Ginger Beef Lettuce Rolls - 30 Minutes Or Less

In Korean culture it is common for lettuce leaves to be served with certain dinners. These leaves take the place of bread and are used in much the same way. Pieces of food are picked up and eaten with the leaves. It was with that in mind, and based on a suggestion from my wife that I came up with these Ginger Beef Lettuce Wraps.

Jump to:

• The Ginger Beef Sauce
• Sriracha Mayo
• Preparing the Vegetables
• Preparing and Cooking the Beef
• Cooking the Ginger Beef
• Assembling the Wraps
• Final Thoughts
• Recipe

In this recipe the lettuce is replacing a tortilla, pita, or even spring roll wrapper, to make a delicious low-carb dinner. To be clear, I didn't use lettuce because it is low-carb. I used it because it is super delicious and it just happens to be low-carb.

This recipe is composed of Ginger Beef that is wrapped in bibb lettuce, with fresh vegetables and topped with sriracha mayo. These things are going to blow your mind. They are crazy delicious and much more filling than you think they would be. There is an added bonus that if you have kids, they can build their own wraps making it fun too.

The technique here is similar to what you'd use in any good stir-fry -- a screaming hot wok, quick searing, and bold flavours. Alright, let's take a look at how to make these.

The Ginger Beef Sauce

At 6:40 I started cooking dinner. The first thing I did was make the sauce for the ginger beef.

For the sauce I combined 1 clove of minced garlic, 2 tablespoon minced ginger, 3 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon mirin, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, and 1 tablespoon sambal chili sauce.

Once this was all mixed up I set it aside and started on the sriracha mayo.

Sriracha Mayo

For the sriracha mayo I combined ¼ cup mayo, 2 tablespoon sriracha, 3-4 drops of fish sauce, and 1 tablespoon sugar. I mixed this all together and set it aside as well.

As a side note, this sauce is great on almost anything. It will jazz up any sandwich or burger.

Preparing the Vegetables

Next I started slicing up the vegetables for the rolls. I started by peeling and slicing a carrot. Then I sliced 1 celery stalk, ½ a red pepper, and ¼ of a cucumber.

Preparing and Cooking the Beef

Once the vegetables were done it was time to prepare the beef. First I had to slice 2 green onions, keeping the green and white parts separate.

At this point I turned on the wok to preheat it and then started slicing the beef.

The beef I used was a New York strip loin, however there are lots of other cuts you can use including sirloin, rib eye, or flank. If you want to learn more about selecting and cooking different cuts, have a look at my chef's guide to cooking meat.

I cut the steak into smaller pieces following the grain. I then sliced the beef into thin strips, cutting across the grain.

Meat is cut across the grain as it shortens the muscle fibres making them easier to eat. If you cut with the grain, the meat will be very tough.

Cooking the Ginger Beef

I added 1-2 tablespoon of canola oil to the wok, along with 1 tablespoon sesame oil. I then added the beef and seared it. After cooking the meat for about 2 minutes I added the sauce. I cooked the meat and sauce until the sauce was thick and coated the meat. This took about four minutes.

I finished the beef by tossing in the green onion tops.

While the sauce was reducing I pulled the lettuce leaves apart and gently washed and dried them.

Finally, it was time to eat.

Assembling the Wraps

I took three leaves of bibb lettuce and topped them with the sriracha mayo, fresh vegetables, meat and finally some fresh cilantro.

By 7:10 the pictures were taken, and I was happily eating. Total time from start to finish: 30 minutes.

Final Thoughts

These Ginger Beef Lettuce Wraps are both filling and delicious. They provide a nice change to the regular dinner schedule, and the ginger beef itself would be just as great served with rice and steamed or stir-fried broccoli.

I love how quick and customizable these are -- everyone at the table can build their own, and that sriracha mayo works on just about anything. This is one of those meals I'll be making again very soon.

Recipe