Chinese lettuce wraps are a quick, easy, and healthy, weeknight dinner. Ground turkey is stir-fried with fresh Asian vegetables, and served in lettuce leaves.
What to do with ground meat.
Ground meat is a great way to stretch a dollar, but it doesn’t have to be boring! I usually have a pound or two of ground turkey, pork, or beef in the freezer for a quick weeknight meal. I can change the ingredients, and take a virtual and culinary trip “around the world”, just by changing the spices and vegetables. Here are some Mediterranean, Cuban and English recipes using ground meat. We try and eat a lot of meals that use meat as a “condiment” rather than as the star of the meal. (This post was originally published on July 22nd, 2011 and has been updated to contain nutritional information. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn commission on qualifying purchases)
Budget friendly and healthy
In place of the pork, I’ve substituted ground turkey. In place of the scallion pancakes, are tender leaves of lettuce. Hoisin sauce is usually served with mu shu pancakes, it’s somewhat sweet, not gluten free, nor is it low-carb. Since it’s always served on the side, anyone sensitive to gluten, or just avoiding sugar, can easily skip it. Adding lots of vegetables to the meat means I can stretch a 20 ounce package to feed the four of us for dinner, with enough leftovers for a couple of lunches the following day.
There is a small amount of honey in the marinade, as well as a small amount of sugar in the stir-fry sauce, but it’s just over 2 tablespoons for all six servings, which makes it still relatively low-carb and healthy. If you’re concerned about any sugar at all, you can always substitute monk fruit sweetener or Swerve, or just skip it altogether.
How to make Chinese Lettuce Wraps
The most time consuming part of making stir fry is the prep work. Measuring out everything in advance is crucial, since the actual cooking takes just minutes.
I have lots of ramekins and small glass dishes that I use just for mise en place (prep). Because I keep a lot of spices and condiments in my pantry, they need to be organized so I can quickly access them. I alphabetize my spices and keep all the condiments grouped together by region, so I can quickly grab anything I need.
Most of these spices and condiments can be found in a regular grocery store, but I usually visit my local Asian store where the “second” language is English. If I don’t know what something is, I ask questions. The produce is cheap, the fish is fresh, and the variety of noodles is amazing! Feel free to add more vegetables or vary what you add. This would also work with baby bok choy, thinly sliced white onions or finely shredded cabbage.
Stir fry the ground meat quickly over a medium high heat. Stir to break up lumps, about 4-6 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon to another bowl.
Wipe out the wok. Add 1 Tablespoon oil and reheat pan over a medium high heat. Stir fry the mushrooms and snow peas, about 1 or 2 minutes.
Add the bean sprouts, stir fry just another minute more.
How to serve Chinese Lettuce Wraps
The best type of lettuce for these wraps is either butter or iceberg. The leaves tend to be smaller and more “cup like”. Romaine doesn’t fold as easily. To serve lettuce wraps, just set up the fillings as you would a taco bar, with lettuce, extra bean sprouts, cilantro, mint, hoisin sauce and chili oil. Everyone can make their own wraps to suit their taste. Serve it with instant pot coconut rice, jasmine rice with ginger and lemongrass or cauliflower rice on the side.
Some of the items used in this post are available at my Amazon Affiliate Store
Chinese Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
Marinade for meat
- 20 ounce ground turkey (beef or pork can be substituted)
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 3 Tablespoons rice vinegar divided
- 4 Tablespoons coconut aminos (tamari or soy sauce, divided)
- 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 Tablespoons finely grated peeled fresh ginger root (divided
Stir Fry ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons coconut oil divided
- 1 cup chopped mushrooms
- 8 oz. can water chestnuts drained and coarsely chopped
- 4 green onions cut on the diagonal
- 2 cups snow peas cut on the diagonal
- 2 cups bean sprouts plus additional for garnish if desired
- 1 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar (coconut sugar or monk-fruit sweetener can be substituted)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- kosher or sea salt and pepper to taste.
To Serve
- 1 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 head Ice berg lettuce washed and separated for "cups".
- 1 bunch fresh mint for garnish
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro for garnish
Instructions
Marinade for ground meat
- In a bowl with your hands, mix turkey, honey, 1 Tablespoon each, coconut aminos (soy sauce, or tamari) vinegar, garlic and ginger root until just combined. Marinate ground meat mixture 15 minutes. Meanwhile prepare the sauce.
Sauce
- In a small bowl whisk together Worcestershire sauce, chicken broth, sugar, cornstarch, remaining 3 Tablespoons coconut aminos (soy sauce or tamari) and remaining 2 Tablespoons vinegar. Set aside.
Stir Fry
- In a wok or large non-stick skillet, heat 1 Tablespoons coconut oil over moderately high heat until hot, but not smoking. Saute turkey mixture, stirring and breaking up lumps, until just cooked through, about 3-4 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer turkey mixture to clean bowl.Â
- Wipe wok. Reheat wok over medium high heat with additional Tablespoon coconut oil. When hot, stir fry mushrooms, water chestnuts and snow peas, about 1-2 minutes.Â
- Return ground meat to wok, and add sauce mixture, stirring until sauce is thickened, and snow peas are tender, about 2-3 minutes. Remove wok or skillet from heat and stir in sesame oil.
- Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with mint and cilantro leaves in lettuce cups.
- Serves 4-6 as a main course
Nutrition
Looking for another recipe to stretch ground meat? How about Filipino Lumpia?
Aunt Bee says
This looks great! I love your ‘pound of ground’ Pinterest Board idea! <3
Cynthia says
Thanks Brandi!
Dina@Kitchen Dreaming says
Thanks for coming and linking up at #The Weekend Social. Please be sure to come back next week starting Thursdays at 9PM EST on KitchenDreaming.com ! I hope to see you there!
Cynthia says
Love your link parties! Thank you!
Christina says
Love Chinese lettuce wraps and homemade are so much healthier than restaurants’ versions. Great recipe, I’m sure my family would love these too!
Kristy @ Chocolate Slopes says
I haven’t eaten lettuce wraps in forever but I love them! And amazingly I believe I have every ingredient in my house to make these wraps. They may need to be added to the menu this week 🙂
Michelle @ The Complete Savorist says
Lettuce wraps are one of my most favorite things to eat. These are stunning and I’d love to dig right in.
Marye says
These look delicious! I wish I had some for lunch today!
Cynthia says
Ha! Me too Marye!
Gina @ Running to the Kitchen says
Haha, it’s so true that you can pretty much go through every part of the world with a pound of ground meat and make completely different dishes. So versatile! Loving this Chinese variation 🙂
Cynthia says
totally! There’s ground meat in every culture!
kita says
I absolutely love lettuce wraps! These sound delicious!
Maris (In Good Taste) says
Great idea for batch cooking! That ground meat can be used for anything.
Taylor Kiser says
I need to make these Chinese lettuce wraps asap! They look so delicious!
Taylor Kiser says
These need to happen for dinner asap! Love how everyone can make their own wraps to suit their specific tastes!
Rachel @ Baked by Rachel says
Such a great dinner idea!
allie says
Hi Cynthia – these look great! You sure get a lot of mileage out of that 20 oz. of ground meat! We have a local Asian store about 2 miles away, I keep meaning to visit!
Jovina Coughlin says
One of my favorites.
Cynthia says
so light and healthy!
Jeri Matheny says
This was deliscious and made more than I expected. Even my big eating meat and potatoes husband was full and wants me to make it again !!!