Asian Ground Beef Lettuce Wraps

Made with a combination of flavorful ground beef, crunchy veggies, and bold aromatics, these Asian Ground Beef Lettuce Wraps are out-of-this-world delicious. Serve them as a stand-alone dish or pair them with your favorite grain for the ultimate healthy summer meal.

With so many bold and delicious flavors, these easy ground beef lettuce wraps make for the perfect way to kick off the summer. This mouthwatering dish is low-carb, dairy-free, grain-free, and can be made gluten-free if you swap out the soy sauce for tamari. 

Whether you’re looking for low-carb meal prep recipes or healthy summer recipes for your next backyard barbecue, family dinner, or poolside lunch, these Asian Ground Beef Lettuce Wraps are guaranteed to be a hit.

We also love making lettuce wraps with chicken, with Korean flavors, like in these Korean Beef Bowls, or making these 15 minute Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps.

What You Need and Easy Swaps

To bring this flavorful dish to life, you will need the following key ingredients:

• Lean ground beef: For this dish, I prefer to use 95% lean ground beef. You can use any kind you like, or swap it out for ground turkey or chicken. Vegetarian meat products will also work.
• Veggies: You will need mushrooms, red bell peppers, water chestnuts, green onions, and a head of butter lettuce for this dish. Feel free to swap in other veggies. Favorites include zucchini, summer squash, and cauliflower.
• Aromatics: Fresh garlic and ground ginger add a ton of bright, savory flavors to our lettuce wraps. If you don't have fresh, swap in garlic and ginger paste or powder.
• Soy sauce: The bold umami flavors in the soy sauce add a ton of flavor to the Asian ground beef that acts as the star of the dish. For a lower sodium option, use coconut aminos.
• Rice vinegar: The acidity in this ingredient brightens up the rest of our ingredients, maximizing the delicious flavors. In a pinch, you can swap in white vinegar or even some lime juice.
• Sesame oil: I like to use this as my cooking oil instead of olive or avocado oil because it perfectly complements the Asian flavors in the dish. However, any cooking oil will work.

What to Serve With This Dish

While this dish can be served on its own, you can also pair it with a delicious side dish to bulk it up. Here are some of my favorite side dishes to serve with lettuce wraps:

• To bulk up this meal, consider serving it with some Cauliflower Fried Rice, Quinoa Fried Rice, or some steamed brown rice.
• Add some extra veggies by pairing this with some Garlic Sugar Snap Peas or Sesame Soy Edamame.
• Pair this dish with some Asian inspired noodles like these Asian Zucchini Noodles or Sesame Soba Noodles.

Serving and Substitution Tips

Here are some of my top tips on serving styles and substitutions:

Here are some of my top tips on serving styles and substitutions:

• If you prefer your meals with a kick, you can add finely chopped red chillies or crushed red pepper flakes to the ground beef mixture as you saute it. You could also drizzle sriracha over the lettuce wraps just before serving them.
• Want to switch up the protein? No problem. You can swap out the ground beef for any other kind of meat you like. Ground turkey and chicken both work great.
• For vegetarian lettuce wraps, leave out the meat and add in more veggies like zucchini and mushrooms. You could also try using tofu crumbles, although I haven’t tried this variation myself.
• To make this dish gluten-free, simply swap out the soy sauce for tamari. To make it Paleo/Whole30-approved, use coconut aminos instead.
• If you find yourself with leftovers of the filling, serve them over a salad or bowl of rice for a delicious lunch or dinner.

How to Store This Dish

If you wind up with leftovers of this dish, you can easily store them for later. The lettuce wrap filling can be stored in an airtight bag or container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Make sure you store the filling separately from any leftover butter lettuce, as the filling will cause the lettuce to get soggy when stored. To keep the dish for even longer, you can freeze the filling in an airtight container for up to 4 months. Make sure to let it cool down to room temperature before storing it in the fridge or freezer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below you will find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about this dish:

What is the best lettuce for lettuce wraps?

The best lettuce for lettuce wraps is butter, iceberg, or romaine. Butter lettuce is my personal favorite choice, as it’s fairly sturdy and big enough to hold a decent amount of filling.

What kind of meat should I use for lettuce wraps?

While I make these lettuce wraps with lean ground beef, you can easily swap this out for ground turkey or ground chicken. You could even make it vegetarian by adding more chopped veggies like zucchini or mushrooms in place of the meat.

Can you make lettuce wraps ahead of time?

Absolutely. You can make the filling for the lettuce wraps up to 3 to 4 days in advance and store it in an airtight bag or container in the fridge until you’re ready to put together the wraps. I would not recommend storing the filling with the lettuce, as the lettuce will get soggy pretty quickly.

Can I freeze this dish?

Yes! The Asian ground beef filling for these lettuce wraps can easily be stored in the freezer. Simply allow it to cool down to room temperature before transferring it to an airtight bag or container, then store it in the freezer for up to 4 months.

More Healthy Lettuce Wrap RecipesIf you liked this dish, try these next:

• Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps
• Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps with Quinoa
• Slow Cooker Chicken Lettuce Wraps
• Korean Beef Lettuce Wraps
• Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps