Lettuce wraps are one of our all-time favourite family meals! These lettuce wraps are simple to make, can be made with ground turkey or veggie ground for a vegan alternative and are packed with flavour, fresh veggies and protein: really a perfect lunch or light dinner.
We serve a lot of lettuce wraps in the summer months when anything wrapped in cool crispy lettuce is welcomed, but we love them so much that we’ve started to make them in the winter months too! The kids love the fact that they can make their own mess, and we love that they’re eating so many veggies!
Historically we always made them with ground turkey or chicken but as our family has leaned into more plant-based eating (we aren’t vegan by any stretch but I’m always looking for an excuse to eat more plants, less animal products), we’ve integrated the veggie ground into the recipe. Sometimes we make it with all veggie ground, but other times we just do half and half. It’s such an easy recipe to substitute a veggie product in as there is SO much flavour, you will never miss the meat!
We serve ours with sriracha sauce on the side for the adults and tons of lettuce cups (either iceberg or butter lettuce work, the iceberg is more crispy). These also make an amazing appetizer to bring to your next party or serve to your next round of guests. You can make the fillings ahead of time and have your lettuce ‘wraps’ ready in advance which makes it super ideal for entertaining or for a make-ahead meal for those busy weeknights.
Hope you love them as much as we do!
Tori
Lettuce Wraps (vegan option)
These lettuce wraps are super simple to make, can be prepped ahead and flexed to be vegan or have meat depending on your crowd! The servings below are based on a light lunch portion.
Ingredients
- olive oil
- 1 lb ground chicken, turkey or veggie ground (I used Yves)
- 1/2 chopped small yellow onion
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 2 tbsp. grated ginger
- 2 tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. rice vinegar
- 1/4 c. hoisin sauce
- 1 small tin water chestnuts finely chopped
- 3 grated carrots
- 1/2 c. peanuts roughly chopped
- 1 bunch of cilantro roughly chopped
- 2 green onions chopped
- 1 head of butter lettuce or iceberg lettuce
- sriracha hot sauce for serving optional
Instructions
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In a pre-heated frying pan (add 1 tbsp. of olive oil to the pan first if your meat is lean or if you're using the veggie ground) on medium heat and cook for about 3-5 minutes, until it starts to brown.
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Add the yellow onion and garlic. Stir and cook for another 3 minutes.
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Add the ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, hoisin sauce and water chestnuts. Turn the heat to medium and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes, until the ingredients are incorporated and heated throughout.
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To assemble, take a lettuce leaf, spoon on the meat or veggie ground, carrots, cilantro, green onions and finish with the peanuts and sriracha sauce if you like some heat. Roll it up if you can (mine are always so full) and enjoy!