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Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps are a tasty low-carb meal with spicy Thai-inspired flavors! And you can use the lettuce and fresh herbs of your choice for this tasty lettuce-wrap meal!

PIN the Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps to make them later!

Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps finished lettuce wraps on serving plate with sauce

I’m crazy over these low-carb Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps that feature Asian-seasoned ground turkey in lettuce leaves with matchstick cucumbers, fresh herbs, and a slightly spicy sauce. This is a recipe that had been hanging out in the archives of the blog for quite a while, with photos that were quite seriously in need of a do-over.

And when Kara and I made the turkey lettuce wraps to get better photos, we changed a few things about the recipe to make it easier, because doesn’t every one like recipes that are easy? See below for the slight changes we made to make this tasty lettuce wraps recipe with Thai flavors even easier to get on the table! And for anyone who might like to see it, here’s the printer-friendly recipe for the original version that made 4 servings, or about 8 small lettuce wraps.

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.)

How did we make the Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps recipe even easier?

  • We used minced ginger and minced garlic from a jar to make the tasty sauce, which saved the time of chopping up those ingredients. (Feel free to use chopped fresh ginger root and garlic if you prefer!)
  • We decided if you’re going to fry some ground turkey to make Thai lettuce wraps, you might as well cook two pounds of turkey and have enough left for another meal! (We doubled the meat part of the recipe, but just slightly increased the amount of sauce.)
  • We decided it wasn’t worth the extra fuss to make turkey meatballs like the original recipe, and we just browned the seasoned turkey instead
  • Finally, we switched the romaine for butter lettuce and used thinly-sliced basil instead of mint. The lettuce and fresh herbs are definitely just a personal preference for this lettuce wrap recipe so use any type of lettuce you prefer and use chopped mint, basil, or even cilantro for the fresh herbs.

What gives these turkey lettuce wraps the Thai flavors?

I am not claiming that this lettuce wraps recipe is an authentic Thai dish. But it uses so many ingredients that are common in Thai cooking like fish sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, and soy sauce, plus chopped herbs and cucumbers. Authentic Thai dishes would have sugar, which we replaced with sweetener to keep this low in carbs.

Do I Have to Use Ground Turkey?

I used ground turkey for this recipe, but you can definitely use ground beef or chicken if you prefer. If you use the ground chicken that’s traditional in Asian lettuce wrap recipes, you might need to add a bit more oil when you cook the chicken.

What is Fish Sauce?

Fish Sauce is a condiment used in most Southeast Asian cuisines, and it adds umami flavor to any dish you use it in. I’m a huge fan of Red Boat Fish Sauce (affiliate link) which is gluten-free and Paleo, and I think Red Boat has amazing flavor, which is why I made a round-up of Low-Carb Recipes with Fish Sauce and recommended it. But for years I used Three Crabs Fish Sauce (affiliate link), which is also really tasty if you can’t find Red Boat.

Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps process shots collage

How to make Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; 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. Squeeze ground turkey into a bowl and add Minced Garlic (affiliate link), Minced Ginger (affiliate link) root, Asian sesame oil, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. 
  2. Use hands to combine seasonings with the ground turkey. 
  3. Heat peanut oil in non-stick frying pan, add seasoned turkey, and cook over medium-high heat until water has evaporated and turkey is lightly browned. 
  4. While turkey cooks, mix the fish sauce, rice vinegar, Asian sesame oil, and red pepper flakes to make the sauce. (Some people like a little sweetener in this sauce; taste and see if you want to add that.)
  5. Cut cucumber into matchstick strips and chop herbs. We used Herb Scissors (affiliate link) to cut basil into thin strips, but for mint or cilantro just chop with a knife.
  6. Cut away the core of the lettuce heads and separate into leaves or cups. (Wash lettuce if needed.)
  7. When turkey is nicely browned, spoon turkey into lettuce pieces, top with some of the spicy sauce, cucumber matchsticks, and fresh herbs, and devour!

Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps close-up photo

Make it a low-carb Meal:

It’s definitely a mix of cuisines, but I think Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps would taste great with Spicy Mexican Slaw for for a low-carb meal. Or you could serve it with more Asian flavors like Asian Cabbage Salad, Napa Cabbage Asian Slaw, or Asian Chopped Salad.

More Tasty Lettuce Wraps to Try:

Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps close-up photo
Yield: 8 servings

Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

These low-carb Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps are amazing for an easy meal with Thai-inspired flavors. And this recipe makes quite a bit so you might have some to reheat later for another meal.

Ingredients

Sauce Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup fish sauce (see notes)
  • 1/3 cup rice vinegar (don’t use seasoned vinegar, which contains sugar)
  • 1 T Asian sesame oil
  • 3/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (see notes)
  • 1 tsp sweetener (optional)

Turkey Mixture Ingredients:

  • 2 lb. ground turkey (see notes)
  • 2 tsp. finely minced garlic
  • 2 T grated fresh ginger root
  • 2 T Asian sesame oil
  • 4 tsp. rice vinegar
  • 2 tsp. soy sauce (see notes)
  • 1 T peanut oil

Lettuce and Garnish Ingredients:

  • 2 small cucumbers, cut in thin slices, then sliced into matchstick pieces
  • 1 cup chopped fresh herbs (see notes)
  • 16 small lettuce leaves

Instructions

  1. Squeeze the ground turkey out of the wrapper into a bowl and add minced garlic, minced ginger root, Asian sesame oil, rice vinegar, and soy sauce.
  2. Use your clean hands to combine those seasonings with the ground turkey.
  3. Heat the peanut oil in a large non-stick frying pan, add the seasoned turkey, and cook over medium-high heat until any released water has completely evaporated and turkey is lightly browned.
  4. While turkey cooks, mix together the fish sauce, rice vinegar, Asian sesame oil, and red pepper flakes to make the sauce. (Some people like a teaspoon or two of sweetener in this sauce; taste and see if you want to add that.)
  5. Cut the cucumber into matchstick strips and chop herbs. We used Herb Scissors (affiliate link) to cut the basil into thin chiffonade strips, but if you're using mint or cilantro you may prefer to just chop with a knife.
  6. Cut out the core of the lettuce heads and separate into leaves or cups. (Wash lettuce if needed.)
  7. When turkey is nicely browned, spoon turkey into lettuce pieces, top with some of the spicy sauce, cucumber matchsticks, and fresh herbs, and devour!

Notes

I like Red Boat Fish Sauce (affiliate link) or Three Crabs Fish Sauce (affiliate link); if you’re not that used to fish sauce you might decrease the amount a little. Use more or less red pepper flakes to taste, the sauce was moderately spicy with this amount.

I used ground turkey; this can also be made with ground beef or ground chicken if you prefer. Use regular or low-sodium soy sauce; use Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link) if needed. We used thinly-sliced fresh basil but you can also use chopped mint or even chopped cilantro for the fresh herbs.

This recipe adapted slightly from The South Beach Diet Taste of Summer Cookbook (affiliate link).

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 386Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 6gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 120mgSodium: 1111mgCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 31g

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.

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating (under the PRINT button in the recipe) or share a photo of your results on Instagram! THANKS!

© Kalyn Denny
Category: Lettuce Wraps

Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps shown on serving plate with dish of sauce in center.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This recipe for Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps is suitable for low-carb or Keto diets. Made with low-fat ground turkey, this would also be approved for any phase of the South Beach Diet, and it’s a great alternative to salads. For some low-carb plans you may prefer ground beef instead of turkey for higher fat.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Lettuce Wraps to see more recipes like this one! Use the Diet Type Index to find more 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
Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps were first posted in 2010; the recipe was updated with better photos and simplified a bit in 2020 and it was last updated in 2023.

Pinterest image of Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps

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