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Do you see all that green? All that color? I made that!!

Vietnamese Meatball Lettuce Wraps with Mango Salad + Cilantro-Basil Cashew Sauce | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

And umm, I am just now realizing that these wraps have ZERO cheese. Seriously, who am I? What have I become?

A person obsessed with color and mangos (and pineapple…and now passionfruit too. YIKES, maybe I have a fruit issue?) and basically all Thai food… but I have a feeling you guys have realized all this by now. Hey, it is spring though, and all these colors are totally spring approved. PLUS, I woke up to a good few inches of fresh snow this morning. Basically all that fresh snow just makes me CRAVE fresh foods even more.

Vietnamese Meatball Lettuce Wraps with Mango Salad + Cilantro-Basil Cashew Sauce | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

You’d think the snow would make me crave soup or something, but I have now hit the point where I have had a glimpse of nice, warmer weather and I NEED it back! Like, winter I am so over you, and summer, ok spring, I am so ready for you!

Better yet, I am so ready for Florida. Florida is way better than a snowy Colorado spring.

You know? Sometimes I wonder if I live in the wrong place. I pretty much love the heat and never get it. Starting to think that my dad and his idea of packing up and heading to south beach for a couple of months out of the year sounds pretty good. He may be going slightly crazier with every year that passes, but I have got to say, that is a semi brilliant idea. Maybe someday…

Vietnamese Meatball Lettuce Wraps with Mango Salad + Cilantro-Basil Cashew Sauce | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

OK, sorry enough Florida dreaming here. Clearly I am pretty excited for my mini vacay to Florida for Easter with the fam to start. The closer it gets the better it sounds!

These wraps though. Let’s talk about these meatball lettuce wraps with jungle mango salad. They’re basically like a salad, but so much more fun! I can’t remember the last time I made a REAL salad. I have made many, many salad-like things, but not a salad with actual lettuce. Lettuce just tends to make me board. I get the feeling you can understand that though. Butter lettuce is my exception though, it’s one of my favorites…probably because it’s called butter. Duh.

Vietnamese Meatball Lettuce Wraps with Mango Salad + Cilantro-Basil Cashew Sauce | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Anyway, these wraps are so flavorful and also so quick and easy to whip up!!

Yeah!

Vietnamese Meatball Lettuce Wraps with Mango Salad + Cilantro-Basil Cashew Sauce | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

The mango salad and that sauce are to die for, but when paired with the simple Vietnamese meatballs? Mmmm! That’s so cheesy, but it’s true. Sometimes cheesy is just what’s needed when explaining food. It’s the only way to get the point across. Well, aside from an obsessive amount of words all spelled out in caps with plenty of exclamation marks (another favorite of mine)!

These wraps are the perfect healthy anytime food. Fun enough for the weekend (happening in t-minus one day – depending on when you are reading this from), but easy enough for a busy weeknight. They take about thirty minutes start to finish, but please don’t hold me to that, everyone cooks at their own pace. Some of you may need twenty minutes, some an hour, but they took me about thirty minutes to prepare…subtracting all that time for photos of course.

Vietnamese Meatball Lettuce Wraps with Mango Salad + Cilantro-Basil Cashew Sauce | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Oh, and they are gluten free for any gluten free readers out there! Nice!

And now we can all go eat one too many lettuce wraps, because hey, it’s only lettuce, and you can never have too much of that!

Vietnamese Meatball Lettuce Wraps with Mango Salad + Cilantro-Basil Cashew Sauce | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Vietnamese Meatball Lettuce Wraps with Mango Salad + Cilantro-Basil Cashew Sauce.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 4 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 812 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Ingredients

Mango Slaw

  • 1 mango peeled and julienned (sliced into thin strips)
  • 1 carrots cut into small matchsticks
  • 1 cucumber cut into small matchsticks
  • 1 red onion sliced thin (optional)
  • 1 red fresno chile pepper chopped
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1/ 2 cup roasted peanuts or cashews chopped

Green Cashew Sauce

Meatballs

Instructions

Salad

  • In a bowl, combine the mangos, carrots, cucumbers, red onion, red fresno pepper and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Toss well. Store in the fridge until ready to serv. Toss in the nuts just before serving.

Green Cashew Sauce

  • Add the cilantro, basil, cashews, coconut milk lime juice, thai red curry paste and sweet thai chile sauce to a blender or food processor. Blend until completely smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Taste and adjust as needed, adding more sweet thai chile sauce if desired. Can be store in the fridge for 1 week.

Wraps

  • Season the pork with salt and pepper and then roll into 20-30 tablespoon size meatballs, place each meatball on a tray as you work. In a small bowl, combine the sesame oil, soy sauce, fish sauce and honey.
  • Heat a large skillet over medium heat and cook the meatballs until cooked through, about 5 minutes, turning them 2-3 times throughout cooking. During the last minute or so of cooking, add the sauce and give the meatballs a good toss through the sauce. Cook another minute longer you until the sauce glazes the meatballs. Remove from the heat.
  • To serve, double up your lettuce leafs and divide the meatballs among the leaves. Top with mango salad and the cashew sauce. Eat!
View Recipe Comments

Vietnamese Meatball Lettuce Wraps with Mango Salad + Cilantro-Basil Cashew Sauce | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Well, you can (the boring kind), but you can’t have too many of these wraps. These wraps are flavor bombs of freshness!

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Comments

    1. Hi Ashlin,
      Totally, that will work well for you! Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xT

  1. 5 stars
    So glad I came across this recipe! I forgot how good lettuce wraps are and the sauce on this is amazing. Will definitely make again!!

    1. Hey Hilary,
      Happy Friday! I am delighted that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! xxTieghan

  2. 5 stars
    Really enjoyed this recipe and highly recommend, but I didn’t find that it fed 4 people! This fed three adults at my house. We also did this as a full meal with no additional sides. Maybe if you served with rice or noodles it goes further. We did have quite a bit of leftover slaw, so tonight I plan to make the recipe again as an appetizer. I’ll serve the meatballs over the slaw and topped with the sauce.

  3. 5 stars
    SO GOOD. Super simple, QUICK & DELICIOUS. Husband is happy and that’s all that matters!

  4. Do you think you could substitute peanuts in the cashew sauce? My daughter is allergic to cashews.

    1. Hi Denise,
      Peanuts would be great! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any others questions! xTieghan