Abstract Recent computational studies have simulated a mode of distributed premixed combustion where turbulent mixing plays a significant role in the transport of mass and heat near the reaction zone. Under these conditions, molecular transport processes play a correspondingly smaller role. A consequence of burning in this regime is that changes in the composition can occur within the flame zone that modify the local burning rate. This effect depends on the Lewis number (ratio of molecular heat to mass diffusivity), and so the transition to distributed burning will be different for fuels with different Lewis numbers. In this paper, we examine the role of Lewis number on flames in the distributed burning regime. We use high-resolution three-dimensional flame simulations with detailed transport models to explore the turbulent combustion of lean premixed hydrogen, methane and propane mixtures. Turbulence–flame interactions are found to be more pronounced in hydrogen than in the other fuels.