Vietnamese Lemongrass Ground Turkey Lettuce Cups with Jasmine Rice

Vietnamese Lemongrass Ground Turkey Lettuce Cups with Jasmine Rice

⏱ Prep: 15 min🔥 Cook: 25 min⏰ Total: 40 min🍽 Serves 4😊 Easy
495 cal · 34g protein · 45g carbs · 18g fat
Toddler tip: Skip the lettuce wrap for her — serve the turkey straight over rice in a bowl. Leave out the sriracha entirely; the base is savory and lightly sweet, not hot.
Low-carb fork: This one has the fork built in: skip the rice and eat it entirely as lettuce cups, with extra cucumber and herbs.

Ingredients

Lemongrass Turkey

  • 1.25 lbsground turkey, 93% lean (do NOT substitute 98% here — there's no fat to carry the lemongrass and it goes dry and squeaky in a hot skillet)
  • 1 tbspneutral oil
  • 2 stalkslemongrass, tender inner core minced (or 2 tbsp lemongrass paste)
  • 4 clovesgarlic, minced
  • 1 tbspfresh ginger, grated
  • 3green onions, sliced — keep white parts and green tops separate
  • about ½ tspkosher salt
  • 2 tbsplow-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tbspbrown sugar
  • 1lime, juiced (plus wedges for serving)

Jasmine Rice

  • 1.5 cupsjasmine rice, rinsed
  • 2 cupswater
  • pinchkosher salt

For the Lettuce Cups

  • 2 headsbutter lettuce, leaves separated
  • 1 largecucumber, cut into thin matchsticks
  • 1 cupcilantro and mint leaves, loosely packed
  • optionalsriracha, for the adults

Instructions

1Start the rice first: combine the rinsed jasmine rice, water, and salt in a saucepan, bring to a boil, then cover and drop to the lowest heat for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave it covered to steam while you cook everything else.
2While the rice simmers, set out the platter: separate the lettuce leaves, cut the cucumber into thin matchsticks, pile the herbs alongside, and slice the green onions — keeping the white parts separate from the green tops. Do this now; once the aromatics hit the pan you will not have a free hand.
3Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the lemongrass, garlic, ginger, and the white parts of the green onions and stir constantly for 45 seconds until fragrant.
4Add the ground turkey and the ½ teaspoon kosher salt and break it apart with a spoon. Cook 6–8 minutes until browned and no longer pink, letting it sit undisturbed in spots so it picks up some crust.
5Stir in the soy sauce and brown sugar and cook 2 more minutes until the liquid reduces and glazes the meat. Kill the heat and stir in the lime juice.
6Fluff the rice and scatter the reserved green onion tops over the turkey. Serve family-style — everyone spoons turkey into a lettuce leaf, adds cucumber and herbs, and eats it with rice on the side. Lime wedges and sriracha on the table.