Succulently juicy shrimp drenched in a sweet, umami-packed sauce, these shrimp lettuce wraps are the perfect light lunch or dinner and are fun to customize. Make a big batch and serve these healthy lettuce wraps for lunch all week! Here’s everything you need to know.
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Ingredients For Shrimp Lettuce Wraps
These shrimp lettuce wraps come together with a handful of fresh herbs and veggies, combined with a peanut sauce made from pantry staples. Here’s what to collect:
- Veggies: Bell peppers, carrots, green onions, and cucumbers. Feel free to add other veggies here if you like–you can keep them raw or saute them based on your preferences.
- Herbs: Mint and cilantro are my favorite pairing for these Thai shrimp lettuce wraps.
- Shrimp: I prefer large shrimp as they’re the hardest to overcook. We always purchase wild-caught products due to their lower level of contaminants (when compared to farmed). Psst–we’ll pan-sear the shrimp, but feel free to use grilled shrimp or whatever you love here.
- Peanut sauce: My go-to umami-packed recipe comes together with creamy peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice, sesame oil, garlic, and ginger. Mix these together then taste and adjust to your personal preference.
Which Lettuce is Best for Wraps?
The best lettuce for wraps, hands down, is butter lettuce. It has tender, soft leaves that are slightly sweet-flavored. The leaves are pliable, making them easy to fold around the fillings without breaking. Some other options include:
- Collard greens: I use these when making my keto spring rolls–they’ll need to be blanched to become pliable.
- Green leaf lettuce has a delicate flavor and is more flexible than romaine lettuce–that said, its thick spine isn’t my favorite for shrimp lettuce wraps.
- Iceburg lettuce lacks much nutritional value and is very delicate. It does work for lettuce wraps but may crack when folded.
How to Make Lettuce Wraps With Shrimp
The hardest part of making these shrimp lettuce wraps is slicing/chopping–once that’s done, they come together in a matter of minutes. Here’s how:
- Season the shrimp.
- Sear in oil in a warm pan. Remove and set aside.
- Saute your bell peppers, carrots, and green onions in the same pan.
- Mix together the peanut sauce.
- Have fun + assemble!
Storing Leftovers
As mentioned, these shrimp wraps make for delicious leftovers–just be sure to store everything separately so the sauce doesn’t get watery, and the herbs stay crisp. If you happen to have extra leftovers, don’t let them go to waste! Consider:
- Turning them into a salad, similar to my Thai chicken salad.
- Or over a bed of noodles ala spring roll in a bowl–keto friend, consider shirataki noodles.
What goes well with shrimp lettuce wraps?
Although these are traditionally served as an app, we enjoy them for lunch or dinner. That said, all your Thai favorites go well with this dish. Think peanut butter chicken, salmon curry, or pad Thai.
More Easy Shrimp Recipes
Shrimp Lettuce Wraps
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1 pound shrimp peeled + deveined
- 1 teaspoon both Kosher Salt + black pepper
- 2 tablespoons vegetable or avocado oil
- 1 bell pepper deseeded + sliced thinly into matchsticks
- 1/4 cup carrots shredded
- 4 green onions sliced
- 1/2 cucumber sliced thinly into matchsticks
Peanut Sauce
- 1/4 cup Peanut Butter creamy + softened (note 4)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar can use Swerve or Lakanto for low carb
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
Assemble:
- 1 head butter lettuce
- 1/4 cup fresh mint chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 1/4 cup Peanuts chopped
Instructions
- Pat shrimp dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Once shimmering, add the shrimp and saute on both sides until pink and entirely cooked through. Set cooked shrimp aside on a plate.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of oil, and saute the green onions, bell peppers, and carrots in the same pan until they begin to soften.
- Meanwhile, make the sauce by combining all ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Assemble the lettuce wraps by placing a piece of lettuce on a plate, followed by the veggies, then shrimp. Top with peanuts, cilantro, and mint, and drizzle with sauce. enjoy!
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