Easy-to-make ground beef lettuce wraps boast a tasty combination of ground beef, aromatics, and a sweet but tangy sauce. The wraps are beautifully held together with crispy lettuce for a light and refreshing meal you will love.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Enjoy the easy ground beef lettuce wraps as an appetizer or a quick dinner idea. However you decide to eat the wraps, you can have them ready and on the table in 30 minutes!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Ground Beef: I use beef, but you can replace it with ground chicken, turkey, or lamb. Use Beyond Meat for a vegetarian option.
- Carrots: Julienne a whole carrot for the recipe, or buy a bag of pre-shredded carrots for convenience.
- Onions: Use yellow or white onions.
- Garlic: I suggest using two fresh garlic cloves, but measure with your heart.
- Ginger: Brighten the ground beef mixture with chopped fresh ginger.
- Scallions: Scallions add a nice peppery finish to the wraps.
- Hoisin: Sweet hoisin balances the other flavors. I prefer vegan hoisin made with mushrooms for extra umami but use what you have.
- Soy Sauce: Deepen the flavor of the ground beef with soy sauce.
- Rice Vinegar: Balance the other flavors with slightly sweet rice vinegar.
- Sriracha: Add Sriracha to the ground beef lettuce wraps for a pop of heat.
- Butter Lettuce: Use romaine lettuce, butter lettuce, or collard green leaves as vessels for the wraps.
How to Make Ground Beef Lettuce Wraps
The full recipe with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Warm the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Break it up using a meat chopper and cook until brown and heated, for about 10 minutes.
Step 2: Add onions and carrots to the ground beef. Cook until the onions become translucent and soften for about 5 minutes.
Step 3: Stir in the garlic, ginger, scallion whites, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and Sriracha. Cover with a lid and simmer for 5 minutes.
Step 4: Remove the lid, lower the heat, and allow the beef mixture to reduce for 10 minutes.
Step 5: Spoon the ground beef mixture into prepared lettuce leaves and garnish with scallion greens, toasted peanuts, and more Sriracha.
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Serving Suggestions
- Jasmine Rice, Quinoa, Easy Vegetable Fried Rice, Cauliflower Rice
- Serrano Crema
- Wonton Soup, Hot and Sour Soup
- Homemade Coleslaw with Mint and Cilantro
What to do With the Leftovers
- Refrigerate – Store leftovers in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
- Freeze – Let the beef cool, then add it to a freezer-safe container or bag. Layer plastic wraps over the container before securing the lid to prevent freezer burn. Ground beef for the lettuce wraps freezes for up to 2-3 months.
- Thaw – Defrost the leftovers in the refrigerator overnight.
- Reheat – Warm the leftovers on the stovetop and prepare your lettuce wraps.
- Repurpose – Use ground beef as an addition to casseroles, stir fries, and scrambled eggs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are ground beef lettuce wraps keto? Are they low-carb?
We even calculated the macros to make it easier for you. The serving size for this calculation is two lettuce wraps and includes the homemade hoisin.
• Carbs – 2 Net Carbs
• Protein – 22g
• Fat – 13g
Ground Beef Recipes:
Beef Lettuce Wraps
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 carrot, julienne
- ½ medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 – inch fresh ginger, minced
- 4 scallions, whites and greens reserved separately, finely chopped
- ¼ cup vegan hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 3 teaspoons Sriracha
- 1 head lettuce, leaves washed and patted dry
- ¼ cup peanuts, toasted
- Warm the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Break it up using a meat chopper and cook until brown and heated, for about 10 minutes.
- Add onions and carrots to the ground beef. Cook until the onions become translucent and soften for about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic, ginger, scallion whites, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and Sriracha. Cover with a lid and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove the lid, lower the heat, and allow the beef mixture to reduce for 10 minutes.
- Spoon the ground beef mixture into prepared lettuce leaves and garnish with scallion greens, toasted peanuts, and more Sriracha.
- The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for professional advice.
Lisa
Tuesday 8th of August 2023
I have to wait on reviewing the recipe until I can try it one more time, because this first time around, the chef (ME!) didn't follow the recipe. My biggest mistake was leaving out the sriracha sauce. I have not been a fan of it as a condiment, so I figured I could leave it out and just use fried chili oil. It was pretty bland, so next batch will definitely have sriracha. Second, I didn't have peanuts, so I left them out. Next time, I will at least find cashews or something, if I don't have peanuts. I think they would have been lovely. The final mistake was using green leaf lettuce. Hey, I'm cheap. Lesson learned.
Once I add a little more flavor to my botched batch, I think I will roll up my left overs in rice paper with some cucumber for spring rolls. I bet it would be good as a topping for a vermachelli salad as well.
I will say that I loved the velvety texture of the meat. I can only assume that came from the almond butter. It felt very comforting and soothing. I will try it out again soon and check back.
Tressa Jamil
Thursday 10th of August 2023
You have me on the edge of my seat. I love hearing your cooking journey! Please let me know how it turns out the second time around.
Annie
Saturday 7th of January 2023
These wraps are a regular go-to for our family when we want a keto or low-calorie option! The sauce goes so well with the wrap and I love the crunch of the peanuts.