Thai Peanut Shrimp Cabbage Wraps
I know you’re probably wondering, is Camille addicted to shrimp!? The answer is yes, yes I am and proud of it! It’s such a fast protein source to prepare and it’s so good with bold flavors. I honestly don’t know why I haven’t made this sooner. Thai peanut sauce, shrimp, and veggies are honestly a match made in heaven! These Thai Peanut Shrimp Cabbage Wraps are truly addicting.
Thai Peanut sauce made right in the jar.
If you’ve been following my Instagram for awhile you may know by now that I love to use almost empty jars to make sauces. Natural peanut butter sometimes gets hard and stuck at the bottom of the jar. Rather than wrestle out the last bit, I make a sauce right in the jar to use up the last bit. This method does mean I eyeball the amount of peanut butter in the sauce, so use your best judgement when it comes to 1/4 cup. Peanut is such distinct flavor it’s honestly hard to mess up this sauce.
Cabbage Wrap?
So, I know lettuce wraps are all the rage and you can certainly use lettuce in place of cabbage here. I do however recommend you try using cabbage just once if you never have before. It’s so crunchy I love it! I’m always rooting for the food underdog and I believe cabbage is often over looked. Sure we use it in slaw and braised dishes, but it’s also a great filling and stuffing! I mean outside of cabbage rolls, when do people ever stuff cabbage? Never. Try it, if it’s not you thing then that’s okay.
What size shrimp?
I regularly buy frozen shrimp for many reason. It’s honestly the most affordable for me. Also, I don’t live where fresh shrimp is caught and sold daily. Majority of the time the fish and seafood available at the meat & seafood counter was previously frozen anyway, so unless I’m extremely short on time I just rather get it frozen and defrost it myself. With that being said I typically like to get the jumbo or large sizes. It looks nicer and it’s less work if I have to peel and devein them myself. Recently, I’ve been more in favor of medium to small shrimp sizes. Medium or small work well in dishes like these wraps because you can get a little shrimp in every bite and it matches the size of the chopped vegetables. The only downfall is sometimes it can be hard to find smaller sized shrimp that’s still raw. I don’t ever use precooked for various reason. So if you can’t find medium of small shrimp for this recipe, simply give larger shrimp a rough chop by cutting them in half or into thirds.
Don’t for get the toppings
My general rule for serving lettuce wraps is to serve it like you would tacos, offer toppings on the side! Now, that doesn’t mean you need a ton of things, but a few compliments make a huge difference! If I had to pick three toppings only I would say chopped peanuts, cilantro, and lime wedges are essential! One crunchy element, one fresh element, and some acid to cut the richness of the peanuts. That’s just a general rule I advise you follow. This is also why I serve green onions. Giving cilantro haters a different fresh element to choose from so they don’t have to miss out on the fresh option. Now, if you hate both cilantro and green onions then I can’t help you.
Light meal or appetizer
As the weather gets warmer, these Thai Peanut Shrimp Cabbage Wraps make a great meal for 3-4 people. Thai Peanut Shrimp Cabbage Wraps are a nice break from doing weekly stir fry. If you’re worried about it not being filling enough, just serve some rice right along with it. Lettuce or cabbage wraps, I always make rice for my boyfriend to add into his wraps. Plus if you make rice, you can use the leftover rice and peanut sauce for a stir fry later in your week!
Although we always have this as a meal, I’d definitely serve this as an appetizer for a group of friends. Perfect for sharing if you’re doing family style. No matter how you decided to serve these Thai Peanut Shrimp Cabbage Wraps I hope you enjoy them. Happy Cooking!
Thai Peanut Sauce Shrimp cabbage wraps
Ingredients
Shrimp and vegetables
- 1 lb shrimp small/medium size
- 1 large carrot diced
- 1 medium bell pepper diced
- 6 green onions sliced, with greens and white divided
- 8 oz mushrooms diced
- 1 small head of cabbage or bibb lettuce see notes for serving
- oil
- salt
- pepper
- toasted sesame oil optional
- water
Peanut sauce
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/8 cup soy sauce
- 1 Tbs chili garlic paste or 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 Tbs honey
- 1/3 cup hot water or more
- 2 tbs lime juice
For serving
- Lime wedges
- Peanut sauce
- Crushed peanuts
- Cilantro
- Green onions
Instructions
Make the peanut sauce
- In a small bowl or jar combine peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, honey, and chili paste or flakes. Stir well to combine.
- Using 1-2 splashes at a time, slowly stir in hot water to thin sauce. Sauce should be creamy and thin enough to pour out easily. Depending on peanut better you may need to use more or less water.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Set aside 1/4 cup of sauce for the filling. Use the rest for serving or cover and refrigerate the leftovers for later use.
Prepare the filling
- Make sure shrimp has all shells, tails, and veins removed.
- Season lightly with salt and pepper and let sit for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, dice the vegetables for the filling. No need to finely chop for this recipe. A standard dice is medium to small pieces. So depending on your shrimp, the vegetables only need to be slightly smaller than the shrimp. At the very least just aim to get all the vegetables the same size.
- When slicing the green onions be sure to keep the greens and whites separate. Use the whites and light green bottoms when cooking the filling. Reserve the darker green tops for serving later.
Making the filling
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat.
- Once pan is hot add oil followed by shrimp. Cook for 1-2 minutes per side. Shrimp is cooked through when it's opaque in color. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside.
- In the same pan, add 2 tbsp of oil along with diced carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms, and whites from the green onions. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Cook vegetables stirring occasionally for 8-10 minutes until soften and cooked through.
- Once vegetables are cooked, turn heat down to low.
- Add 1/4 cup of peanut sauce and cooked shrimp into the pan.
- Stir to combined. Sauce will thicken in pan, so use a few splashes of water to help loosen sauce. Let sit 1-2 minutes until shrimp and sauce have warmed through.
- Finish with light drizzle of toasted sesame oil if using and remove filling from heat.
- Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
- Most cabbage leaves are too big for serving. Cut the cabbage in half or in quarters for serving.
