This easy pork lettuce wraps recipe made with ground pork and crunchy vegetables makes a tasty dinner that's fast and better then restaurants! Plus dinner is packed with protein and flavor, and ready in under 30 minutes.
Ingredients
For The Lettuce Wraps
1largehead lettucebutter lettuce, iceberg or romaine, leaves separated
8ounceswater chestnutscanned, diced
1cupcarrotsshredded, about 2 medium carrots
1tablespoonolive oilavocado oil, vegetable oil, or your favorite cooking oil
1/4mediumonionwhite onion, diced
1teaspoonminced garlicjarred
1poundground pork
1teaspoongingerdried
1/4cupHoisin sauce
2tablespoonssoy sauce
4teaspoonsrice vinegar
For Extra Dipping Sauce (optional)
1/4cuphoisin sauce
2tablespoonssoy sauce
1tablespoonrice vinegar
green onionsoptional garnish
sesame seedsoptional garnish
Instructions
Prepping The Lettuce Wraps
Separate the lettuce leaves carefully from the head. Rinse the lettuce leaves in cold water, then dry well and set to the side. Drain and dice the water chestnuts, then set to the side. Peel then shred the carrots and set aside.
Add a tablespoon of oil to a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Place the diced onion in the pan. Cook the onion for about 2-3 minutes until translucent and tender. Add the minced garlic and ginger, and cook for about a minute or until fragrant.
Place the ground pork into the skillet. Brown the pork, breaking up the meat with a wooden spatula. Cook the pork until browned and no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes. Drain any excess oil well from the pan. See notes.
To the ground pork add the water chestnuts and shredded carrots in the skillet. Stir for a minute to heat and combine.
Pour ¼ cup hoisin sauce, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and 4 teaspoons rice vinegar over the pork mixture. Stir well to so the sauce coats the mixture evenly. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, stirring as needed and allowing the sauce to thicken.
Making Extra Dipping Sauce (optional)
In a medium bowl add ¼ cup hoisin sauce, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar. Mix well with a spoon until well blended. Top with sesame seeds if desired and serve on the side.
Serving The Lettuce Wraps
Spoon a generous amount of the pork filling onto each lettuce leaf, adding some of the sauce from the pan to the top of the pork. Sprinkle with optional green onions and sesame seeds. Serve with optional dipping sauce on the side, and enjoy
Video
Notes
I recommend only filling the number of lettuce wraps you plan on eating in a single sitting. The lettuce and the filling will need to be stored in separate containers in the refrigerator so the lettuce does not wilt.Just like many other types of ground meat, you'll want to drain this ground pork after cooking it until it is brown. I highly recommend draining the oil before adding the sauce or the final dish may be too oily depending on the ground pork you have. You can also use a lean ground pork or use a meat grinder to grind pork tenderloin which is as lean as chicken breast.You can use fresh ground pork that has been made into links. Simply remove the casing before adding the ground pork from inside the sausages to the pan.