Sriracha Beef Lettuce Wraps

Beef lettuce wraps are pretty common in the cooking world, but these spicy Sriracha Beef Lettuce Wraps are the ones I make over and over! And you can use more or less Sriracha Sauce to make the lettuce wraps as mild or spicy as you prefer.

PIN the Beef Lettuce Wraps to try them later!

These Sriracha Beef Lettuce Wraps are a quick and easy low-carb dinner that I find myself making over and over. And there must be hundreds of beef lettuce wraps in the world, but this version has so many flavor-boosting ingredients that go perfectly with beef and Sriracha Sauce, like fish sauce, lime, green onion, and cilantro, and if you like Thai flavors at all, you’re going to love this recipe.

And you can use more or less Sriracha Sauce in the beef lettuce wraps to make them extra-spicy or very mild, whichever your family prefers. This tasty meal with Asian flavors can be on the table in well under 30 minutes, and Sriracha Beef Lettuce Wraps just might become one of your new favorite dinners!

What ingredients do you need?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

• cooking oil
• ground beef
• Red Boat Fish Sauce (affiliate link)
• Sriracha Sauce (affiliate link)
• water
• zest from lime
• juice from lime
• green onion
• cilantro
• iceberg lettuce

What is Sriracha Sauce?

Sriracha Sauce (affiliate link) is a type of red chile sauce that’s used in Thai and Vietnamese cuisine. It’s made from chili peppers, vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt, and is popular all over the world. And when you’re in an Asian restaurant you might see the famous bottle with a rooster on it on your table!

What gives these beef lettuce wraps the Thai flavors?

I’m not claiming this is an authentic Thai recipe, but ingredients such as fish sauce, Sriracha Sauce, and lime juice give Sriracha Beef Lettuce Wraps the combination of spicy, sour, and salty flavors that’s so common in Thai cuisine.

Can you make Sriracha Beef Lettuce Wraps without cilantro?

If you don’t enjoy cilantro I recommend just doubling the amount of green onions and this will still be amazing.

How low in carbs are the Beef Lettuce Wraps?

This recipe has only 6 net carbs and 32 grams of protein in one lettuce wrap filled with 1//4 cup of the spicy beef mixture!

Want a bowl meal variation with these flavors?

A few years after I first made this recipe I came up with Cabbage Bowls made with spicy beef, and those \are a fun bowl meal variation of this recipe.

How to make Sriracha Beef Lettuce Wraps:

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Cook one pound of lean ground beef until it’s completely done and starting to lightly brown.
2. While the beef cooks, mix together the fish sauce, Sriracha Sauce (affiliate link), and water. I like Red Boat Fish Sauce (affiliate link) which is gluten-free and Paleo.
3. Also zest one large lime and squeeze the juice, slice the green onions and chop the cilantro (or double the amount of green onions if you don’t want cilantro.)
4. Prepare the lettuce cups in the size you prefer.
5. When the beef is nicely browned, stir in the Sriracha sauce mixture and cook until the water evaporates.
6. Turn off heat and stir in the lime zest, lime juice, green onions, and cilantro (if using).
7. That’s it! Put the Sriracha Beef inside of a lettuce wrap and devour!

More Lettuce Wraps to Enjoy:

Check out my collection of Low-Carb and Keto Lettuce Wraps to see lots more fun ideas for dinners wrapped inside lettuce.

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Yield: 4 servings

Sriracha Beef Lettuce Wraps

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

If you like the idea of beef lettuce wraps seasoned with spicy Sriracha Sauce, I bet you'll love these Sriracha Beef Lettuce Wraps that are extra quick and easy for a tasty low-carb weeknight dinner.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. cooking oil of your choice (see notes)
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 T fish sauce (see notes)
• 1-2 T Sriracha Sauce (depending on how much heat you want)
• 2 T water
• zest from one large lime
• juice from one large lime (see notes)
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro (see notes)
• 2 small heads iceberg lettuce, washed and cut into cups

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan over medium-high heat, then cook the beef until it’s cooked through and starting to brown, breaking apart with a turner as it cooks.
2. While beef cooks, mix together the fish sauce, Sriracha Sauce (affiliate link), and water in a small bowl.
3. Zest the skin of the lime and squeeze the juice.  (You may need two limes to get enough juice, but only use the zest from one lime.)
4. Thinly slice the green onions and chop the cilantro.
5. Most iceberg lettuce doesn’t need washing, but remove the outer leaves. Cut out the core and cut the lettuce into quarters to make “cups” to hold the beef mixture.
6. When the beef is done, add the Sriracha Sauce mixture and let it sizzle until the water has evaporated, stirring a few times to get the flavor mixed through the meat.
7. Turn off the heat and stir in the lime zest, lime juice, sliced green onions, and chopped cilantro.
8. Serve meat mixture with iceberg lettuce leaves to fill with meat and wrap around it, to be eaten with your hands.

Notes

I use peanut oil for this type of recipe, but use the oil you prefer.

I use Red Boat Fish Sauce (affiliate link) for this recipe, which is gluten-free and Paleo.

You want about 1 1/2 T lime juice, so use two limes if needed.

If you're not a cilantro fan, use more thinly sliced green onion.

This was definitely still good when the meat mixture was kept in the fridge and reheated for a very short time in the microwave, but I liked it best freshly made.

This recipe adapted from Nigella Fresh.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 396Total Fat 22gSaturated Fat 8gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 101mgSodium 711mgCarbohydrates 8gFiber 2gSugar 11gProtein 32g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This beef lettuce wraps recipe would be great for low-carb or Keto diet plans which may prefer higher-fat ground beef. If you use ground beef with less than 10% fat, this is a great recipe for any phase of the original South Beach Diet. 

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Lettuce Wraps to see more recipes like this one! Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe for lettuce wraps filled with Sriracha-spiced beef was posted in 2012 and I’ve made it for many dinner guests since then. It was last updated with more information in 2025.

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