Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps
Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps are a tasty low-carb meal with spicy Thai-inspired flavors! And lettuce wraps are a great meal for summer, 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!
For this week’s Friday Favorites pick, I’m reminding you about these delicious and very 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. And when Kara and I made the turkey lettuce wraps a few years ago 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 to read about 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 original version that made the turkey into meatballs.
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.)
- fish sauce, preferably Red Boat Fish Sauce (affiliate link)
- Unseasoned Rice Vinegar (affiliate link)
- sesame oil (affiliate link)
- red pepper
- Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) or other sweetener of your choice
- ground turkey
- Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
- Minced Ginger (affiliate link)
- soy sauce or Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link)
- Peanut Oil (affiliate link)
- small cucumbers,
- chopped fresh herbs of your choice
- lettuce leaves
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 traditional 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 for the lettuce wraps?
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 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.
How low in carbs are the turkey lettuce wraps?
These tasty lettuce wraps with Thai flavors have only 4 net carbs per lettuce wrap, so enjoy!
More Tasty Lettuce Wraps to Try:
- Slow Cooker Lettuce Wraps ~ Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker
- Low-Carb and Keto Lettuce Wraps ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
- Instant Pot Lettuce Wraps ~ Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker
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.)
- 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.
- Use hands to combine seasonings with the ground turkey.
- 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.
- 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.)
- 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.
- Cut away the core of the lettuce heads and separate into leaves or cups. (Wash lettuce if needed.)
- When turkey is nicely browned, spoon turkey into lettuce pieces, top with some of the spicy sauce, cucumber matchsticks, and fresh herbs, and devour!
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 Green Salad.
Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps
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
- 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.
- Use your clean hands to combine those seasonings with the ground turkey.
- 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.
- 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.)
- 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.
- Cut out the core of the lettuce heads and separate into leaves or cups. (Wash lettuce if needed.)
- 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
8Serving Size
1Amount 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.
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 salad. 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 2024.
56 Comments on “Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps”
We love this recipe and have been making it regularly for over 10 years. I love the additions that have been made, but we will always use fresh ginger & garlic. We make just one pound at a time. True, we get just one “meal” out of it that way, but we use the leftovers in scrambled eggs a day or so later and it is delicious this way too! Thanks for a tasty and enduring recipe Kalyn.
p.s. I missed the meatball variation along the way and just start with browning the turkey and adding/mixing ingredients in the pan as I go. I will try blending in the seasoning to the raw meat next time and see if that makes a difference.
Glad to hear you have been enjoying the recipe, and of course adapt any way you prefer!
So excited to see you updated this! I made this maybe 2 years ago and also thought the meatballs were too fussy and planned tonight to make it with ground meat and alas! You already updated it. Excited to make it again!
Oh that is so great! So glad we were on the same wavelength. (Sometimes people are not excited when I have updated a recipe. But. I can’t help myself. If I think of “improvements” I just have to try them!)
Great recipe! Indeed fish sauce is one of the high points of Asian cuisine, helpful to make the food taste more complex. Should be an interesting combination with the Thai Turkey Lettuce wraps.
It was perfect the first time. I learn so much from you as well! Keep it up great post.
I do think this would be great just cooked as crumbled meat and not bothering with the meatballs.
These were tasty! Mine were a bit dry but the sauce evened it out. Maybe I cooked them too long?
I also think this would be good crumbled up and just eaten like a salad/bowl. Less juice all over my hands and plate!
Thanks, as always, for sharing!
Clare, thanks for that nice feedback! So glad you are enjoying the blog.
Made these meatballs for dinner last night and am currently eating leftovers for lunch today- they save very well! Might even freeze. This recipe really embodied why I love this blog- I get great tasting food with so much flavor and so much VARIETY compared to your usual "diet" fare. It makes low carb a real lifestyle instead of a diet.
Well I may just have to step out of my comfort zone on try it. We do love Thai! But I wanted to make these today so maybe I'll just do it without and see what happens. Thanks Kalyn
It's really the fish sauce that makes this have Thai flavors, and I'm not sure what would substitute for that. Maybe a much smaller amount of Worcestershire sauce? Try googling substitutions for fish sauce and see if you find anything. I bet if you like Thai food though, you would like this with the fish sauce.
Kalyn, another yummy sounding recipe. Tell me though, if the thought of fish sauce is a big turn off – is there a substitution?? I tend to shy away from anything 'fishy'!! Thanks Kalyn
Thanks Deborah!
Suzanne, nothing in this recipe is really a limited food, but 2 or 3 lettuce wraps is probably what I'd eat. (On South Beach only high fat/calorie dense foods are limited in serving size. In general they say to eat until you are full, but not overly full.)
Kalyn, how many lettuce wraps are a serving for this?
Thanks. I'm new to SB
You seriously have the best lettuce wrap recipes!
