Spicy Turkey Lettuce Wraps

I had plans to do a new recipe today, but turns out the universe also had other plans. Guys, this is the never-ending summer and I don’t know how to function anymore when I have to actually do stuff. ???? So I wanted to share updates of one of my favorite recipes that is packed with protein, flavor, and tons of veggies–these  are awesome for meal prepping or when you feel like you need a little detox, but they’re also freaking delicious whether you’re trying to make healthier eating choices or not.

spicy turkey lettuce wraps from our best bites

Spicy Turkey Lettuce Wraps

These Spicy Turkey Lettuce Wraps are packed with lean protein, tons of veggies, and taste AMAZING!
Servings6

Ingredients

  • 20 ounces super-lean ground turkey
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onions
  • 6 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon minced ginger
  • 1 1/2 cups seeded and diced cucumber
  • 1 medium red bell pepper seeded and chopped
  • 1/2 cup shredded carrot
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1/4 cup chopped cashews
  • 1/2 jalapeno seeded and diced OR Sriracha sauce to taste
  • Juice of 2 limes about 4 tablespoons
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 16 lettuce leaves butter lettuce or trimmed iceberg lettuce leaves work great

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl, combine the ground turkey, green onions, garlic, and ginger. Cover and refrigerate until dinner time or allow to stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.
  • When ready to cook, heat about 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the turkey mixture until it’s browning and crumbly.
  • While the turkey is cooking, combine the limes, soy sauce, brown sugar, and, if using it, Sriracha to taste. Set aside.
  • Place the remaining ingredients  in a large bowl. When the turkey is done cooking, add it to the vegetable mixture. Drizzle with the sauce and toss to combine. Serve immediately in leaves of lettuce. Makes 4 large servings.

Notes

Nutritional Information (for 4 servings):
Calories: 243.5
Fat: 6.5
Carbs: 14.1
Protein: 35.5
Fiber: 2.1

note

This recipe cooks very quickly, but the chopping can take some time. I recommend chopping ahead of time when you have a few extra minutes and then throwing it all together at dinnertime!
Author: kate jones
Did You Make This Recipe?Snap a picture, and hashtag it #ourbestbites. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @ourbestbites!

let’s time travel to 2013…

So you know how when you start eating healthy, all you can think about is food? Yeah. If you’ve got an extra 4 1/2 minutes (and really, even if you don’t), you need to watch this clip. It will make your Friday. It is how I feel at least once a day around 2:32 pm when I want to lay down on the couch and take a nap snuggled up to a bowl of linguine.

So anyway. These Spicy Turkey Lettuce Wraps aren’t pasta. But they are one of my new favorite meals and are so delicious that it helps remind me that really great food doesn’t have to be bad for me (not that pasta is bad, but, kind of like Oreos and Friday Night Lights, I can’t do it in moderation).

One thing about this recipe is that it cooks super quick, but there’s some prep work involved that can suck up your time. My trick is to do all the chopping and prep work earlier in the day when my older kids are at school and my wee one is napping so when I have five-million things going on in the afternoon and the thought of making dinner makes me want to curl up in my closet and sob, I don’t have to because all the hard stuff is done and dinner is ready in, like, 10 minutes tops.

how to make these spicy turkey lettuce wraps

You’re going to need super-lean ground turkey, your favorite lettuce leaves (I really like the living lettuce you can get at many supermarkets), green onions, cilantro, fresh ginger, lots and lots of garlic, shredded carrots (I just buy a bag of pre-shredded carrots), cucumbers (I love the mini English cucumbers that don’t need to be peeled), chopped red bell pepper, and chopped cashews. You can also add in half of a seeded, chopped jalapeno (I actually prefer adding Sriracha to the sauce because it’s easier to control the heat whilst feeding the kidlets).

turkey lettuce wraps ingredients

For the sauce, you’re going to need (in addition to the Sriracha, if you’re using it) soy sauce, brown sugar, and lime juice. No, your eyes are not deceiving you, I forgot the limes in this picture.

smaller1

In a medium bowl, combine the turkey, green onion, garlic, and ginger. Cover and refrigerate until dinner time or let it stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.

When ready to cook, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the turkey and cook until done.

While the turkey is cooking, whisk together 1 tablespoon soy sauce, the juice of 2 limes, a tablespoon of brown sugar, and Sriracha to taste (if you’re using it). Keep in mind that what’s a little spicy in the sauce will be not spicy at all once you mix it all together.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Add the cooked turkey mixture.

turkey lettuce wrap filling ingredients mixed

Drizzle with the sauce and toss to combine. Spoon the mixture into lettuce leaves and eat like a taco. This makes 4 generous servings–it could conceivably serve 5-6, though.

spicy turkey lettuce wraps from our best bites

 

Nutritional Information (for 4 servings):

Calories: 243.5
Fat: 6.5
Carbs: 14.1
Protein: 35.5
Fiber: 2.1

 

woman in denim shirt holding a salad bowl
Meet The Author

Sara Wells

Sara Wells co-founded Our Best Bites in 2008. She is the author of three Bestselling Cook Books, Best Bites: 150 Family Favorite RecipesSavoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites, and 400 Calories or Less from Our Best Bites. Sara’s work has been featured in many local and national news outlets and publications such as Parenting MagazineBetter Homes & GardensFine CookingThe Rachel Ray Show and the New York Times.

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Questions & Reviews

  1. I have a stupid question. What does living lettuce mean? (I am obviously not good on eating organic or too healthy if I have to ask this question, right?)

    1. Not dumb at all! 🙂 It’s just lettuce that still has the roots attached. It’s usually packaged a little differently (like in a clamshell plastic thingy) and it stays fresh a little longer.

  2. I was thinking of putting this in a spring roll wrapper…do you think that would work/be yummy?

  3. Fabulous recipe! They were Sunday dinner tonight, so fresh and tasty. I accidentally doubled the sauce (4 limes instead of 4 T – duh) but I stirred a spoonful of natural peanut butter in with the remaining sauce and it made a tasty drizzle! Thanks for another great recipe.

  4. Thank you so much for responding! I love your website and understand all you are saying. Just thought I would put out there that more vegetarian yummies would be amazing.

  5. Would love to see some more vegetarian recipes or.desserts. It seems like obb is turning into an advertising hotspot! Love the old recipes

    1. The video clip wasn’t an ad, I promise, just something I found funny. 🙂

      As for the rest, we try to post a little of everything, we really do, but we are rarely able to post exactly what everyone wants all the time. Sometimes we’re dessert heavy (late fall/early winter) and people want healthy meals, then we post healthy meals in January and people want “real” meals, we post real meals and people want desserts. I’m not being defensive, I’m just trying to explain where we’re coming from. If we’re going through a phase you’re not crazy about, we’ve got 700+ recipes in the archives and new posts coming every few days, so things will almost always turn your way soon! 🙂

  6. We just had these for dinner tonight and they were so good! I doubled the sauce to make them a little more appealing for my kids. My husband said they were the best lettuce wraps he has ever had. Filling but light and fresh – so yummy! Thanks for the recipe.

  7. Okay ,my sister and I have a dispute going about how you count the points for weight watchers …is a serving 4 wraps or 1? In other words is a serving with six points one wrap or 4wrapsfor six points?

    1. 4 wraps for 6 points. And you could probably get six wraps out of the mixture. What I do is just divide the mixture into four equal servings, put them in a little bowl, and serve the bowl with a plate of lettuce leaves.

  8. That was hilariousness! Thank you for the video. It was like horror/angst movie (not that I’ve ever watched one) with PASTA! Your recipe looks delicious!