Beef Lettuce Rolls with Fresh Herbs and Almond Butter Dipping Sauce
Thinly sliced seared flank steak, marinated in coconut aminos, lime, ginger, and chili, rolled in crisp lettuce with fresh basil and mint, tied with chive ribbons, and served with a creamy, golden almond butter dipping sauce. Fresh, crunchy, and perfect for a summer evening.
Yield: Serves 4 (8 rolls) · Active: 30 min · Total: 45 min to 2½ hours, depending on marinating time · Best in North America from late spring into fall, when lettuce and herbs are fresh · Best eaten: midday or early evening
Ingredients
Marinade
¼ cup coconut aminos (or tamari, if you eat soy)
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp sambal oelek or another chili paste with no added sugar
Steak and rolls
1 lb grass-fed flank steak
Baja Gold sea salt and black pepper
1 tbsp ghee or avocado oil
½ cup fresh basil leaves (Thai basil, if you can find it), packed
¼ cup fresh mint leaves, packed
Optional: 1 carrot and ½ cucumber, julienned, for crunch
8 large iceberg or romaine lettuce leaves (the inner leaves work best)
24 fresh chive stems
Almond butter dipping sauce
½ cup almond butter (or natural peanut butter, or tahini)
½ cup full-fat coconut milk
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp coconut aminos
1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
1 small garlic clove, finely grated
½ tsp ground turmeric
¼ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
⅛ tsp red pepper flakes, or more to taste
Optional: 1 tsp raw honey
To serve: lime wedges and chopped almonds or sesame seeds
Method
Marinate the steak. Whisk the marinade ingredients, pour them over the steak in a shallow dish, and turn to coat. Marinate in the fridge at least 15 minutes, and up to 2 hours.
Make the dipping sauce. Whisk all the sauce ingredients until completely smooth, adding a splash of water if it's too thick. Taste, and adjust the lime, salt, or heat.
Blanch the chives. Dip them in boiling water for 5 seconds, then plunge them into ice water, so they turn soft and bright green. Pat them dry.
Sear the steak. Lift the steak out of the marinade, pat it dry, and season it with salt and pepper. Heat the ghee in a heavy skillet over high heat, and sear the steak 2–3 minutes per side for medium-rare (130°F). Rest it 5 minutes, then slice it very thinly across the grain.
Roll. Trim each lettuce leaf into a rough 6-inch square. Lay 2–3 slices of beef in the center, and top with a few basil and mint leaves, plus the carrot and cucumber (if using). Roll the lettuce snugly around the filling, and tie each roll around the middle with 3 blanched chives.
Serve. Slice each roll into 2-inch pieces, and serve with the almond butter sauce for dipping, lime wedges, and a sprinkle of chopped almonds or sesame seeds.
Slicing tip: Always slice flank steak across the grain, perpendicular to the long muscle fibers. It's the difference between tender and chewy.
Swap the protein: Use 1 lb ground chicken, turkey, or lamb. Brown it in the ghee over medium-high heat with the garlic and ginger, then stir in the coconut aminos, lime juice, and chili paste and cook 1–2 minutes more. Spoon it into soft butter lettuce cups (instead of rolling), and top with the herbs. Lamb is especially delicious with the mint.
Sauce swaps: Use natural peanut butter for a classic peanut sauce, or tahini for a nut-free, sesame version.
Storage
The dipping sauce keeps refrigerated up to 1 week (thin it with a splash of water before serving). The sliced beef keeps up to 2 days. The rolls are best assembled right before eating.
A note on honey: The raw honey in the sauce stays raw, since it's never heated. Honey shouldn't be given to babies under 12 months.
Nourishment Notes
Wrapping savory fillings in crisp leaves is a tradition across Asia, from Cantonese lettuce wraps (sang choy bao) and Korean ssam to Thai miang kham. The cool, crunchy lettuce against the warm, savory filling is what makes them so satisfying.
The basil and mint nod to Vietnamese summer rolls (gỏi cuốn), where fresh herbs are rolled right into the wrap rather than scattered on top. Tying the rolls with blanched chives borrows a classic French technique for tying vegetable bundles. It's pretty, and the chives add a gentle onion flavor.
The dipping sauce is a cousin of Southeast Asian peanut and satay sauces, made with almond butter for a milder, creamier flavor. The turmeric gives it its golden color, and since curcumin is fat-soluble, it's well absorbed in this rich, coconut-based sauce.
Grass-fed flank steak — complete protein, heme iron, zinc, B12, and CLA.
Almond butter — vitamin E, magnesium, and monounsaturated fats. (Tahini brings calcium and sesame lignans, and peanut butter brings niacin and protein.)
Coconut milk — lauric acid, a medium-chain fat.
Turmeric, ginger, and garlic — curcumin, gingerols, and allicin.
Basil, mint, and chives — vitamin K and aromatic compounds traditionally used to support digestion.
Lime — vitamin C, which helps your body absorb the iron in the beef.
For your cycle: The beef's heme iron and zinc make these especially restorative during the menstrual phase, and the lime's vitamin C helps your body absorb that iron. They're light and fresh enough to enjoy in any phase.
Sourcing
Flank steak — 100% grass-fed and grass-finished, from Alderspring Ranch, White Oak Pastures, or US Wellness Meats
Ground chicken, turkey, or lamb (if swapping) — pasture-raised, from a local farm or White Oak Pastures
Lettuce, basil, mint, chives, carrots, cucumbers, ginger, garlic, and limes — organic, from a farmers' market
Almond butter, peanut butter, or tahini — organic, made from just the nut or seed (and salt): almond butter from unpasteurized almonds, natural peanut butter with no added oils or sugar, or stone-ground tahini, like Soom
Coconut milk — organic and full-fat, made with just coconut and water, with no guar gum (Native Forest Simple comes in BPA-free cans)
Coconut aminos — organic and soy-free, like Coconut Secret (or organic, wheat-free tamari, if you eat soy)
Chili paste — sambal oelek or another chili paste with no added sugar or preservatives
Raw apple cider vinegar — organic, with the mother (Bragg)
Raw honey (optional) — organic, local, and unfiltered
Turmeric and red pepper flakes — organic and non-irradiated
Ghee — grass-fed
Salt — Baja Gold sea salt
— Anna aka Food Marshall