Easy Lettuce Wraps

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Easy Lettuce Wraps are filled with ground turkey, shredded carrots, and teriyaki sauce, and garnished with anything you like! With 5 ingredients and 15 minutes of cook time, they’re great for weeknight dinners and parties alike.

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I’m not sure why it has taken me so long to post this recipe for Easy Lettuce Wraps. In fact, they’ve been a huge staple in our lives over the past 5 years on nights when a quick dinner needs to get on the table, like, now.

Imagine, if you will, this scenario: you come home from work, you’re tired, and everyone needs a piece of you. Kids, spouse, dog, everyone. Oh, and everyone needs dinner. Right now. What are you gonna make?

Enter the Easy Lettuce Wraps, which were introduced to me by one of my nurses. Drop a pound of ground turkey in a hot pan, sauté it through, and add some shredded carrots (or another veggie, or no veggies). Turn it off, add some teriyaki sauce, stir it all through. Fill lettuce leaves with the meat mixture, and top with whatever you’d like: crispy rice noodles (highly recommend), crushed peanuts, scallions, cilantro, whatever you want. Serve with a peanut dipping sauce, or with no dipping sauce. Grab a cup and crunch away.

My favorite tip that keeps the ingredient list low: the all encompassing teriyaki sauce. I personally use Trader Joe’s Soyaki, but I’ve used Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki Marinade and Sauce as well. Each of these sauces is packed with flavor, including ginger, garlic, and sesame seeds. The result is a really yummy lettuce wrap with only a handful of ingredients. You can try using different types of sauces (teriyaki, hoisin, oyster sauce), or a combo of two or three.

Get Creative!

This recipe is so versatile, with so few ingredients, that it’s hard NOT to try. Check out these combos:

Bibb lettuce + ground chicken + finely chopped cauliflower + teriyaki sauce + crushed peanuts

Iceberg lettuce + ground pork +shredded cabbage + hoisin sauce + scallions

Boston lettuce + ground turkey + shredded carrots + teriyaki + crispy rice noodles

Butter lettuce + crumbled tofu + water chestnuts + oyster sauce +cilantro

I LOVE this meal because the possibilities are ENDLESS! You can completely adapt it to whatever you have on hand, and it always tastes good.

So, there it is: easy, quick, minimal ingredients, flavor-packed punch (and crunch). Weeknight dinner or fun party appetizer, ultimate crowd-pleaser. 

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Easy Lettuce Wraps

Easy Lettuce Wraps are filled with ground turkey, shredded carrots, and teriyaki sauce, and garnished with anything you like! With 5 ingredients and less than 20 minutes of cook time, they're great for weeknight dinners and parties alike.

Course Appetizer, Dinner, lunch

Cuisine asian

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 4 people

Calories 292 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground turkey
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2-1 cup teriyaki sauce (use a sauce with lots of extra flavors, like Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki, or Trader Joe's Soyaki)
• 2 tbsp hoisin sauce (optional)
• 1 head Bibb, Boston, or butter lettuce
• Optional toppings: crushed peanuts, scallions, cilantro, crispy rice noodles (see recipe below), various dipping sauces

Instructions

To make the filling:

1. Heat a large nonstick pan over high heat. Add the ground turkey and break up into small pieces. Stir occasionally until almost completely cooked through, about 5-7 minutes. 

2. Add the shredded carrots to the turkey, stir, and cook until the turkey is cooked through. 

3. Turn off the heat, and drain some of the excess liquid from the turkey and carrots (carefully). Add 1/2 cup of teriyaki sauce to the pan, stir, and then add more to taste. If desired, add hoisin sauce and stir well. 

To assemble the lettuce wraps:

1. Carefully separate each leaf from the head of lettuce. Wash and dry them, then place them on a platter curved upward, like a cup. 

2. Place a few tablespoons of the turkey/carrot filling in each lettuce leaf. Top with any optional toppings you desire (I used about 1 tbsp of crispy rice noodles per cup and cilantro). Serve!

To make crispy rice noodles

1. In a medium-large frying pan or cast iron skillet, heat about 1 inch of canola oil over high heat to 350 F. 

2. Carefully drop about a cup of broken vermicelli rice noodles into the oil, and they will instantly puff up and turn white and crispy. Very quickly grasp them with tongs, and flip them over if they are not completely cooked through. After another second, remove the noodles, and put them on a plate covered with a paper towel to drain. Break them up and use to top the lettuce cups. 

Recipe Notes

It is really important to use a flavorful teriyaki sauce, like Soy Vay or Trader Joy's Soyaki. If you can't find these, you can use a plain teriyaki sauce, but add minced ginger, garlic, and sesame seeds.