These Ground Pork Lettuce Wraps are a meaty, savory, tasty, low-carb meal that truly hits the spot. A simple blend of seasonings and miso paste infuse so much flavor into the meat. They're wrapped in tender lettuce leaves, and topped with a blend of tangy carrots and radishes. It's ready to devour in about 20 minutes!
Recipe: $12.32 | Per Serving: $3.10 | Serves: 4 servings
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These easy lettuce wraps were inspired by these Japanese-inspired miso meatballs! I originally thought to serve them in lettuce wraps, but making meatballs and pickled vegetables on a weeknight might be too much work! Plus, ground pork isn't the best in the meatballs, but it works beautifully here. My conclusion was to simply make a new lettuce wrap recipe that is a super fast and easy option for weeknight meals.
This combo is delicious and it's pretty simple! Rich pork pairs so deliciously with quick pickled vegetables. If you love cooking with ground pork or other ground meats, you've got to try my orange ground chicken or this ground pork stir fry next!
Why You Will Love This Pork Lettuce Wraps Recipe
- So Easy to Make! The ground pork cooks up in just minutes using simple ingredients and it is SO flavorful!
- Leftovers Reheat Great. The flavors taste even better when the meat sits a bit and is reheated. Aside from the meat, the other ingredients can be served cold.
- Lots of Flexibility and Customizability. This recipe is really allergy-friendly, and fits into a lot of special diets with minor tweaks here and there.
Want more lettuce wraps? Add my pineapple chicken lettuce wraps and Thai chicken curry salad wraps to your meal lineup!
Ingredients
For the Quick-Pickled Vegetables:
- Carrots and radish: The shredded veggies for these quick-pickled vegetables. For the radish, you can use daikon or any other radish you prefer. We're using an equal amount of each.
- Rice vinegar: Unseasoned rice vinegar is preferred but you can also use white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or another favorite vinegar.
- Sweetener: Maple syrup is my top choice but you can use any other sweetener you like using.
For the Miso Pork:
- Green onion: Cooked with the ground pork for mild onion flavor. You can use another type of onion if that's all you have. Be sure to reserve some of the green parts to sprinkle over the top for a bit of color.
- Aromatics: You can use fresh ginger and fresh garlic for the best flavor. If you don't have fresh ginger, use a ½ teaspoon of dried powdered ginger instead. You can also freeze an entire piece of ginger and grate it straight from frozen to avoid wasting it!
- Ground pork: This ground meat cooks up with plenty of moisture and flavor mainly due to its high-fat content. You can use other ground meats such as ground beef, turkey, or chicken.
- Soy sauce or tamari: Added for savory flavor. Be sure to use tamari if you need gluten-free.
- Sesame oil: Adds a nutty flavor that really balances out the flavors.
- Miso paste: You can use either red or white miso. White miso also called shiro miso is milder than red miso paste. Use leftover miso to make these Miso Sesame Soba Noodles.
- Red pepper flakes: For a bit of spice! Feel free to add more if you like a lot of heat.
- Lettuce wraps: Choose a lettuce that's sturdy and naturally forms cups. The best lettuce for wraps is Bibb lettuce and romaine lettuce but you can also make iceberg lettuce work.
- Rice or vermicelli rice noodles: Totally optionally but works well if you want to beef up or stretch the lettuce wrap filling.
Variation
- Soy-Free: You can also use coconut aminos instead of tamari, and chickpea miso instead of soy-based miso.
- Gluten-Free: this recipe is mostly gluten free as is - be sure to use a gluten-free soy sauce or tamari, and a gluten-free miso brand! You can learn more about miso on this post!
- Spicy: Throw in extra red pepper flakes or you can also add some diced chilies to the meat along with the other seasonings. I also like to slice a bird's eye chili and add it to the pickled vegetables sometimes!
- Low Carb: Skip the rice or vermicelli noodles. You can also replace them with these super low carb Japanese shirataki noodles, or Korean glass noodles, or with zoodles or cauliflower rice.
How to Make Lettuce Wraps with Ground Pork
Step 1: Make the quick-pickled vegetables: Shred the carrot and daikon and place in a large jar. (The wider, the better.) Shove the vegetables down into the jar until they’re tightly packed.
Step 2: Add the pickling liquid and flavor ingredients. Add the rice vinegar, sweetener, and salt to the jar. Pour in the boiling water to mostly cover the vegetables. Close the jar and let it sit for 30 minutes (ish) at room temperature.
Step 3: Make the miso meat: Add the ginger, garlic, miso paste, red pepper flakes, and the white parts of the green onion in a large bowl with the ground pork.
