These low carb Thai Shrimp Lettuce Wraps make a quick, easy and healthy meal. A great way to get Thai flavors without the junky take-out. This post is sponsored by Gourmet Garden.
There’s a little myth floating around abut food bloggers that they always have lots of food made and dinner ready every night. It’s a persistent misconception that because we are around food all day, creating it, photographing it and writing about it, we must have our act together about food as a whole. Everything made from scratch, perfectly plated, hot and delicious for our hungry families. Haha, if you only knew the truth. If you saw the chaos that results from trying to get photos of freshly baked cookies and hot main courses. If you saw the panic we are in to get that perfect shot of the gooey cheese or melty chocolate, the disarray in our kitchens after we’ve created out masterpiece, and our full-on exhaustion when we’ve finally cleaned up our mess and done all the dishes.
The reality is that half the time, our families come home from school and work and we have nothing to feed them. Well, we may have a gorgeous cake for dessert (already cut into, of course. Maybe even a bit taken out of it for photos), but dinner was a complete afterthought. So just like you, we are often in search of shortcuts and easy ways of getting dinner on the table. I make almost everything for my family from scratch, so it’s a relief when I can find something that cuts down on prep time for me.
After a long day of baking and food styling, I don’t relish chopping herbs and spices. So the Gourmet Garden herb pastes are one of my go-to shortcuts. I was excited about discovering their new Thai Seasoning Paste because I love anything Thai. It has lemongrass, ginger, cilantro, and chili, all perfectly blended together. Have you ever tried to chop fresh lemongrass? Not an easy thing to do! It usually requires a food processor and that’s just another thing to clean.
The paste pairs so nicely with many foods, and I wanted an easy, light meal that didn’t require a lot of prep work on my part. I simply marinated my shrimp in the paste for a few hours (you could even leave it overnight in the refrigerator) and made up a little cilantro lime sauce. All I had to do was sauté my shrimp, divide it into lettuce leaves, and dinner was done. So easy, so full of great flavour, and I didn’t have to dirty my food processor!
- 1 lb shrimp peeled, deveined, tails removed
- 1 1/2 tbsp Gourmet Garden Thai Seasoning Paste
- 1 tsp Gourmet Garden Chili Pepper Paste more if you like it hotter
- 2 tbsp butter or olive oil
- Half a head iceberg lettuce separated into leaves
- 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp Gourmet Garden cilantro paste
- 1/2 tsp Gourmet Garden garlic paste
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- In a medium bowl, toss shrimp with Thai seasoning paste and chili pepper paste. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours to marinate.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add butter or oil and swirl to coat. Add shrimp in a single layer and let cook 2 minutes, then toss and continue to sauté until cooked through, 1 or 2 more minutes.
- Divide shrimp among 8 lettuce leaves (4 or 5 shrimp per leaf, depending on the size of your shrimp). Sprinkle with chopped tomatoes and season to taste.
- In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, cilantro paste, garlic paste, lime juice, salt and pepper. Mix well and drizzle over shrimp.
Serves 2 as a main dish (4 to 6 as an appetizer). For two servings, each serving has 5.71 g NET CARBS.
Food energy: 268kcal
Total fat: 18.57g
Calories from fat: 167
Cholesterol: 142mg
Carbohydrate: 6.55g
Total dietary fiber: 0.84g
Protein: 16.04g
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Gourmet Garden. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
linda says
Took this to a party and it was a huge hit, really delicious.
Julius Minor says
Wow!… I’ve never heard of Cilantro Lime Mayo. I will definitely try this recipe… On another note… Besides the awesome dish ideas you create, the “quality” of your pictures are an amazing skill within itself… They really grab my attention… I can only imagine the work that goes into providing these valuable post on a constant basis… Thanks always!
thatguy says
Why would you put quality in quotations?
Lori @ RecipeGirl says
This is the perfect sort of dinner for me! I love the Gourmet Garden flavors- so easy to cook with!
Cary says
Have you ever found dextrose or maltodextrin to spike you? I noticed dextrose is the second ingredient. I’ve never tested for it specifically but have heard that it has a higher GI then pure glucose. Am curious to know what your thoughts on or experiences with this are.
As an aside, thanks so much for all that you do for the blog and all of your readers! You’ve made my life more enjoyable and my family healthier with your recipes!
Carolyn says
It’s such a tiny amount that you end up using in this recipe…I found it did not spike me, barely moved the meter. But everyone is different, so definitely test and see.
Gina @ Running to the Kitchen says
I serioulsy need to get my hands on this Thai seasoning paste. I’m obsessed with their lemongrass one so I know I’d love this. And yeah, that “we have the perfect dinner planned out every night” thing. HAHAHA is all I have to say to that!
Cookin Canuck says
I adore that Thai seasoning paste. It’s so handy for putting together quick, flavorful meals. If I had a dollar for every meal that was not planned out…
Rachel Cooks says
These look amazing!
Kim Beaulieu says
I absolutely love this recipe Carolyn. My dad was from the east coast, we always had a house full of seafood. He would have loved this recipe. It looks so fresh and light. Perfect for lunch or a light dinner.
Love Gourmet Garden, they sell them where K works and she’s always bringing my favourites home to surprise me.
Erin @ Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts says
Absolute genius idea!! I will be making these for my family very soon, because that Thai seasoning is amazing!
Linda says
Do you have suggestions on something to use instead of the Thai paste? I can’t get it in my area.
Carolyn says
I bet you can find some Thai curry paste in the Asian aisle at your grocery store. It’s quite a bit hotter than this paste so use sparingly.
Linda says
I actually had some thai curry spice that you can make into paste and we just used that and it turned out great!
Amber says
How did you turn your spice into a paste? I’m curious cause everywhere here has everything but the thai paste!
Tracy Caraker says
These were incredible! Amazing! Delicious! I couldn’t get enough of the. Good thing all I cooked was a pound of shrimp. My husband adored them as well. Thank you for the incredible recipe!
Merijayne Jefferson says
Never really had the time to go directly to your site. I appreciate your honesty about motherhood. lately I have felt less than, I am following the THM plan never craved sweets until i started this plan. weird! I am a carb addict known to eat a whole pan of mac and cheese in a couple days or a half loaf of toast to calm my nerves. My husband has always worked nights or out of state. We have 5 girls ranging from 26-16 and we are still currently raising our 7 year old grandson with ADHD along with a host of other issues. my 15 year old started high school last year and mentioned suicide off and on the whole year. thank you for sharing the recipes.Blessings to you and your family. I am in the middle of the storm in Florida and house id leaking everywhere 🙁
Carolyn says
Oh yikes, sorry about your house! 🙁 Sorry too abut kids and the toughness of raising them. Hope you can get your 15 year old some help.
Wendy says
I am unable to find the Thai seasoning, any substitution ideas?
Carolyn says
See if you can find some Thai chili paste like this stuff: http://amzn.to/2jPJHqU