Vegetable Lettuce Wraps with Plant-based Protein

These quick and nutritious lettuce wraps are packed with fiber and plant-based protein. If new to plant-based foods, try this gateway recipe to hook you. You will be craving this flavor after the first bite!

If you are trying to include more vegetables in your diet, these easy-to-make lettuce wraps are right up your alley. They also include plant-based protein to maintain that full feeling and energy through-out the day.

The ingredients for this recipe are quite simple. For instance, many of these ingredients are typically used in Asian cooking. So, they will be needed again in future plant-based dishes. You can also modify this recipe to your liking. For example, the recipe calls for meatless ground. If there are other protein sources you prefer, you can swap the protein sources. The secret is truly in the sauce!

This sauce is a mix of sweet salty and acidic which hits the right frequency. You will be craving another bite! I assure you will not have leftovers. However, if you miraculously do, the filling refrigerates well!

Another bonus is that this recipe is great not only as a dinner meal but also a good brunch or snack item. Also, these vegetable lettuce boats make a great appetizer for a party or get together.

Vegetable Lettuce Wrap Recipe Tips

Recommended Equipment and Kitchen Utensils

• Frying pan
• Spatula
• Cutting knives

Protein Sources

• I recommend using a meatless ground in this recipe. Trader Joes has a great product. However, there are other brands including Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat which are the market leaders. They both use pea protein and a few other simple ingredients. There is also Quorn which uses mycoprotein to create their texturized protein. And there are many others out in the market that you can try.
• And if you want to keep it real simple and least processed, you can crumble up tofu and use that as your plant-based protein base. You can crumble up the tofu using the back of a fork or a masher.

Sauces

• Hoisin is used in this lettuce cup recipe. It is a common sweet sauce that accompanies many Asian-influenced dishes. You can find this at any grocery store. There are several brands on the market.
• Soy sauce is also used. This provides the salty note to the dish. I recommend using the low sodium version. If the dish needs more savory salt, you can always add it later on.
• Fish oil sauce is an optional ingredient. If you want to keep this a vegan, dish, skip this recommendation. However, if you like this savory note, I recommend a splash of this. This ingredient is commonly used in other Asian dishes like Thai, Vietnamese, etc.

Texture

The bulk of the recipe is a soft texture. Therefore, I recommend adding a little crunch to break up the texture. There are a few choices. My favorite is using chopped water chestnuts. Or if you do not have that on hand, you can also use chopped daikon, parnsip, jicama or carrot in place of chestnuts in these lettuce wraps. Try it once with chestnuts and to get familiar of the soft crunch that complements this dish.

Benefits of this Vegetable Wrap Recipe

• Easy to make
• Quick recipe
• Plant-based Protein
• Dietary Fiber
• Flavorful
• Meatless Monday option

Other Plant-based Recipes to Try

Vegetable Lettuce Wraps with Plant-based Protein

Recipe by SansMooCourse: Lunch, DinnerCuisine: AsianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Total time

30

minutes

These quick and nutritious lettuce wraps are packed with fiber and plant-based protein. If you are new to plant-based foods, this is the gateway recipe to get you hooked. You will be craving this flavor after the first bite!

Ingredients

• Sauce

• 2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar

• 3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
  (Note: use low sodium)

• 2 1/2 Tablespoons Hoison Sauce

• 1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil

• 1 Teaspoon Fish Oil
  (Optional: for flavor)

• Chopped Components

• 1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
  (Note: Any mild flavor oil (e.g. canola, avocado, etc.)

• 8 Ounces Crimini Mushrooms (chopped)
  (Note: substitute with white mushrooms)

• 12 Ounces Meatless Grounds

• 1/4 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

• 1 Can Water Chestnuts (chopped)
  (Note: substitute with chopped daikon, celery or carrots)

• 2 Cloves Garlic (minced)

• 1 Inch Fresh Ginger (minced)

• 1 Stalks Green Onions (chopped)

• Garnish

• 8 Leaves Romaine Lettuce
  (Note: Substitute with butter lettuce, endive, etc.)

• 1 Stalks Green Onions (chopped)

Directions

• Mix together the rice vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil and fish oil (if you are using it) in a bowl. Set aside.
• Pour oil into a sauce pan. Heat to medium high.
• Add chopped mushroom and saute for two minutes.
• Add the meatless crumble and stir to mix up. Cook for another two minutes.
• Add chestnuts, garlic, ginger, green onion and red pepper flakes. Mix together. Cook for another two minutes.
• Add the sauce that was set aside to the pan. Mix to cover all the food components in the pan.
• Cook for another 5 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed into the food. (Note: It should not be runny.)
• Prepare lettuce leaves by laying them out on a dish.
• Fill each lettuce leaf with 1-2 tablespoons of meatless mixture.
• Garnish with chopped green onion.