percentage of your daily calories. In comparison, Pei Wei's other appetizers contain approximately 110 to 190 calories per serving.
Fat
The lettuce wraps have 11 g of fat per serving, and 22 g of fat total. Each serving contains 2.5 g of saturated fat, while the entire order contains 5 g of saturated fat. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends that people get no more than 65 g of total fat and 20 g of saturated fat each day.
Carbohydrates
The lettuce wraps contain significantly more carbohydrates per serving than any other small-plate dish at Pei Wei. Each serving has 36 g of total carbohydrates, with 4 g coming from dietary fiber. The appetizer containing the second-highest amount of carbohydrates per serving is the pork egg roll, but even this contains only 19 g of total carbohydrates per serving. All other small plates contain between 5 and 17 g of total carbohydrates per serving. Because of this, people on a low-carb diet may wish to avoid the lettuce wraps and select another appetizer.
Sodium
The sodium content of the lettuce wraps is 980 mg per serving. This is significantly lower than some of Pei Wei's other appetizers, but still quite high for a starter. The other appetizers range from 250 mg of sodium to 1,640 mg of sodium per serving. The FDA recommends most people limit their daily intake of sodium to 2,400 mg.
Protein
The lettuce wraps contain more protein per serving than any other appetizer. Each serving contains 17 g of protein. Other appetizers at Pei Wei have between 2 g and 16 g of protein. The FDA daily value recommendation for protein is 50 g.
Considerations
The nutrition facts for the lettuce wraps do not include the dipping sauces. Using the dipping sauce may significantly alter the nutritional values. In addition, the lettuce wraps contain many potential allergens, including wheat and gluten, soy, shellfish, corn, sulfites, sesame and legumes. People who have a food allergy to any of these items should not order the lettuce wraps appetizer.
