It looks like I’ve got one more summer recipe in me before I can really move on to fall. This recipe for these Vietnamese meatball lettuce wraps has been on the list to post for a couple of weeks but life and pancakes got in the way so I am only just now getting to it. Fall will have to wait.
I’ll be the first to admit I have a love/hate relationship with lettuce wraps. I love that they are light and full of healthy veggies but I hate that they can be so hard to eat. Am I the only one who loses all the filling after the first bite? I think that’s why I like these meatball lettuce wraps. I seem to have better luck with keeping these meatballs in place. The fact that they are flavorful and easy to make just makes this meal a win-win all around.
If you still don’t want to deal with the potential messiness of a handheld wrap, you can easily serve the meatballs over steamed rice or vermicelli noodles topped with shredded lettuce and carrots and drizzled with some of the sauce. Honestly, you can never have too many vermicelli noodle bowl recipes in your rotation.
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PinIngredients
For the meatballs
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 6 scallions (white and light green parts only), chopped
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 pound ground turkey
For serving
- ½ cup fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon chili garlic sauce
- 3 medium carrots, peeled
- Fresh cilantro and thai basil leaves, torn
- 8–10 cup-shaped leaves from a head of bibb or butter lettuce
Instructions
For the meatballs
- Lightly spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the cilantro, scallions, water, fish sauce, sugar, and black pepper until the sugar is dissolved.
- Add the ground turkey and mix together thoroughly. Form the mixture into 20 meatballs (about 1 rounded tablespoon each). Place the meatballs on prepared baking sheet.
- Chill the meatballs in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Remove the meatballs from the refrigerator and lightly spray the top of the meatballs with cooking spray.
- Bake meatballs in oven until they are cooked through, 15-20 minutes, turning half-way through.
For serving
- In a small bowl, stir together the lime juice, fish sauce, water, sugar, and chili garlic sauce until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
- Using a vegetable peeler, cut the carrots into long ribbons. Toss the carrots with 4 tablespoons of the fish sauce mixture. Reserve the remaining fish sauce mixture for serving on the side.
- Serve meatballs with shredded carrots and fresh cilantro and basil leaves wrapped in the lettuce leaves. Spoon additional sauce onto the wraps, if desired.
Notes
Moisten your hands slightly with water if the meat mixture sticks to your hands too much while forming the meatballs. I prefer to wear food-safe disposable gloves. It’s less messy and your hands stay cleaner.
Recipe adapted from Milk Street.
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