Pork Lettuce Wraps Recipe

Pork lettuce wraps on an oval tray and on a small plate. Two green glasses are in the upper left, small wooden bowls in the bottom left and upper right have pickled carrots, fresh cilantro, and sliced red chilis.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian

Diet: Low Lactose

Keyword: ground pork lettuce wraps, pork lettuce wraps

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 20

Servings: small lettuce wraps

Calories: 118kcal

These easy ground pork lettuce wraps are full of Asian flavors and make a perfect weeknight dinner. Ready in about 20 minutes!

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US Customary - Metric

Equipment

Ingredients

For the rice vinegar carrot topping

⅓ cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup grated carrots from about 2 large carrots

Pork Lettuce Wraps

2 large heads Boston bibb lettuce or romaine, red leaf, etc.
2 tablespoon grated ginger
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon fish sauce
3 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoon rice vinegar
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 pound ground pork
cilantro, scallions, chili peppers, sriracha optional toppings for serving

Instructions

Prepare the lettuce cups

Gently remove the lettuce leaves one at a time from their core, being careful not to tear them. Rinse with cold water and drain, then lay in a single layer to dry on a kitchen towel.

Make the carrot vinegar topping

In a small bowl, whisk together ⅓ cup of rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and ½ teaspoon of kosher salt. Grate ¾ cup of carrots on the large holes of a box grater, add them to the vinegar mixture and set aside at room temperature.

Cook the pork and make the lettuce wraps

Use a microplane grater to grate the ginger (no need to peel it) and garlic. Then, whisk together the soy sauce, fish sauce, grated garlic and ginger, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, and water.
Add the pork to a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Use a bamboo spatula or wooden spoon and break it up just a bit for about 30 seconds, then add the sauce.
Continue breaking up the pork and cook until the liquid has evaporated, and you are just starting to get some brown, crispy edges on the meat. Don't overcook, see tips below.
Add a couple of tablespoons of pork into the lettuce cups, top with carrots and some of their vinegar pickling liquid. Add fresh cilantro, sliced chilis, or hot sauce to taste.

Notes

Be careful that you don't over-brown the ground pork. We want it cooked through and just starting to get crispy. If you try to get ALL of it crispy, you'll overcook it and it will be too dry and crumbly.
Keep your lettuce wraps small! Don't try to stuff them to over-flowing. Enjoying the crisp, fresh lettuce cups is part of the fun. Giant wraps will just wilt and fall apart.
Don't sleep on the pickled carrots on top! You need the sweetness and acidity from the carrots AND their vinegary liquid to balance the salty flavors in the pork. Drizzle away!
To serve, you can pre-make the lettuce wraps and put them out on a platter, or you can let each person assemble their own, filling them with as much pork as they like and serve toppings on the side.
Be sure to read the post above for more tips!

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Nutrition