All the deliciousness of your favorite burger without as much of the carbs! Cut the calories and enjoy the classics with lettuce-wrapped burgers!
I love burgers. Now, when I say that, I fear that you might think that I mean that I really like burgers, but I need you to understand: I love burgers. My grandfather taught me how to work a charcoal grill, and together with my grandma, we would make delicious cheeseburgers every weekend. Burgers have since been a comforting reminder of home, no matter if they’re indulgent sirloin burgers or healthier bean burgers. But I’m not young anymore…
As my wife and I try to find alternatives to help us cut carbs and calories out of our diets, we have been avoiding one of my favorite foods because of its buns. It’s been difficult to be apart from burgers, but the results are real. The amount of carbs and gluten present in bread buns can be counterintuitive to keto-focused and gluten-free diets, like the one my wife and I are trying and experiencing happier overall health with. Simply cutting the buns out of burgers leaves them a shell of their former flavorful feast and, as a result, we’ve made a compromise:
We’re eating our burgers as lettuce wraps!
Lettuce is a refreshing leafy green made of mostly fiber and water, meaning that the carb content is practically negligible, and there’s no gluten at all! You already have a sliver of lettuce on your burgers to give it a texturally balancing crunch, but wrapping a burger’s contents inside the lettuce gives the whole burger a dynamic mouthfeel and brings out the best of flavors in your toppings and condiments. If you’re trying to cut carbs, gluten, and calories out of savory burgers (or just trying to satisfy that comforting craving in a healthier way), this lettuce wrap burger has got you covered.
How Much Healthier Is Lettuce Wrap?
Because every burger is built differently, the buns that sandwich it all together have a wide range of nutritional values. Whole wheat buns, for instance, are going to have a lot more fiber content than your classic white bread; however, we can generalize the differences between bread buns as a category and lettuce wrap substitutions in three key ways.
Firstly, burger buns made from bread (unless made to be keto-friendly) will contain complex carbohydrates. Complex carbs are different from simple carbs in that your body takes a longer time to process them, resulting in a fuller feeling than in simpler carbs like sugars. That said, all carbs are treated equally in keto diets, which try to reduce total net carb intake to less than 15g a day (approximately equivalent to a single apple). Lettuce, being a leafy green, also has carbs, but there are significantly fewer in it than in classic buns. Burger buns can have up to 26 grams of carbs in them, while lettuce caps out around 8-10 grams per head of lettuce!
Then there’s the discussion of gluten. Gluten-free diets often turn away bread of any kind unless that bread is made with gluten-free flour alternatives (which often don’t yield quite the same flavors and textures as all-purpose flour). This kind of diet is particularly helpful for people with gluten intolerances and celiac disease, meaning that lettuce wraps (which are naturally gluten-free) can step up to the plate and provide a delicious and nutritious bite for any burger!
More broadly, bread has higher caloric content than lettuce does, and regardless of discussions surrounding carbs and gluten, that is one of the key components to any diet centered around losing weight. Calories in food need to be burned off with activity, so reducing the amount of calories eaten can help benefit your “caloric deficit” (that is, having more calories burned than consumed). And lettuce typically has 5 calories per cup! Compare that to 100 calories in your classic burger bun!
So, just how much healthier is a lettuce wrap burger compared to your standard bun burger? A lot! Lettuce wraps are more accessible to different diets and reduce the overall calories of an otherwise highly indulgent food!
How to Make Ahead and Store?
Making lettuce wraps ahead of time can be super tempting, but reheating lettuce wraps doesn’t quite yield the same result as reheating contemporary burgers in buns. Heat can make lettuce wilt rapidly, losing its structure and making it hard to eat cleanly—it also conducts heat far more than buns do and can burn your hands if you’re not careful! I advise storing your lettuce wrap ingredients separately in the fridge, and when you want to serve some lettuce wrap burgers, grill your already cooked burger patties to steamy perfection and add your toppings and lettuce afterward.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve lettuce wrap burgers for any weekend activity or summer picnic as a refreshing main course, especially if it’s paired with other healthy takes on classic indulgences like asparagus fries in place of classic French fries or zucchini chips in place of potato crisps. Both of these options pair deliciously with our vegetarian feta burger in place of regular beef patties. If saving a couple of calories on your lettuce wrap burgers has you considering going all out, try serving it up with other grill-style favorites like smoked corn on the cob and crispy onion rings with homemade peppercorn ranch for dipping! Toss a little bit of creole seasonings to get a flavor like some of the best lettuce-wrapped burgers from Five Guys!
Lettuce Wrap Burger
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 8 large leaves of iceberg lettuce
- 1 large tomato sliced
- 1 small red onion sliced
- 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 4 slices cheddar cheese optional
Instructions
- Preheat your grill or skillet over medium-high heat.
- In a bowl, mix ground beef with salt and pepper. Form into 4 patties.
- Cook patties on the grill or skillet for about 5 minutes on each side or until they reach the desired doneness.
- If using cheese, add a slice on top of each patty in the last minute of cooking to melt.
- Prepare the sauce by mixing mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard in a small bowl.
- Assemble the burgers by placing each patty on a lettuce leaf, add a slice of tomato, some onion, and a dollop of sauce.
- Wrap the lettuce around the contents and serve immediately.
Leave a Comment