30-minute meal: Lettuce cups filled with ground turkey, diced oranges, fresh vegetables and chow mein noodles—smothered in homemade Asian orange sauce.
Asian Orange Lettuce Cups
I really love lettuce wraps and PF Changs has made them so popular for years. When I came across the Orange Chicken Lettuce Wrap recipe from gimmesomeoven.com, it caught my eye because I am always in search of a good orange chicken recipe. This recipe didn’t disappoint and I love the fact that it’s a lettuce wrap as well!
For this Asian Orange Sauce Lettuce Cups recipe, I added my own twist with fresh spices, ground turkey, more vegetables, and the crunch of some chow mein noodles. The diced oranges is a favorite in this recipe because the burst of flavor makes an impact. Don’t leave them out!
Asian Orange Sauce Lettuce Cups is a fast healthy meal that is full of fresh flavors—tailor-maid for summer!
Ingredients for the Asian Orange Sauce Lettuce Cups:
- Orange juice: Purchase the fresh squeeze variety of orange juice, not from concentrate. You can choose pulp or not pulp according to your liking.
- Honey:
- Soy sauce:
- Rice vinegar:
- Fresh ginger: The easiest way to use your fresh ginger is to peel it with a spoon. It works so easily to get in all the little crevices. Once the peel is removed, use a grater to get small pieces of ginger to use in the Asian orange sauce.
- Sesame oil: This ingredient is found in the Asian section of the grocery store. It comes in a small bottle because you typically only use a little. The added flavor is worth it.
- Minced garlic cloves:
- Orange zest: Zest the two orange you will be dicing for the lettuce cups.
- Red pepper flakes: An optional ingredient, but the little spicy kick tastes good with the fresh vegetables.
- Ground turkey: I like how healthy this ingredient is and also that it cooks up into small, tender pieces—perfect for a lettuce cup.
- Red bell pepper: You can use orange or yellow, or even green, but I prefer the sweet bell peppers.
- Carrots: Shredded carrots will cook very quickly.
- Celery:
- Water chestnuts:
- Green or Savoy cabbage:
- Fresh oranges: Peel the zested oranges and dice the oranges into bite-sized cubes.
- Green onions:
- Bibb lettuce leaves (or small Romaine lettuce): You want the lettuce to be in small, cup-shaped pieces to hold the filling for eating.
- Toasted almonds
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Chow Mein noodles: Really adds some crunch for texture in these lettuce cups.
- Siracha: Optional ingredient to add a little more spice if you desire.
How to Make the Asian Orange Sauce Lettuce Cups:
- Add all sauce ingredients to a medium saucepan. Stir and heat to simmer. Simmer for about 1 minute to be ready to use.
- In medium fry pan and on medium-high heat, cook ground turkey until no pink remains, about 5 minutes. Add bell pepper, carrots, celery, water chestnuts, and cabbage. Stir-fry until vegetables are tender, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add sauce, oranges and green onions. Continue to cook until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and portion ingredients into lettuce cups. Sprinkle with garnish items as desired. Serve immediately.
Enjoy this meal that is just perfect for a hot summer evening!
–Kim
Asian Orange Sauce Lettuce Cups
30-minute meal: Lettuce cups filled with ground turkey, diced oranges, fresh vegetables and chow mein noodles—smothered in homemade Asian orange sauce.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
Orange Sauce:
- ⅔ cup orange juice not from concentrate
- 4 Tablespoons honey
- 3 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 Tablespoons freshly shredded ginger
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic cloves
- Orange zest from 2 oranges
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
Lettuce Cups:
- 1 batch orange sauce (see recipe above)
- 1 pound ground turkey cooked
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 2 large carrots shredded
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1 can (8 oz) water chestnuts diced
- ¼ head green or savoy cabbage diced
- 2 large oranges diced
- 1 bunch green onions thin slice whites and greens—reserve some for garnish
- 8-10 Bibb lettuce leaves or small Romaine lettuce
Garnish:
- Toasted almonds
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Green onions sliced
- Chow Mein noodles
- Siracha
Instructions
- Add all sauce ingredients to a medium saucepan. Stir and heat to simmer. Simmer for about 1 minute to be ready to use.
- In medium fry pan and on medium-high heat, cook ground turkey until no pink remains, about 5 minutes. Add bell pepper, carrots, celery, water chestnuts, and cabbage. Stir-fry until vegetables are tender, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add sauce, oranges and green onions. Continue to cook until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and portion ingredients into lettuce cups. Sprinkle with garnish items as desired. Serve immediately.
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