Thai Lettuce Wraps
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These Thai Lettuce Wraps are made with ground beef and coconut rice. They’re a snap to make and are perfect for meal prep. Serve them up for lunch or dinner – they’re delicious!
Why This Recipe is a Favorite
Ground beef is incredibly budget friendly, and a great protein to use for kid-friendly meals. It’s also super versatile, so whether you’re craving Italian or Thai, it just works!
This Thai lettuce wraps recipe is made with grass-fed beef and is so tasty. Plus, it comes together really fast, so it’s basically just the best weeknight dinner ever.
These are my hubby’s favorites. Won’t even miss P.F. Changs with this recipe!
–Kate
While there are a lot of steps to making this meal, you can have it on the table in just 30 minutes. It’s a really quick recipe!
It’s also a great meal prep recipe! Make each element and store them separately. Then build your wraps whenever you’re ready to eat.
I honestly can’t wait for you to try the coconut cauliflower rice that I make for these lettuce wraps too! It’s really tasty — I also make it for my Chicken Fajita Stuffed Peppers and serve it with my General Tso’s Shrimp, too! Every part of these Thai lettuce wrap is just so yummy!
If you love Thai food, be sure to check out my recipe for Thai turkey meatballs, too.
Happy Kitchen Secrets
Here are my most important mom tested cooking tips for making Thai lettuce wraps. I’ve made this countless times to save you from a failed attempt.
- Don’t overfill the lettuce wraps or they’ll be difficult to eat and you’ll lose a lot of filling along the way! If you can close up the lettuce wrap, then you’re good to go.
- If you’ve got little kids or you don’t like things spicy, just portion out a bit of beef before you mix in the chili garlic sauce. Or leave it off completely and drizzle as much or as little as desired right on top of the wraps.
- Keep the lettuce cold for best results! This helps ensure crunchy lettuce that will add a nice texture to these wraps.
Ingredients
You can find most of these ingredients in the grocery store! No need to make a special trip or order some obscure ingredient:
Thai Ground Beef Lettuce Wraps
- ground beef
- head of butter lettuce or bibb lettuce
- avocado
- raw, unsalted cashews
- lime, sliced
Skillet Sauce
- sesame oil
- minced garlic
- coconut aminos
- freshly grated ginger
- chili garlic sauce
- sliced green onion
- salt and pepper
Substitutions and Variations
Top the lettuce wraps with your favorite toppings — avocado, tomato slices, sesame seeds, diced red onion, fresh cilantro, other fresh herbs, whatever you like! You can even thinly slice some fresh veggies like red bell pepper or carrots for these wraps.
Make a Thai chicken filling by using ground chicken instead of ground beef. Ground turkey is also a good, lean swap!
You can sub hot sauce for the chili garlic sauce. Or use a dash of fish sauce if you’d prefer to eat this recipe without the spicy kick.
How to Make Thai Lettuce Wraps
I know the steps for this recipe may seems daunting, but trust me when I say that it’s super easy! there’s just multiple parts to make before you build the wraps. It’s key to having the best fresh flavor that you can have. Here’s what you need to do:
Prepare the Sauce
Mince the garlic and then grate the ginger. Whisk the sauce ingredients together with the sesame oil, coconut aminos, ginger, garlic, chili sauce, and seasonings. Set the lettuce wrap sauce aside to use later.
Cook the Thai Beef
In a large pan over medium heat, brown the meat until it’s no longer pink, breaking it apart as it cooks. Drain any excess grease.
Pour the previously prepared sauce mixture over the beef and then cook it together, stirring, for about 2-3 minutes.
While the beef is cooking, slice the green onions. Then just before it’s done cooking, stir them into the beef.
Cook the Coconut Cauliflower Rice
If you are using fresh cauliflower, just wash the head of cauliflower and then cut it into bite-sized pieces. In batches, add them to your food processor or blender and pulse until they break down to the consistency of rice. Lay the cauliflower on a large tea towel and squeeze out any extra moisture over the sink or a bowl.
For frozen cauliflower rice, sauté it for 7-8 minutes in a medium pan with 2 tsp olive oil, until cooked through and heated but not yet browning.
Add the coconut flakes to the blender and pulse until broken down a bit smaller than grain-sized.
Then add the coconut and cauliflower to a pan and sauté over medium heat until the coconut begins to toast, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the salt, zest, and lime juice.
Assemble the Wraps & Serve
Wash and dry the lettuce well and then slice the lime and avocado. Roughly chop the cashews and set aside.
Spoon the beef and cauliflower rice inside lettuce wraps and serve with avocado, a slice of lime, and cilantro, then sprinkle with chopped cashews.
Serve and enjoy!
Storing
For best results, store all of the components separately. Store the ground beef in one airtight container, the coconut cauliflower rice in another, and the lettuce in another. Everything will store well in the fridge for 3-4 days. The beef and cauliflower rice can also be frozen for 2-3 months in a freezer safe container.
What to Serve with Thai Lettuce Wraps
Add some extra veggies to you meal and serve these Thai ground beef wraps with sides like air fryer roasted carrots or purple cabbage and carrot slaw. These would also pair so well with a glass of cold pineapple ginger juice.
A quick tomato salad with avocado and basil could be really tasty with this dish as well. I love to make peanut sauce to dunk these in too!
Lettuce Wrap Recipe FAQs
Butter lettuce and bibb lettuce both work best for wraps. These types of lettuce are sturdy, but malleable enough to fold into a wrap.
Depending on what you fill them with, lettuce wraps can be very healthy. They’re a great low-carb option to use for your favorite wrap recipes.
Thai Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef or sub ground turkey or chicken
- 1 head butter lettuce or bibb lettuce or romaine hearts
- 2 cups cooked rice or cauliflower rice
- 1 avocado
- ¼ cup unsalted cashews
- 1 lime
- ½ cup sliced green onion
Sauce
- 2 cloves garlic minced, or 2 tsp prepared minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger or ginger paste
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- ⅓ cup coconut aminos or low sodium soy sauce
- 1½ teaspoons Thai chili sauce or other hot sauce, optional
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt or more/less, to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper or more/less, to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the sauce: Mince the garlic and grate the ginger. In a small bowl, whisk the garlic and ginger together with sesame oil, coconut aminos, chili sauce, salt, and pepper. Set the sauce aside.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef until it's no longer pink, breaking it apart as it cooks. Drain any excess grease (optional). Slice the green onions and stir them into the beef.
- While the beef is cooking, cook rice or cauliflower rice according to package instructions.
- Pour the prepared sauce into the skillet with the beef mixture and stir well to combine. Simmer over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Wash and dry the lettuce, slice the lime and avocado, and finely chop the cashews.
- Divide beef and cooked rice between 8 lettuce leaves. Serve Thai beef wraps with avocado slices, lime slices, and chopped cashews.
Notes
- I like green onions just gently softened, but if you prefer them cooked more, add them to the skillet when you add the sauce and cook them together.
These are my hubby’s favorites. Won’t even miss P.F. Changs with this recipe!
Exactly! It’s so easy to make the food you love right at home!