Gordon Ramsay's chilli beef lettuce wraps recipe

Gordon Ramsay's chilli beef lettuce wraps make a brilliant starter for a dinner party, or a light lunch or snack.

You could even use them as a canapé for a stand up drinks party - so much more exciting than cheese straws. Mixing beef and pork for the filling gives the best flavour but if you only have one or you're using up leftovers, it will still work well. The wraps are really easy to make and take just 15 minutes. You can either spoon the sauce and filling on to the wraps before you serve, or lay everything out for your guests to do it themselves. Either way, it's a delicious and fun little snack. 

Ingredients

• Olive oil, for frying
• 200g lean minced beef
• 200g minced pork
• Toasted sesame oil, for frying
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 5cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 1–2 red chillies, deseeded and chopped
• 1 tbsp light brown sugar
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• Zest of 1 lime, juice of 
• 3 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 little gem lettuces, separated into leaves, to serve

For the dressing

• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• Juice of ½ lime
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ½ red chilli, thinly sliced
• Small bunch of coriander leaves, chopped
• 1–2 tsp fish sauce, to taste
• 1 tsp light brown sugar
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Heat a large frying pan and add a little oil. Mix the minced beef and pork together. Season with salt and pepper and mix well to ensure the seasoning is evenly distributed. Fry the mince in the hot pan for 5–7 minutes until crisp and brown and broken down to a fine consistency. Drain the crisped mince in a sieve – this will help it stay crispy. Set aside.
2. Wipe out the pan and add a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli. Fry with a pinch of salt and the sugar for 2 minutes. Add the drained mince and stir to mix.
3. Add the fish sauce and heat through. Stir in the lime zest and juice, then add the spring onions, stirring for 30 seconds. Turn off the heat.
4. Mix all the dressing ingredients together and adjust to taste.
5. To serve, spoon some of the mince mixture into the lettuce leaves, drizzle with a little dressing and serve.

Top tip for making Gordon Ramsay's chilli beef lettuce wraps

Gordon says: 'It’s really important to get a good colour on the mince.'

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