Spicy Vegan Lettuce Wraps
These healthy vegan lettuce wraps with spicy buffalo walnut meat are the perfect low carb recipe for summer! This easy and delicious recipe is a surprisingly hearty meal that’s also light and fresh and loaded with veggies. And it’s entirely no-cook, so you don’t need to turn on a stove or oven to make it! Serve it for a poolside lunch or as a dinner on the patio with potato wedges. Thank you to our friends at California Walnuts for sponsoring this post!
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I love a good crisp lettuce wrap – crispy lettuce leaves, flavorful fillings, dreamy drizzles of dressing, and that fresh summer crunch. These raw vegan lettuce wraps with buffalo walnut meat are my new summer bestie!
There are a lot of lettuce wrap recipes out there that use a tofu filling, but I want to introduce a new friend to the lettuce wrap chat: walnut meat made with fresh California walnuts!
Walnut meat is an easy and delicious way to make vegetarian lettuce wraps without tofu! It’s nutty and filling and massively flavorful. Not to mention, the hearty texture really stands out among the crispy veggies in this recipe, which offer a nice fresh complement.
And the really good thing? You don’t have to turn on the stove to make this recipe!
Why You’ll Love This Lettuce Wraps Recipe (Vegetarian)
- By making vegan lettuce wraps with walnuts instead of the usual tofu, we can make this recipe entirely no-cook which is just perfect for those long hot summer days!
- These simple vegan lettuce wraps are easy to make and the perfect light lunch served poolside!
- A good lettuce wrap is an essential summer recipe in every plant-based cook’s playbook. This one is ours!
Ingredients in Lettuce Wraps Recipe (healthy)
There are no hard-to-find ingredients in these healthy veggie lettuce wraps! You’ll just need a few plant-based kitchen staples:
- California walnuts – Fresh California walnuts are the KEY ingredient in this recipe that add a meaty and satisfying texture to these vegan lettuce wraps. You want to soak the walnuts in hot water for at least 20 minutes before using them in this recipe. This will soften the walnuts a bit and let them soak up all that beautiful buffalo flavor!
- Celery – some diced for the walnut meat and some for topping the wraps
- Onion – diced
- Garlic – minced
- Soy sauce – This adds a savory, salty component the walnuts soak in well.
- Vegan chicken bouillon powder – We used our homemade vegan bouillon powder to add a chicken-y vibe to this walnut meat!
- Nutritional yeast – This acts as a sauce thickener and adds a great savory flavor.
- Vegan-friendly buffalo sauce – A lot of brands (including the classic Frank’s) make “accidentally” vegan buffalo sauce. Buffalo sauce is traditionally made with butter, so just be sure to check the ingredients for dairy!
- Large lettuce leaves – I prefer baby romaine lettuce for lettuce wraps, but you can also use Bibb, Iceberg, or butter lettuce.
- Shredded carrots – For topping
- Avocado – Diced, for topping
- Vegan ranch – For drizzling. I really dig our avocado ranch sauce with this recipe, but you can also use our vegan buttermilk ranch dip or follow the dressing ingredients on our vegan ranch seasoning recipe!
What’s the best lettuce to use for lettuce wraps?
I prefer baby romaine lettuce for lettuce wraps, but you can also use Bibb or Iceberg lettuce. You want a sturdy lettuce leaf with sides that curl upward to create the perfect small bowl for lettuce cups that can hold all those toppings. I’d stay away from anything too flat and leafy personally, but more sturdy leafy greens like collard or kale leaves are also popular options for a healthy twist.
Substitution Options for Plant Based Lettuce Wraps
If you don’t have or can’t tolerate one of the above ingredients, here are our best substitution tips. Remember though, substituting any of the ingredients for these vegetarian wraps may lead to a varied degree of difference in the final product. Let us know in the comments if you try any subs and how they work out for you!
For the celery: Feel free to omit this or use more onion in its place. If you really want to shake things up, you can try shaved fennel, jicama, green apples or water chestnuts.
For the onion: You can use red onion or shallots for a slightly different, more pungent flavor. You can also sub some of the yellow or white onion with green onions!
For the fresh cloves of garlic: Use 1 tsp of jarred minced garlic for each garlic clove the recipe calls for. If you are using garlic powder, use 1/8 of a teaspoon per clove of garlic.
For the soy sauce: You can use tamari, coconut aminos, vegan Worcestershire, or even vegan fish sauce. You can also use low-sodium soy sauce or cut the amount in half to lower the sodium.
To replace the bouillon powder: You can use half as much bouillon paste or grind up 1 bouillon cube.
For the nutritional yeast: Feel free to skip this and maybe add 1 tsp ground mustard instead.
To replace the buffalo sauce: Use any hot sauce you like for these lettuce wraps! It also works with BBQ sauce for a less spicy version.
For the toppings:
Feel free to shake things up with the toppings. Some ideas: Use a vegan blue cheese dressing instead of ranch, add a squeeze of fresh lime juice, sub guac for the avocado, add a sprinkle of vegan cheese or some freshly sliced green onions and red cabbage!
