What Lettuce To Use for Tasty Vegan Wraps

Not every lettuce works well in wraps. Oak leaf won’t do, as lettuce for wraps need a large enough surface to hold a filling and wrap around it. The best lettuce for wraps will have a little crispness but not so much that it will crack when folded around a filling.

Lettuce varieties fall into two camps: head lettuce and leaf lettuce. The good news is that both kinds are great for using in your favorite wrap recipes.

These lettuce varieties are the best lettuces for wraps ranging from Asian to Tex-Mex. When buying these options, go with organic since you’ll be eating the leaves, and be sure to wash them well by hand or in a salad spinner. 

Butter Lettuce

Closely related to Boston lettuce, butter lettuce is head lettuce that’s also known as Bibb lettuce. Despite its name, butter lettuce doesn’t taste like butter. It does have a mild, pleasant flavor that brings spring to mind, a tender texture, and coloring that ranges from bright green to deep purple.

Green varieties of butter lettuce tend to be more tender than the purple varieties. Sometimes butter lettuce is sold with its roots still attached. Leave those on the head of butter lettuce until you’re ready to make wraps.

A cup-size serving of butter lettuce has:

• 7 calories
• 1 gram of protein
• 1 gram of carbohydrates
• 1 gram of fiber

Butter lettuce provides 36 percent of your daily value of vitamin A along with small amounts of iron, calcium, and vitamin C.

Romaine Lettuce 

One of the most popular varieties of lettuce in America, romaine accounts for most lettuce consumption in the United States. Often associated with Caesar salads, romaine lettuce is leaf lettuce that’s perfect for vegan tacos since romaine leaves have a boat-like shape.

Romaine leaves are deep green at the edges, fading to a greenish-white stalk at the center of the leaves. That stalk gives them more stability to hold fillings, not to mention a satisfying crunch. 

A one-cup serving of romaine lettuce has:

• 8 calories
• 1 gram of protein
• 1 gram of fiber
• 2 grams of carbohydrates

Romaine is packed with vitamin A, providing you 82 percent of your daily value in one serving. It also contains small amounts of iron, calcium, and vitamin C. 

Iceberg Lettuce 

Iceberg lettuce has gotten a bad reputation for not being as healthy as deep, leafy greens. A head of iceberg lettuce has plenty of fiber and a high water content, and the cup shape of its leaves lends itself to holding fillings like jerk-sauced jackfruit with some cabbage slaw on top. A crunchy lettuce, iceberg is also delicious as a vegan taco topping. 

Iceberg lettuce is a perfectly healthy wrap choice since it’s not high in calories and fat. It also contains some nutrients, so enjoy! 

One cup of iceberg lettuce has:

• 10 calories
• 1 gram of protein
• 1 gram of fiber
• 2 grams of carbohydrates

That serving of iceberg lettuce contains 7 percent of your daily value of vitamin A. Along with small amounts of vitamin C and iron. This variety is considered the lowest in nutrients among lettuce varieties, but if you fill it with nutrient-dense foods, you’ll still be getting a balanced meal.

Green Leaf Lettuce 

Green leaf lettuce leaves are big enough to wrap around a thick black-bean burger even when you add toppings such as sweet onion, tomato, and jalapenos. These lettuce leaves make them versatile wrap choices. Also, look for leaf lettuce varieties with red tips to add more color to your wrap.

Green leaf lettuce isn’t as tender as butter lettuce, so it stands up to hefty fillings. Sturdiness is essential for lettuce to be used in wraps. Otherwise, you could have a mess on your hands.

A serving of green leaf lettuce has:

• 5 calories
• 1 gram of carbohydrates
• Less than 1 gram of fiber
• Less than 1 gram of protein

A cup of green leaf lettuce provides more than 15 percent of the daily value of vitamin A and is an excellent source of vitamin K.