Thai-Inspired Beef Lettuce Wraps Recipe
Asian cultures have known for hundreds (if not thousands) of years that wrapping things in lettuce makes an amazing snack or meal. It's a great idea, too, as it's a healthier option to flour tortillas. Too bad the restaurant industry got their claws on the idea and fiddled with its simple brilliance. Now wraps at places like P.F. Chang's and The Cheesecake Factory are overwrought affairs packing as many calories into an appetizer as you should have in an entire meal. Consider this version a blissful, healthy, flavor-packed return to the wrap's humble roots, and you'll save hundreds of calories in the process.
Nutrition: 290 calories, 8 g fat (3 g saturated), 1,020 mg sodium
Serves 2
You'll Need
12 oz flank, skirt, or sirloin steak
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 Tbsp hot sauce (we like Sriracha)
2 Tbsp fish sauce
Juice of lime, plus wedges as garnish
1 jalapeño pepper, thinly sliced
1⁄2 red onion, thinly sliced
1⁄2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 carrot, grated
1 head Bibb lettuce, leaves separated
How to Make It
- Heat the grill to hot or heat a grill pan over high heat for at least 5 minutes.
- Season the steak with salt and pepper and toss it onto the grill.
- Cook for about 4 minutes on each side, until it's firm but yielding to the touch. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Combine the hot sauce, fish sauce, and juice of 1 lime in a small saucepan over low heat.
- Slice the steak thinly (if it's flank or skirt steak, be sure to cut across the grain) and drizzle half of the warm sauce over it.
- Set out the jalapeño and onion slices, cilantro, carrot, and lettuce, along with the lime wedges and sauce.
- Use the leaves like tortillas to wrap up the steak slices with the other ingredients.
Eat This Tip
Here are a few other great culinary combinations that can be great options to stuff into lettuce leaves:
- Grilled mushrooms with goat cheese
- Curry chicken salad
- Grilled fish and guacamole (a lettuce fish taco!)
- Ground turkey sautéed with ginger, garlic, and soy sauce
- Carolina-style pulled pork
- Roasted root vegetables with quinoa
- Baked falafel and cucumber salad
- Chana Masala with basmati rice
RELATED: Easy, healthy, 350-calorie recipe ideas you can make at home.
