Chinese-Inspired Pork Lettuce Wraps

Chinese-Inspired Pork Lettuce Wraps are a quick and flavorful recipe that can be served as an easy entree or tasty appetizer. Plus, it’s Whole30-compliant and meal prep-friendly!

This recipe was created in partnership with our friends and farmers at MN Pork Board.

Healthy eating made simply delicious!

It’s our mission as The Real Food RDs to share recipes that are simple, incredibly tasty, AND made with whole, real food ingredients. We want to show and teach you that eating healthfully doesn’t haven’t to be boring or monotonous or require hours upon hours in the kitchen. And that it CAN be enjoyable, flavorful, and full of variety. We want to inspire you to try new foods, cook at home more and fuel your body with foods that make you feel good inside and out.

Cooked ground pork, sautéed mushrooms, onions, and water chestnuts simmered in a flavorful yet simple homemade Asian-inspired sauce and tucked into a crisp lettuce leaf? Yes, please!

Recently, we teamed up with Minnesota Pork to bring you four wholesome recipes that make for easy and delicious weeknight meals. These recipes will help you add flavor to your menu and are perfect for avoiding that dinner rut we too often fall into. So far, we’ve shared recipes for an Easy Orange Pork Stir Fry and Easy Slow Cooker Carnitas – both of which make simple yet delicious weeknight dinner options. And today, I’m sharing these Chinese Pork Lettuce Wraps, a recipe that was inspired by a popular menu item at Asian-style restaurants. While these lettuce wraps can be served as a tasty appetizer, I often serve them as an easy entree along with a side of fluffy basmati rice (or cauliflower rice) for a satisfying and scrumptious meal.

Fun Fact from the MN Pork Board:

• Minnesota is home to 3,000 family pig farms! The farmers are committed to the care of their animals throughout every stage of the pig’s life. Read more about Minnesota’s pig farming here, about the value of this industry in the state of Minnesota, the strides it has made in sustainability, and the commitment to make animal care a top priority.

Top and garnish as you please.

This is where you can get creative and have a little fun! The topping options for these Pork Lettuce Wraps are endless – you can go all out or keep it simple. Because the Asian-inspired sauce adds so much amazing flavor to the ground pork filling, I tend to keep it simple and top them with shredded carrots, cilantro, sesame seeds, crushed red pepper, and cashews, but you’ve got options:

• Shredded carrots or cabbage
• Fresh cilantro
• Thinly sliced radishes
• Avocado
• Sliced green onion
• Finely diced red onion
• Finely diced red pepper
• Crushed red pepper
• Sesame seeds or sunflower seeds
• Cashews, almond, or peanuts
• A squeeze of lime juice
• Crushed plantain chips

Additionally, instead of serving in a lettuce leaf, you could also serve the Chinese pork filling over greens and enjoy as a salad OR serve over rice with a side of veggies. All are great and tasty ways to enjoy this recipe.

Pork Lettuce Wraps are meal prep-friendly!

We love meal prep-friendly recipes because they taste just as delicious reheated a day or two after being made. The meat filling for the Chinese Pork Lettuce Wraps is 100% meal prep-friendly and freezer-friendly, too!

Here’s how you can prep this recipe ahead:

• Make the Chinese pork filling on your prep day. I like to use Sundays as my prep day.
• Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freezer for up to 3 months.
• Prepare the toppings that you plan to add and store those however appropriate.
• When ready to eat, simply reheat the meat in the microwave or in a pan over medium heat (stirring occasionally), set out the toppings, and assemble the lettuce wraps as you please. Easy peasy!

Now let’s all give this recipe a try! Comment below on how you will choose to top these Chinese Pork Lettuce Wraps.

Recipe

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Chinese Pork Lettuce Wraps

Prep: 15 minCook: 15 minTotal: 30 minutes

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Servings: 5 servings (10 lettuce wraps) 1x

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Ingredients

For the Sauce:

• ⅓ cup coconut aminos
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (may sub 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger (may sub ½ teaspoon ground ginger) 
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper 

For the Pork:

• 1 lb. ground pork
• 2 cups diced mushrooms
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, diced

For serving and topping:

• Lettuce leaves (butter lettuce, bib or green lettuce)
• Shredded cabbage and carrot mix
• Green onion, sliced
• Cilantro, chopped
• Roasted cashews, chopped
• Sesame seeds
• Crushed red pepper
• Lime wedge

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Instructions

1. In a small mason jar or bowl, combine the sauce ingredients. Whisk well with fork and set aside. 
2. In a large pan over medium-high heat, add the ground pork, diced mushrooms, diced onion and a little salt and pepper. Cook for about 4-5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add water chestnuts and continue to cook until pork is cooked through.
3. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the sauce to the pan plus 2 tablespoons additional water (add the water to the empty mason jar that contained the sauce, then shake up and pour in).
4. Bring to a low simmer and continue to cook for 5-7 minutes or until sauce is mostly absorbed. Stir occasionally.
5. Serve pork in lettuce leaves with desired toppings.

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Nutrition Information

• Serving Size: 1/5 of recipe - 2 lettuce wraps (without toppings)
• Calories: 285
• Fat: 16 g
• Sodium: 500 mg
• Carbohydrate: 13 g
• (Fiber: 2 g
• Sugar: 5 g)
• Protein: 18 g

Dietary

Dairy-FreeEgg-FreeGluten-freeGrain-FreeNut-freePaleoWhole30

© The Real Food Dietitians

Recipe By: Stacie Hassing

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Photo Credit: The photos in this blog post were taken by Jess of Plays Well with Butter. 

This post was made possible by our friends at MN Pork Board. Although we received compensation for this post, the opinions expressed here are – as always – 100% our own. Thank you for supporting the great companies we work with thereby allowing us to continue creating great recipes and content for you.

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