Shrimp Lettuce Wraps pack a ton of flavor but are light enough for hot summer days. Plus, we’ve got a tip to make prepping the veggies a breeze. Who doesn’t love less prep work?
Lettuce wraps are one of the best dinners for hot days as all the ingredients are so fresh and light. The shrimp cook quickly and get wrapped up with fresh veggies and a flavorful sauce.
There are more details about making the shrimp lettuce wraps below, or you can click here to jump straight to the recipe.
What Kind Of Shrimp?
Using shrimp in lettuce wraps makes it full of protein and so quick to make. You’ll want medium sized shrimp that are already peeled and deveined. You can use already cooked and frozen shrimp if you’d like. I always have raw frozen shrimp in my freezer so that’s what I tend to use. If yours are frozen, you can quickly thaw them by putting them in a bowl in the sink and let the tap water run over them for about 5 minutes until they are pliable.
For these shrimp wraps, I like to cook them quickly on the stovetop. I heat some oil and sauté the shrimp with lime juice, salt, and pepper. It only takes about 5 minutes to cook them through.
Veggies For Lettuce Wraps
If you use a premade sauce and pre-cut veggies that you can grab from a salad bar or the produce department, this dinner can come together in less than 10 minutes which makes it perfect for weeknights.
I like using butter lettuce for wraps because it’s pliable and less likely to snap when folding and picking up your wrap. Other options are iceberg and romaine, but you may need big leaves so you can remove the rib in the center and still have plenty of room on each half.
Since there are so many topping options that you can add to the wraps, serve them like a topping bar and let everyone make it their own. I really like shredded carrots and cabbage on mine along with some sliced avocado. Let me know in the comments what you like on your shrimp lettuce wraps!
Sauce For Shrimp Wraps
The thing that really sets these Shrimp Lettuce Wraps apart is the sweet chili sauce. It’s always a crowd pleaser. The version I make isn’t terribly spicy, but if you’re sensitive to heat or are serving it to children, try adding 1 tablespoon of the sambal oelek first to test the spice level.
You’ll heat rice vinegar, some water, and sugar in a pot on the stove and let it boil and dissolve the sugar. Then lower the heat and stir in the sambal oelek until incorporated. Let simmer while you mix some water and cornstarch together. You’ll add that into the sauce to thicken it.
Of course, if you’re looking for something even more spicy, add more sambal oelek or try adding in fresh chilies. You can also try adding in honey if you’re trying to make this dish even lighter.
What Is Sambal Oelek?
If you’ve never heard of sambal oelek before, it’s a simple Indonesian chili sauce made with crushed chile peppers and generally a little vinegar and salt. You can find it at many ethnic markets or here on Amazon.
You can even skip the sauce and add a squeeze of lime and sriracha instead. There are all sorts of ways to make this dish yours, so let us know your favorite flavor combo so we can give it a try too.
More Veggie Filled Recipes
Podcast Episode: Making Shrimp Lettuce Wraps
Listen to our editor, Christine Pittman, explain briefly how these delicious wraps are made, with great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:
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Shrimp Lettuce Wraps Recipe
Shrimp Lettuce Wraps pack a ton of flavor but are light enough for hot summer days. Plus, we’ve got a tip to make prepping the veggies a breeze. Who doesn’t love less prep work?
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 wraps 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the shrimp:
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 lb. shrimp
- 1 Tbsp. lime juice
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper (or to taste)
For Sweet Chili Sauce:
- 1/2 cup and 2 tbsp. water, divided
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp. sambal oelek
- 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
For Wraps:
- 1 head butter lettuce
- Shredded carrots
- Shredded red cabbage
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 2 Tbsp. diced green onions
- 2 Tbsp. roughly chopped cilantro
- 1 lime, sliced into 8 wedges
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add in shrimp and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper. Cook 5-6 minutes until no longer pink on both sides. Set aside.
- In a small sauce pot, heat rice vinegar, ½ cup of water and sugar over medium high heat until boiling and sugar is dissolved.
- Lower heat to medium, and stir in sambal oelek until incorporated. Let simmer.
- While sauce is simmering, add remaining 2 tablespoons water and cornstarch to small bowl and mix together.
- Slowly add into the sambal mixture and stir. Simmer until thickened and remove from heat. Let cool and refrigerate until ready for use.
To Assemble Wraps:
- Take a leaf of butter lettuce and layer with shrimp, carrots, red cabbage, avocado, green onions, cilantro, lime juice, and sweet chili sauce. Serve immediately.
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This post originally appeared in May 2019 and was revised and republished in February 2025.
These are my tortilla wraps with lettuce in place of tortiias!
It’s so tasty and light with the lettuce as the wrap, Thomas. Although tortillas are good too!