Rachel, so glad you're enjoying the blog. And I think next time I make this I'll just brown the meat and eat it in the lettuce too.
This is the first recipe I ever tried from your blog, Kalyn, and I love it. Since I am lazy, instead of making meatballs, I just browned the ground turkey with all of the meatball seasonings and wrapped that in the lettuce– still super yummy, and a little less involved as well. Thanks for your blog, it's spectacular!
Paul, so glad to hear you liked it!
This was great, we just had for dinner. I think I will try with chicken breast cut into strips next time, like an Asian fajita…..
Janice, I know fish sauce can be kind of an acquired taste, so I'm so glad you liked it! I think the smell is a bit strong, but the flavor is great. And glad the 8-year old liked the meatballs!
I was a little scared of the fish sauce since I don't usually use it, but I ended up liking the dressing just fine. The mint was a great flavor in it too. I love a dish that's tasty and beautiful like this one is! (The 8 year old wasn't big on the lettuce wraps overall but loved the meatballs).
Amber, so glad you liked it and I love the idea of using Thai basil!
I made these tonight… They were delicious! I used Thai basil in place of the mint, it added a nice, spicy kick. Thanks Kalyn!
Erin, thank YOU, and so glad you're enjoying the recipes.
Thank you Kalyn, for visiting my blog!! I just knew I had to feature these this wee when I saw them on Wednsday. I love your creativity and all of your amazing ideas and recipes!!
Michele, thanks. So glad it appeals to you. Loved it.
These are absolutely adorable and sound delicious! I saw them on Ekat's Kitchen's Saturday Roundup. Thanks for the recipe…this one's getting printed as I write 🙂
Tanvi, you're welcome. (And I do love those PF Chang's lettuce wraps!)
Meat balls look such a great idea! I posted a PF Chang's kind recipe a few weeks back! This is my next time try..Thanks for the recipe!
I loved the meatballs, or patties if you went that route. Not my idea though; they were meatballs in the recipe from the book.
So pretty and delicious looking!I love lettuce wraps, but usually you find them in a crumbly form, and they are messy and the filling falls out. Your meatball style solves that problem!
CJ, we were typing at the same time I guess. I think this will be a hit with your friends if they like Thai food.
Sherry, hope so. You might make the sauce in two batches with less fish sauce and spiciness for the kids.
Oh my! Those looks so delicious. I love the romaine as a sub too. It's quite pretty with a line of tiny meatballs. I'm making this for an upcoming girlfriend get together. They are going to LOVE this!
Thanks Kalyn.
The photo is beautiful! I love using ground turkey now…venison too. Sounds like a recipe even my 7year old will eat. Thanks!
Cindi, I loved it! (I did make the meatloaf too, just didn't put any turkey in it.)
Mags, Glad you got fish sauce, you will love this!
This looks like such an interesting recipe. I actually have all the ingredients too! (FINALLY found fish sauce at the store)
great photos Kalyn.
I am so glad that you changed your mind and made these instead of the meatloaf! They look amazing!
Karina, my thoughts exactly! I think lettuce even goes better with the flavors here than a tortilla or pita would.
How cute are those? I love lettuce wraps. Who needs bread when you have such lovely flavors?
So glad people are liking this! Other than the cilantro or mint, I think all these ingredients are things I'd always have on hand. I hadn't thought of that, but another plus for the recipe.
I love the sound of this! I actually have all of the ingredients at home… maybe this is tonight's dinner!
YUM! It's almost like a Banh Mi but on lettuce instead of bread! Looks delicious 😀
The phots looks delicious! And I love lettuce and turkey, it is a soft combination.
Anything thai flavored sounds fantastic to me! I've never thought of doing thai meatballs…but they sound delicious!
I'm not sure why blogger (or Comcast?) is so slow sending me the comments, but sometimes I'm not getting earlier comments until after I've already replied to come people. Very odd, but truly I don't mean to ignore anyone.
I think this would be fun as an appetizer, or it could be the main dish. Loved it.
Beautiful presentation and photos! I can imagine serving this as the centerpiece of a lunch party.
Zeller, hope you will try it, it's definitely a tasty dinner.
These sound incredibly delicious. Here's another meatball recipe that is very tasty, from Monica Bhide's Everything Indian cookbook. I just tried it..it's a bit spicy, so I used less chili. My kids loved it.
http://www.monicabhide.com/my_weblog/2010/09/recipe-supercalifragilisticexpialidocious-chicken-kebabs-with-brandy-no-less.html
That looks amazing. I have to try to make them.
Pam, I loved them! Just as good as the other turkey lettuce wraps, but different flavors.
Brenda, thanks. They were indeed so good.
Those look really tasty!
I cannot WAIT to try these! It makes my mouth water just thinking of how good they must be!
Those look seriously very delicious!! Love lettuce wraps any time.