Looking for a fun and healthy family dinner? Ground Turkey Lettuce Wraps are quick to make and packed with delicious Asian flavours. Both light and satisfying, these veggie-loaded lettuce wraps are a healthy, low carb dinner everyone will love.
These healthy Turkey Lettuce Wraps are brimming with delicious Asian-inspired flavour and make the most satisfying weeknight meal. Picture a soft, warm filling of seasoned ground turkey and vegetables, together with crunchy, fresh toppings and sweet and spicy sauces, all wrapped together in crisp lettuce cups. It truly is a dinner that everyone loves. I love this recipe not only because it is delicious, but it’s also a favourite of mine for rounding up the bits and bobs in the fridge and turning them into something healthy and delicious. One lonely carrot? Half a red pepper in the crisper? A few leftover green onions? They all belong in this dinner. Chop up a vibrant mix of veggies you have on hand, cook the ground turkey, add some seasonings, and then pile it all into lettuce cups. From start to finish, it all takes less than 30 minutes. Have a helper on hand? Have them prepare the toppings while you make the filling.
Here are the other reasons to love this dinner:
- Meal Prep Friendly: Make the filling for these lettuce wraps ahead of time, and keep it in a covered container in the fridge. On a busy weeknight, all you have to do is heat it up and pull out the toppings. It also makes a great packed lunch. If making these lettuce wraps ahead, be sure to store the lettuce, filing and toppings separately.
- Versatile: These Ground Turkey Lettuce Wraps definitely make a perfect, veggie-packed weeknight dinner for the family. These wraps are also beautiful, making them perfect for serving to company. For a fun evening with friends, pour some cocktails and enlist some help with the chopping. You’ll have a fun, fresh, company worthy dinner in no time!
- It’s a DIY Dinner: Do It Yourself Dinners (DIY Dinners) are fun, crowd pleasing meals that allow each dinner to build their own plate, just as they like it. Make the filling, set out the toppings and allows each person to build themselves customized lettuce wraps that features just the ingredients they like. Don’t like spicy things? Skip the sriracha. Love those mandarin oranges? Add extra. DIY Dinners make things easier on the cook, especially when feeding a large crowd, and are a dream come true for picky eaters.
Looking for other DIY Dinner ideas? Check out these other
Style and Grace recipes!
What goes in Ground Turkey Lettuce Wraps?
- Grapeseed Oil: This neutral tasting oil is my choice for high-heat cooking due to its high smoke point, meaning Grapeseed Oil won’t burn when used at up to about 420F. Canola oil and avocado oil are good substitutes if you don’t have grapeseed oil on hand.
- Onion, Celery, Carrot, Mushroom and Red Bell Pepper: The filling for these ground turkey lettuce wraps is actually about 50 percent vegetable, making it a nutritious and fibre-rich meal. I use a mix of onion, celery, carrot, mushroom and red bell pepper, but you can use whatever combination of vegetables you have on hand. Frozen peas or frozen shelled edamame make great additions, as does chopped fresh spinach.
- Ground Turkey: This lean meat is my number one choice for these lettuce wraps, but the recipe works just as well with ground chicken.
- Fresh Ginger and Garlic: Buy these aromatic spices fresh in the produce section of the market. When buying garlic, give the bulbs a squeeze. They should feel hard, and their papery skins should be tightly attached. Skip any bulbs that feel squishy, have peeling skins or green sprouts. For fresh ginger, look for pieces that are firm and unwrinkled.
- Soy Sauce and Sesame Oil: These two ingredients are added at the end to add delicious asian-inspired flavour to the lettuce wrap filling. Since the soy sauce contains a fair bit of salt, no additional salt is needed in this recipe.
- Iceberg Lettuce: When heads of iceberg lettuce are cut in half, the leaves form a natural cup shape, making them perfect for loading up with the filling and toppings. Butter lettuce is less crisp that iceberg, but also works well for lettuce wraps.
- Toppings: Choose just a couple of the toppings from the list, or put them all out to customize these lettuce wraps to your tastes. Cucumber, green onion and cilantro add freshness, while sesame seeds and cashews add crunch. Drizzle the lettuce wraps with hoisin sauce for a hit of sweetness, and sriracha for a little spice. Canned mandarin oranges add an unexpected hit of citrus, which livens things up. You can of course use fresh orange slices if you like, but the canned mandarin oranges add a fun texture and mild acidity, which makes them well suited to these lettuce wraps. Look for mandarin oranges packed in water or juice, instead of in syrup, to reduce the sugar.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Serve these Ground Turkey Lettuce Wraps as an appetizer for up to 8 people or as a main course for up to 4. If serving these as an appetizer, follow them up with a giant platter of Lo Mein Noodles or Singapore Noodles. If these lettuce wraps are the main course, then little else is needed to round them into a complete meal. Of course, no one would object to a platter of spring rolls or pot stickers, if you felt you needed a little something extra!
DRINK PAIRINGS
The soy sauce in this recipe makes wine pairing a challenge. Add in the spiciness of sriracha and the sweetness of hoisin sauce and you’d give even the most skilled sommelier reason to pause. If you were determined to serve wine, I’d look for an off-dry Riesling to create some salty-sweet balance, but you probably would be better off with beer or a cocktail. Classic tropical drinks are fun and pair really well with the salty-sweet-spicy flavous in these wraps. A Mai Tai with its citrus notes or a Singapore Sling with pineapple juice and lime are both great matches. When was the last time you had a Mai Tai or a Singapore Sling? I think these lettuce wraps are the perfect excuse to bring them back.
Turkey Lettuce Wraps
These healthy turkey lettuce wraps feature a savoury mix of vegetables and ground turkey swimming in Asian flavours and piled into crisp lettuce cups. Topped with your choice of assorted toppings, this nutritious meal is both satisfying and delicious.
Ingredients
For The Filling
- 2 Tbsp grapeseed oil, divided
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 rib celery, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 6 medium mushrooms, finely chopped
- 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 454gr/1 lb ground turkey or ground chicken
- 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
- 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
To Serve
- 2 heads iceberg lettuce
- diced cucumber
- chopped green onions
- canned mandarin oranges, drained
- chopped cilantro
- sesame seeds
- cashews
- sriracha sauce
- hoisin sauce
Instructions
- Prepare your selection of toppings (cucumber, green onions, mandarin oranges, cilantro, sesame seeds and/or cashews) and set aside for serving along with the hoisin sauce and sriracha sauce.
- To make the filling, heat 1 Tbsp of the grapeseed oil in a a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion, celery, carrot and mushrooms and stir fry until the vegetables are softening, about 5 minutes. Add the red bell pepper and stir fry for another 2 minutes until vegetables are soft. Remove the vegetables to a bowl or plate and set aside.
- Add the remaining 1 Tbsp grapeseed oil to the pan and heat. Add the ground turkey and cooke for 3-4 minutes, breaking it apart, until only traces of pink remain. Add the ginger and the garlic and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant and no pink remains in the turkey. Return the vegetables to the pan and stir to combine. Drizzle the soy sauce and sesame oil over the turkey and vegetable mixture and stir to coat evenly. Remove from heat and keep the filling warm.
- Cut the heads of iceberg lettuce in half through the core. Gently separate the outer lettuce leaves to form the lettuce cups. (Reserve the small centre leaves for another use.). Scoop the reserved filling into the lettuce cups and serve immediately with toppings of your choice.
RECIPE NOTES
- Store any leftover ground turkey filling in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Store any leftover toppings in a separate container in the fridge and don’t assemble the lettuce wraps until you’re ready to eat.
