Ground Beef Lettuce Wraps
Lean ground beef and vegetables are browned and seasoned with hoisin sauce, sesame oil, and soy sauce and gets a spicy kick from pickled ginger and Asian chili garlic sauce. A crunch is added from the chopped water chestnuts and cashews. Served in cool lettuce leaves with fluffy rice, this handheld meal does not disappoint.
Servings: 4
Calories: 562kcal
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef 93% fat free
- 1 medium red pepper diced
- 1 medium zucchini diced
- 2 cups of mushrooms diced
- 2 cups of baby spinach packed
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce or more to taste
- 1 8 ounce can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
- 12 Boston butter romaine or green leaf lettuce leaves, washed and dried
- Cooked rice about 3 cups (use my foolproof recipe for fluffy rice)
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- Pickled ginger chopped
- Roasted and salted cashews chopped
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Brown the beef: Heat a large sauté pan to medium high heat and add 1 tablespoon oil. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the ground beef. Sauté for 4 to 6 minutes breaking the meat into small pieces. When the meat is browned, remove it from the pan to a plate. Drain off any fat.
- Sauté the vegetables: In the same pan, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and the red pepper, zucchini, and mushrooms. Sauté for 5 to 6 minutes or until just beginning to soften and becoming golden brown. Add the spinach and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cooked ground beef and stir to combine.
- Add the seasonings: Add the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, and chili garlic sauce. Stir to combine.
- Add the water chestnuts: Stir in the water chestnuts. Continue cooking until heated through, about 2 minutes.
- Serving: Arrange lettuce leaves around the outer edge of a large serving platter, and pile meat mixture in the center. To serve, spoon some of the rice and a portion of the meat into a lettuce leaf. Sprinkle with the green onions, pickled ginger, cashews and sesame seeds.
Notes
Make ahead directions ~ Brown the ground beef. Sauté the vegetables. Season with sweet and spicy hoisin sauce, soy sauce and an extra spicy kick from chili garlic sauce. Add the chopped water chestnuts. Cool all the filling and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Wash the lettuce leaves, wrap in paper towels and store in the crisper drawer. When it's dinner time (or any time you get hungry for lettuce wraps) heat the beef and veggie filling and the rice and spoon into cool lettuce leaves.
Nutritional information is an estimate and based on the ingredients and cooking methods used in this recipe.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/4 of recipe | Calories: 562kcal | Carbohydrates: 61.1g | Protein: 31.2g | Fat: 16.7g | Saturated Fat: 4.3g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 489mg | Fiber: 3.1g | Sugar: 7.2g