Thai Ground Beef Lettuce Wraps




One of my favorite dishes at our corner Thai restaurant is a warm ground beef salad served over crisp shredded cabbage and lettuce leaves. I’ve taken the idea and turned it into a pickup appetizer by serving the warm beef mixture in little butter lettuce leaves and then garnishing them with the shredded cabbage.

The recipe is quick and easy and I find I usually have most of the ingredients on hand. You can substitute ground chicken or pork if that’s what you have in the fridge or freezer.

  • 1 pound extra-lean ground beef
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
  • 2 shallots, peeled and very thinly sliced
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 green onion, very thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Cilantro
  • Butter lettuce leaves, for serving
  • Very thinly sliced small hot peppers, for garnish
  • Mint leaves, for garnish
  • Shredded cabbage, for garnish
Chop ground beef well. Place beef in a cold nonstick skillet and stir in lime juice, fish sauce and shallots. Place skillet over a burner and turn heat to medium-high. Cook ground beef mixture for 5-10 minutes, until beef is completely cooked. Remove skillet from heat and add chopped green onion and cilantro. 

To serve, place a spoonful of the meat mixture over the lettuce leaves and garnish with peppers, mint and cabbage.

Makes 6 servings.