Step 4: Mix it up. Mix together the meat and spices to fully combine.
Step 5: Cook the ground pork. Add the meat to a heated skillet in a single large patty. DO NOT STIR. Let it fully brown on one side, which should take about 3-5 minutes. Once it's brown, break it apart with a spatula and cook thoroughly. Drain the grease if necessary or place the pork mixture on a paper-towel-lined plate to cool.
Step 6: Serve them up. Serve the meat mixture in washed and dried lettuce cups. Top with the quick-pickled vegetables. Enjoy!
Storage Directions
Store the meat mixture separately from the lettuce leaves and pickled mixture. The meat can be stored in the fridge for up to four days or in the freezer for up to three months.
Make sure the lettuce is dry before storing and it may last for up to a week. The pickled veggies will last for a week or so, but may soften more the longer they're stored. It's not recommended to freeze the lettuce or pickled vegetables.
To reheat: Simply reheat the meat mixture in the microwave or in a skillet on the stove. You can also reheat this in a toaster oven or air fryer if you use a a heat-safe container that is appropriate for one of those devices.
What to Serve with Lettuce Wraps
Boost the veggies with a side of this Cabbage Crunch Salad or Simple Cucumber Salad. Both would go great with these Asian pork lettuce wraps.
Serve them up as an easy-to-grab appetizer along with other favorites like these Butternut Squash Fritters and Salmon Seaweed Rolls.
Garnish your Asian-inspired pork lettuce wraps with a sprinkle of green onions, chopped cilantro, or some chopped peanuts or cashews.
Expert Tips
- Cooking the Pork. Be sure to let the pork cook WITHOUT moving until completely browned on the first side. Then break it up into pieces. This helps develop extra flavor.
- Be Sure to Fully Dry the Lettuce Leaves. A salad spinner makes this ultra-easy but if you don't have one you can also let the leaves dry on a clean towel after washing. Pat them dry before serving or storing them.
- Use Lean Meat. If you use a different type of ground meat that's leaner you may need to add some cooking spray or oil to the pan before cooking the meat.
- Serve Meat Warm or Room Temperature: If it is very hot, the lettuce will wilt, but if it is super cold from the fridge, the meat doesn’t have the best texture. I recommend serving while the meat is warm.
This recipe was originally published in October of 2015! You're getting new photos, updated instructions, and way more tips, but the recipe is otherwise the same!
More Delicious Pork Recipes
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Ground Pork Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
For the Quick-Pickled Vegetables:
- 1 cup shredded carrots about 4 oz
- 1 cup shredded radish daikon or any (about 4 oz)
- ½ cup unseasoned rice vinegar or other - white vinegar, apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup or other sweetener of choice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Hot water - enough to cover - about 1-2 cups boiling water
For the Miso Pork:
- ½ cup sliced green onion reserve some of the green parts for topping, if desired
- 2 tablespoons grated ginger fresh ginger, frozen, then grated from frozen; alternatively, use ½ teaspoon dried powdered ginger
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound ground pork
- 2 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 Tablespoons miso paste red or white
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes more if you like a lot of heat
- 16 pieces lettuce wraps or cups
- Optional: serve with rice or vermicelli rice noodles
Instructions
- For the quick-pickled vegetables: Shred the carrot and daikon and place in a large jar. (The wider, the better.) Shove the vegetables down into the jar until they’re tightly packed.
- Add the rice vinegar, sweetener, and salt, then cover with boiling water. (They don’t have to be fully submerged, but mostly covered.) Close the jar and let sit for 30 minutes (ish) at room temperature.
- For the miso meat: mix together the meat, ginger, garlic, miso paste, red pepper flakes, and the white parts of the green onion in a large bowl.Alternatively, you can just mix everything together in the pan if you'd like, but mixing the meat and seasonings ahead provides more even flavor.
- Heat a pan to medium-high heat and add the meat mixture in a single patty. DO NOT STIR. Let it fully brown on one side, which should take about 3-5 minutes. Then break it apart with a spatula and cook thoroughly. Remove from heat. If it is very greasy, drain the grease or remove to a paper-towel-lined plate to cool.
- Wash the lettuce cups and pat them dry. And optionally, prepare vermicelli noodles or rice to serve with the lettuce wraps.
- To prepare: fill each lettuce cup with a few tablespoons of the meat mixture and top with the quick-pickled vegetables. Enjoy!
I love cooking with miso! It's such an underutilized ingredient. And it sounds delicious in this preparation. Thanks for this recipe!