Vegan Lettuce Wraps with Mushroom Teriyaki for the perfect plant-based, gluten-free appetizer or side dish. Made in just 20 minutes for an easy recipe that everyone will love.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.
Hey friends! How was your labor day weekend?
Mine was great! After the first (very hectic) week of school wrapped up for the kids, I was able to spend a glorious weekend to myself. I did a little wine tasting and apple picking but spent most of my weekend doing very little but transitioning my mind and home into this new season. It was wonderful and much-needed.
And now it's September and I am so excited about the recipes I have for you this month. I have cookies, doughnuts, a couple of easy weeknight meals, and my very first pumpkin recipe of the season. It's all coming very soon.
BUT, before we get too ahead of ourselves, let's take a look at what I have for you today.
Vegan Lettuce Wraps with Teriyaki Mushrooms!
Recommended Ingredients & Equipment
It may be September but we still have a few weeks of summer left and these vegan lettuce wraps are the perfect summer to fall transitional recipe. They are filled with the bold flavors and meaty textures we associate with shorter days and colder nights while staying light and refreshing to honor these final summer days.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Butter Leaf Lettuce - I recommend Inspired Greens Butter Leaf Lettuce.
- Sesame Oil - Any oil will do but sesame oil adds a delicious toasted nutty flavor that is perfect for this recipe.
- Red Onions
- Red Bell Pepper
- Mushrooms
- Pineapple
- Cashews
- Teriyaki Sauce - You can buy your teriyaki sauce at the store but I recommend making it from home. It's super easy and highly versatile. For this recipe, you will need soy sauce (tamari for gluten-free), mirin, maple syrup (or another sweetener), garlic, ginger, and cornstarch.
Recommended Equipment
For these vegan lettuce wraps you will need a small saucepot, a large skillet, and a chef's knife, and basic kitchen utensils. (<<affiliate links)
Check out the full list of my recommended kitchen tools and gadgets.
What is Inspired Greens?
Inspired Greens is just the freshest and tastiest lettuce you can buy!
Inspired Greens is a company based in Alberta, Canada. They are dedicated to providing food that supports a healthy lifestyle. Inspired Greens grows 6 varieties of living lettuce (that means they grow and harvest the lettuce in small compostable pots for extra freshness) in a greenhouse year-round. They are committed to growing without pesticides and feeding their plants only clean Canadian water.
Because they harvest living lettuce, you can buy it from the store - compostable pots intact - place it in a jar of water and store it in your refrigerator for lettuce that will last much longer than the lettuce you'll find in bags! I love Inspired Greens because less lettuce goes to waste and I know I am eating some of the healthiest, top quality lettuce I buy find at the store.
And you can taste the difference!
I have tried several varieties of Inspired Greens Lettuce and I am so excited to pair my Teriyaki Mushrooms with their Green Butter Leaves for you today.
How to Make Vegan Lettuce Wraps
Step one - Make the Teriyaki Sauce
Combine soy sauce, water, mirin, maple syrup, garlic, and ginger in a small saucepot and bring to boil.
In a separate bowl, combine the remaining water with cornstarch. Mix together until the cornstarch is dissolved, creating a cornstarch slurry. This will be used to thicken the sauce. Add the slurry to the sauce and return to boil. Once it is boiling, reduce the heat to simmer and simmer, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, until sauce is thick and coats the back of the spoon.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Step Two - Make the Filling
First, we are going to chop the mushrooms. If your mushrooms are small, you can quarter them. If they are slightly larger, cut them into 6 pieces. We want them to be about the same size as the cashews. Slice the red onion and bell peppers.
Sauté the onions in hot sesame oil for 5 minutes, until onions are translucent and fragrant. Stir in bell pepper and mushroom and sauté for 5-7 minutes more until vegetables are cooked all the way through. Stir in the cashews and pineapple.
Remove the vegetables from heat and stir in Teriyaki Sauce until the vegetables are evenly coated.
Step Three - Assemble the Wraps
To assemble these lettuce wraps, remove 12 of your biggest Green Butter leaves from the bunch. Keep in mind that Green Butter leaves are smaller than other commonly used lettuce wraps, so if you use larger leaves, this recipe will make between 6-8.
Hold the leave gently in the palm of your hand and scoop about 3 tablespoons of Teriyaki mushroom filling into the middle of the lettuce leaf. Place on a serving platter and repeat until all the filling is gone.
Serving and Storing
Serve these lettuce wraps within a couple of hours of assembling them. Eventually, the lettuce will begin to wilt from the heat of the filling. Serve them with Vegan Pad Thai or Udon Noodle Stir Fry with Tofu for a complete meal.
To make this recipe in advance, make this filling a day or two ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Once you are ready to serve, just quickly reheat the filling and assemble.
Store extra filling in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or the freezer for up to 2 months. When ready to eat, gently rethaw in the refrigerator overnight before heating in the microwave or stovetop.
More Asian-Inspired Recipes
More Vegan Appetizers
- Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
- Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Bacon-Flavored Roasted Chickpeas
Vegan Lettuce Wraps with Mushroom Teriyaki
Ingredients
Teriyaki Sauce
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce, (use Tamari for gluten-free option)
- 3 tablespoon water, divided
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 1 tsp cornstarch
Mushroom Filling
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- ½ cup red onion, diced
- ½ medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 8 oz button mushrooms, quartered
- ½ cup fresh pineapple, diced
- ¼ cup roasted cashews
- 12 Green Butter lettuce leaves
Instructions
- Start by making the Teriyaki Sauce. Combine soy sauce, 2 tablespoons water, mirin, maple syrup, garlic, and ginger in a small saucepot. Bring to boil.
- Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine the remaining 1 tablespoon of water with cornstarch. Mix together until the cornstarch is dissolved. Add cornstarch/water mixture to the sauce. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer. Simmer, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, until sauce is thick and coats the back of the spoon. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add sesame oil. Once the oil is hot, add onions and sauté for 5 minutes, until onions are translucent and fragrant. Stir in bell pepper and mushroom and sauté for 5-7 minutes more until vegetables are cooked all the way through. Stir in cashews and pineapple. Remove from heat and stir in Teriyaki Sauce, evenly coating the vegetables.
- Gently remove 12 Green Butter lettuce leaves from the lettuce head and pat off any excess liquid.
- To assemble, place about 3 tablespoons of filling in each lettuce wrap. Serve immediately.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
Sarah says
Would potentially make again with all ingredients as called for or cut down on the soy sauce maybe. I subbed rice wine vinegar for the mirin and orange for the pineapple. The teriyaki was SUPER salty. Like borderline made the filling inedible. Of course I still ate it tho!
tori says
This looks so beautiful and I love the flavors going on. Thanks for sharing!