How to Make Vegan Lettuce Wraps
These vegetarian lettuce wraps are such an easy recipe. They’re the perfect light meal for summer because you don’t even need to turn on the stove, and they can be eaten cold!
Step 1: Make the buffalo walnut meat
Drain the soaked walnuts and add them to a food processor along with the remainder of the walnut meat ingredients. Pulse about 4-6 times until the walnuts are broken up into small pieces like a ground meat type texture.
Step 2: Assemble the vegetarian lettuce wraps.
Soak or rinse your lettuce leaves in ice cold water and then pat them dry with some paper towels. Then chop the ingredients as directed above.
Lay the lettuce leaves out and divide the walnut meat among them. Do the same for the shredded carrots, celery, and diced avocado. Then, drizzle the top of your lettuce wraps with vegan ranch before serving!
How to Cut Lettuce for Wraps
You may need to cut the fibrous bottom from a romaine leaf, but leave the leaf whole otherwise. We don’t actually cut the lettuce for lettuce wraps.
What to Serve with Lettuce Wraps for Dinner
These healthy lettuce wraps are an easy recipe that are incredibly well-suited as a full meal for lunches by the pool or when working from home! But, they also make a fantastic dinner!
If serving for dinner, we like to include a potato side dish like:
- Air Fryer Potato Wedges
- Roasted Potatoes
- Vegan Broccoli Ranch Twice-Baked Potatoes
How to Store Leftover Vegan Lettuce Wraps (no tofu)
The assembled lettuce cups are best served immediately, but you can definitely meal prep them if you keep all the components separate!
In the fridge: Store leftover walnut meat and chopped veggies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
In the freezer: You can freeze the buffalo walnut meat in an airtight container for up to 2 months! I like to spread the leftover filling out on a baking sheet and freeze overnight before transferring to a silicone freezer bag for long-term storage. Freezing it this way will help prevent it from clumping and becoming an unmanageable frozen block.
More Healthy Walnut Recipes:
If you dig these healthy lettuce wraps, you’ll also love these vegan walnut recipes:
- Walnut Chorizo – Serve it on our Southwest Salad!
- Walnut Sausage – Try it on our Vegan Pesto Pizza!
- Spicy Walnut Beef – Use it as taco meat to make Loaded Vegan Nachos!
- And for the winter months: Try our Walnut Stout Pie!
I hope you love these Buffalo Walnut Lettuce Wraps and they spice up your summer a little bit! Walnut meat recipes are some of my favorite vegetarian recipes, and I can’t wait to hear what you think of this delicious plant-based magic!
When you try it, don’t forget to leave a star rating and review below. This helps more people find our recipes, and we have so much fun when you bring us along on your cooking adventures.
If you’re on Instagram, we’d love for you to tag both @theplantpowercouple AND our friends at @CAwalnuts in your photos. We are so excited to cheer you on!
Vegan Lettuce Wrap with Buffalo Walnut Meat
Ingredients
For the buffalo walnut meat:
- 2 cups raw walnuts soaked in cool water 20 minutes
- 1 celery stalk diced
- 1/2 onion diced
- 1-2 clove garlic minced
- 1/4 cup vegan-friendly buffalo sauce
- 1 Tbsp vegan chicken bouillon powder
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp soy sauce
For the lettuce wraps:
- 8-10 baby romaine lettuce leaves Bibb, iceberg, or butter lettuce will also work.
- 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
- 2 large celery stalks cut into 2 inch matchsticks
- 1 small avocado diced
- Vegan ranch dressing for drizzling
Instructions
- Make the buffalo walnut meat: Drain the soaked walnuts and add them to a food processor along with the remainder of the walnut meat ingredients. Pulse about 4-6 times until the walnuts are broken up to a ground meat type texture.
- Assemble the vegan lettuce wraps: Clean and dry your lettuce leaves and chop the ingredients as directed above. Lay the lettuce leaves out and divide the walnut meat among them. Do the same for the shredded carrots, celery, and diced avocado. Then, drizzle each lettuce wrap with vegan ranch before serving!
- To serve / store: Serve these healthy lettuce wraps immediately with a side of air fryer potato wedges for dinner. They’re also perfect on their own as a lunch or snack option! Store leftover walnut meat in the fridge for 5 days or the freezer for up to 2 months. Enjoy!
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Notes
- Vegan Ranch Options – I really dig our avocado ranch sauce with this recipe, but you can also use our vegan buttermilk ranch dip or follow the dressing ingredients on our vegan ranch seasoning recipe!
- Notes on buffalo sauce: A lot of brands (including the classic Frank’s) make “accidentally” vegan buffalo sauce. Buffalo sauce is traditionally made with butter, so just be sure to check the ingredients for dairy! Alternatively, you can use any hot sauce you like. BBQ sauce would also be delicious here!
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