Inspiration: When Brandon and I go to our favorite Chinese restaurant in town, we usually share an order of lettuce wraps for an appetizer and then split an entree. There’s just something so refreshing about lettuce wraps – a rich and savory filling paired with crisp and cool lettuce always just hits the spot. And lettuce wraps are really great because they can be served as an appetizer or light meal, on their own for a main course, or paired with a quick side like edamame salad for a more rounded meal.
What We Loved: Brandon and I absolutely adore the filling to these lettuce wraps and the super spicy sauce. We’ve been making them both for years, and in our opinion, they’re both perfect. The pork and vegetables are thrown into the food processor so that they have a really nice, minced texture, and the entire filling is characterized by a great soy and ginger flavor. The sauce has an intense heat to it that we just love, and it also has a delicious garlicky flavor. We could probably eat these once a week and never tire of them. Plus, bibb lettuce is just so fantastic for lettuce wraps. It has the perfect cup shape and is really pliable for wrapping into little parcels.
Tips: I sometimes add a good handful of bean sprouts to the mixture before placing it in the food processor – those are a great addition, too. This recipe is nice because you can really throw whatever vegetables that you want into the mix. Ground chicken or turkey is also a good alternative to the pork.
Pork and Vegetable Lettuce Wraps with Spicy Dipping Sauce
Source: Original Recipe
1 lb ground pork
10 baby bella mushrooms, roughly diced
3 small sweet red peppers, roughly diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 green onions, roughly diced
About 1 teaspoon minced ginger
3 tablespoons soy sauce
Boston bibb lettuce leaves
Spicy dipping sauce, recipe follows
1. Add the ground pork, mushrooms, and red peppers to a saute pan over medium heat. Cook until the pork is cooked through and the vegetables are softened. Add the garlic, and cook for a minute more.
2. Place the pork mixture in a food processor with the green onions, ginger, and soy sauce. Pulse until the mixture is finely minced.
3. Serve the pork filling with lettuce leaves and dipping sauce.
Dipping Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sriracha, or more to taste
Sesame oil, to taste
1. Place all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Add more sriracha if you’d like more spice.
threeowlskitchen.com 
I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with that 5 lb package of costco ground pork. I am going to make some sausage but this would be nice too! Love lettuce wraps especially since my garden will soon be producing fresh lettuce.
Homemade sausage sounds like something I definitely need to try out. I’m not sure why I haven’t before.
And that’s awesome that you have access to fresh lettuce from your garden….I can’t have a garden where I’m living right now, but I sure can’t wait to have one some day!
Now I will be thinking about these all day. They look great! (And I like your suggestion to use the food processor.)
Yes, using the food processor is one of my favorite parts about this recipe….the minced texture is just awesome!
I love this kind of stuff! Look forward to trying these, Carrie!
Thanks – I hope you like them if you try them out!
You have the best recipes! Really enjoy reading your blog. Someday, maybe I’ll actually start cooking for my family more often and try some of your recipes out.
Thank you so much :)
Thanks for the awesome recipe! This has definitely become a regular in our house.
On a side note-
I have a 6 month old that just started eating solids. So far, he loves egg yolks, banana, coconut oil, and liver (I tried so hard not to make a “this is disgusting” face when I introduced that!). I was just wondering what your experiences were with food introduction. Do you make your own? If so, have any tips to streamline the process? Not sure how old Ben is now but I’d love any tips you have found helpful to make sure the kiddo gets what he needs and is (hopefully) a good eater.
Thanks and keep pumping out the awesome meals!
Oh good! I’m so glad that you like the recipe. This is one of my husband’s favorites, too (and mine!).
Ben is about 6 1/2 months right now, and we only just started him on solids when he turned six months. We started with avocado, and have since tried banana and sweet potato. He wasn’t much of a fan of the avocado…but he liked the banana and loves sweet potato! I just mash up what I can with a fork (avocado, banana…) and was given a Baby Brezza from Williams Sonoma as a gift to make my own purees for foods that need to be cooked. I tried it out with the sweet potato, and it worked beautifully. It first steams the food, then automatically purees it, and then has containers for storage/freezing. We’re going to try peas & green beans as our next foods in there. I do like being able to give him foods that I can just mash up really quickly, too. I have a banana every morning for breakfast, so he gets a chunk of that.
Once I start making recipes that include more than one ingredient for Ben, I plan to post them up on the blog! For now, we’re just introducing one ingredient at a time to make sure he doesn’t have any allergies.
Do let me know if you have any tips! I am all about making our own food/ensuring that he is a good eater :)
These were amazing! Often when its hot outside we enjoy something light for dinner. These hit the spot!
So glad! And I agree – these are a great hot weather meal.