Name: Easy as Bread Lettuce Wrapped Sandwich
Prep time: 2 min
Cook time: 2 min
Total time: 2 min
Yield: 1-2
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4 Leaves Per Sandwich of Butter, Romaine, or Leaf Lettuce; 4 Slices of Turkey, Ham or Preferred Protein; Dressings of Choice (I used mayo and mustard).; ; Additional Sandwich Toppings, or Whatever You Love:; Tomatoes (roasted would be bliss); Basil, Chives; 

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A lettuce wrapped sandwich is my go-to for a quick and epic meal. Lettuce-wrapped sandwiches are so easy and make lunches feel like a summer breeze. In the past, I ordered them from Jimmy Johns or had my burger wrapped in lettuce leaves. The wrapped lettuce felt like art in my hands. I never personally made a lettuce wrap because it felt too hard, but now I know how to make it as easy as a bread sandwich.

Do I Need To Be a Lettuce Artist?

Nope. No training is required in the art of lettuce to master the wrap. In fact, with my method, I don’t know if wrap is accurate. A layered lettuce sandwich might be more accurate. I don’t know how you phrase just adding the lettuce to a plate then adding your layers then slicing it in half. Easy as sliced bread I’d say.

What Lettuce to Use for Lettuce Wrapped Sandwiches

There are so many types of lettuces that it is beautiful. There’s romaine, leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, iceberg, and apparently Boston lettuce.

Butter Lettuce/ Bibb Lettuce –

The easiest to use, and very beautiful at that. The leaves are smaller than leaf lettuce and romaine lettuce so keep that in mind if you want a larger surface area. It has a firm structure to it and can even hold up to burgers. If you can find living butter lettuce then grab it. Pick the leaves fresh from the container for a grounding experience. Since the lettuce still has its dirt it stays fresh all week or longer!

butter lettuce lettuce wrapped whole 30 sandwich phases of creating

Tips for using butter lettuce:

Stack your meat in flat layers that are the size of the lettuce leaf
Choose the largest leaves on the outside. If you try to pull ones closer to the center before the outer ones the leaves tend to break
You could also quadruple this lettuce wrap sandwich

Leaf Lettuce

I love the flavor of leaf lettuce, especially red leaf. Although you can use leaf lettuce and it is delicious, the leaves are thinner than butter lettuce or romaine lettuce. The range of texture creates an interesting and delightful experience. Just use two leaves to make sure everything stays in. This is great lettuce for a double stack.

Romaine Lettuce

Romaine is most commonly used in Ceaser salads and for lettuce wraps that you get from restaurants. The flavor is slightly bitter and watery in a super refreshing way. If you are looking for firm lettuce for your wrap that stays firm through the whole leaf go for romaine. Romaine has that very bright and crisp flavor that really shines in hot days or when you just want the ultimately refreshing lettuce-wrapped sandwich.

Tips for using romaine:

Get the whole romaine head not just the hearts or the leaves will be too small
Choose the largest leaves

Iceberg Lettuce

Very common lettuce with a very mild flavor. If any lettuce were to taste like water it would be Iceberg. I think this lettuce is why people think salads are boring, and it probably isn’t truly Iceberg. Iceberg is so overused that although I think I “know” its flavor I’ve never had it fresh from a farm. If you get some of the good stuff let me know, because right now Iceberg bores my soul and I’d rather learn its true flavor. I’ll be on the hunt.

For a collard’s green twist with a whole wrap situation check out this collard’s green wrap post from Eating Works.

What Dressings Do I Use?

Honestly, you can use the same dressings for lettuce wrap sandwiches that you would use for a bread one. Lettuce holds up to moisture really well, but if you’re feeling cautious just layer the meat then add the dressing to the top of the meat.

I use a combo of mustard and homemade mayo for my turkey sandwiches. You can change things up by adding flavor to your mayo for a whole new sauce like black garlic mayo or basil mayo.

Another delicious way to add flavor to your sandwich is herbs. I love the texture of basil and how it tastes picked fresh. Basil is so easy to grow from even an apartment or windowsill (I’ve done both). Basil can be easily added to the sandwich whole or sliced up. Green chives are my other herb go-to for a lettuce wrapped sandwich.

The Easiest Way to Craft a Lettuce Wrapped Sandwich:

This easy lettuce wrapped sandwich is what I eat whenever I don’t even feel like cooking veggies. To ensure fullness add a lot of mayo or even drizzle with olive oil, especially if doing a Whole 30. I like to add extra layers of lettuce for veg and will make two if I’m feeling extra spicy or hangry. Make life as easy as a sandwich.