Vegan Chili Lettuce Wraps
Servings: 2
Inspired by a request to recreate a vegan version of this Chili Beef Lettuce Wrap recipe by Gordon Ramsey, this vegan variation is surprisingly meaty, salty, spicy, and sweet and definitely hits the spot if you're looking for a satisfying replacement for the Gordon Ramsey classic!
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Ingredients
Chili Lettuce Wraps
- 2 tbls vegetable oil for frying
- 2 links firm vegan sausage such as Field Roast any brand is fine but it should be firm when uncooked. I recommend the garlic and fennel or garlic and sage versions but really any flavor will work here. If you can't find a firm vegan sausage, you can replace this with 200g minced mushrooms although it won't be nearly as 'meaty'.
- 2 links vegan chorizo-style sausage (200g) fortunately there a number of brands available these days. You should look for one that's quite soft, and will crumble when removed from the casing. Unfortunately for the flavors you're going for, this one is a bit harder to replace but you could use 200g ground walnuts and a chorizo spice blend if you truly can't find any store bought options.
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbls fresh ginger grated on a microplane or minced very fine
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1-2 red chilis very finely chopped. Remove the seeds if you're concerned about heat
- 1 tbls brown sugar
- 1 tbls vegan oyster sauce this can be replaced with soy sauce if you can't find vegan oyster sauce
- 4 scallions sliced thinly
- 2 heads gem or romaine lettuce for the lettuce cup holders
Dressing
- 1 tbls soy sauce
- 1/2 lime you'll have enough left over from the lime reference above, but if you want a really lime-y sauce you might want a second one on hand to taste
- 1/2 red chili finely sliced
- 1/4 cup cilantro leaves (10g roughly, also called corriander leaves)
- 1 tsp vegan oyster sauce this can be replaced with more soy sauce if you can't find vegan oyster sauce
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tbls olive oil
Instructions
Make the Chili Sausage Mixture
- First, chop the firm vegan sausage into very tiny pieces, about half the size of your pinky nail. Place in a bowl, then take the vegan chorizo and remove the casing, and break it up fully with your fingers into the bowl as well. Use your hands to toss the two types of sausage together.
- Heat a large frying pan with the 2 tbls oil, then add the vegan sausage to start cooking. Fry the mince in the hot pan until it starts to brown, stirring regularly so it browns evenly. This will take about 4-6 minutes.
- Once the vegan sausage has browned, add the garlic, ginger, and red chilis, and stir it into the sausage. Let it cook for 1-2 minutes until aromatic.
- While the mince is cooking, in a small bowl, combine the toasted sesame oil, sugar, vegan oyster sauce, zest of the lime and the juice from one half of it, and whisk them together.
- Pour the contents of the bowl over the vegan sausage and aromatics, using a spatula to make sure you get it all out. Stir the contents of the fry pan together and reduce to a very low heat to let the vegan sausage finish cooking and the sauce to warm up and thicken.
- Finally, add the chopped scallions and stir the mixture. Leave it over very low heat while preparing the dressing and lettuce cups.
Make the Dressing
- Combine all dressing ingredients together and adjust for taste. If you feel it is too salty, you can add more lime juice to balance it out.
Prepare the Lettuce Cups
- Chop off the bottom of your lettuce head, and carefully pull off the leaves so they can be used as cups for the mince.
- Add a few spoonfuls of the mince mixture to each lettuce cup. Serve with the dressing on the side to either to spoon over the lettuce cups.
Notes
If you’re having trouble getting neat ‘cups’ from your lettuce leaves, you can simply serve the mince over a bed of chopped lettuce. It’s also a great dish served this way with some jasmine rice on the side!
