This Thai Larb recipe is a paleo, Whole30, and keto-friendly dish made from scratch, and tastes so authentic. It’s a healthy and flavorful dish consisting of ground pork and vegetables cooked in a flavorful sauce.
I’ve been to Thailand twice, and I fell in love with the food there. As someone who is gluten free, I very appreciated that many Thai dishes are naturally free of gluten. One of my favorite things I enjoyed there was Larb Moo (or Thai Larb, as you see it many times on Thai menus here). It’s a super flavorful dish that’s full of vegetables, and cooked in the most delicious sauce.
What Is Larb Moo?
Larb Moo is a popular dish made in Thailand. It’s a meat salad consisting of ground pork and many fresh and flavorful veggies and ingredients. It’s naturally on the low carb side, but I made keto Thai Larb by omitting toasted rice and using toasted cashews instead. This also makes my version paleo and Whole30 friendly as well! If you like meat and veggies in a tangy, semi spicy homemade sauce, this Thai Larb recipe will blow you away!
What You’ll Need to Make Keto Thai Larb Recipe
Before you get started, gather the ingredients needed to make Larb Moo, including:
- Cashews: Cashews are used as a paleo replacement for toasted rice, and adds crunch to the recipe. Make sure you’re using raw cashews to toast them yourself.
- Avocado oil: I love avocado oil because it’s great for high heat cooking, and doesn’t add any flavor to the final dish. If you don’t have avocado oil, feel free to use any other cooking oil of your choice.
- Shallots: If you can’t find shallots, you can use onions instead.
- Ground pork: Ground chicken or turkey can also be used if you don’t consume pork.
- Lime juice
- Coconut aminos: A paleo and Whole30-friendly alternative to soy sauce. It’s delicious and adds a slight natural sweetness as well!
- Fish sauce: Fish sauce is a crucial flavor in Thai cooking, and adds a delicious umami saltiness. This is my favorite brand of fish sauce with high quality, clean ingredients.
- Thai Chili Flakes: Also called prik bon, you can get these at your local Asian mart or online.
You’ll need a few other ingredients, including green onions, chopped cilantro, mint leaves, lettuce, and cucumbers.
What If I Can’t Find Thai Chili Flakes?
If you’re unable to find Thai chili flakes, you can use any chili flakes that you can get at the grocery store. I find that Korean chili flakes, or gochugaru, is a close substitute.
Do I Need to Use Fresh Lime Juice for ?
Using fresh lime juice while preparing the Larb Moo is best. However, if you don’t have fresh lime, you can use lime juice from a bottle. You may need a bit less since I find that bottled lime juice is more concentrated in flavor.
Which Type of Lettuce Should I Use When Serving?
You can use romaine lettuce, butter lettuce, or even shredded iceberg lettuce when you’re serving paleo Thai Larb. I personally prefer butter lettuce and find that it holds up well.
Thai Larb Recipe Tips and Suggestions
If you taste the Larb Moo and feel like it needs to be a bit saltier, you can add more fish sauce to it. The fish sauce also brings a level of saltiness to the dish that enhances the flavor of the pork and vegetables.
When you want to make the dish a bit spicier, you can add more of the chili flakes to it. If you can’t tolerate spiciness, you can omit the chili flakes or decrease the amount when preparing this Keto Thai Larb dish.
How to Store Leftovers
Store your cooked pork and vegetables together, but store your lettuce and cucumbers in a separate container. Put these containers in the fridge to keep your ingredients fresh. You can assemble more of the Larb Moo when you’re ready to eat it, adding the ground pork and vegetables to a bed of lettuce with cucumbers.
If you enjoyed this Whole30 and paleo Thai Larb recipe, you might also like…
- Thai Kale Salad with Cashew Dressing (Paleo, Whole30, Vegan)
- Instant Pot Thai Coconut Curry Meatballs – Includes Stovetop Instructions (Paleo, Whole30, Keto)
- Thai Curry Wings (Paleo, Whole30, Keto)
- Paleo Shrimp Pad Thai
- Whole30 Chinese Eggplant and Pork (Paleo, Gluten Free)
Thai Larb Recipe (Larb Moo) – Paleo, Whole30, Keto
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup raw cashews
- 2 tsp avocado oil or your favorite cooking oil
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 cup sliced shallots
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp Thai chili flakes (prik bon) or any other chili flakes
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 3 green onions thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup mint leaves
- Lettuce and cucumbers to serve
Instructions
- Heat a dry skillet over medium heat, and add cashews. Toast while constantly stirring until lightly browned and fragrant, about 3-4 minutes.
- Place the toasted cashews in the food processor, and pulse until crumbly. Set aside.
- Heat avocado oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add ground pork and cook stirring while breaking up the meat until it's browned and cooked through, about 8-10 minutes.
- Add shallot slices and quickly stir together, then turn off heat. The residual heat will soften the shallots.
- Add lime juice, coconut aminos, fish sauce, chili flakes, cilantro, green onions, mint, and 3/4 of the toast cashew crumble. Stir well.
- Taste to adjust seasoning, adding more fish sauce for saltiness, chili flakes for spice, or lime juice for more sourness.
- Serve with lettuce and cucumbers, and garnish with rest of the cashew crumble on top. You can also serve with more mint leaves, cilantro, and green onions on the side.
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