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We eat a lot of salad in our house! The best way to make sure you can throw together a quick salad is to have some fresh crisp lettuce in the fridge and ready to go! A lot of people ask me how to keep lettuce fresh, because my salads are so crispy and refreshing! Now I’m sharing my secret with you!
Here is how I store my romaine and other leafy lettuces after cutting. They will stay fresh for about 2 weeks with this method!
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- Fill your sink with icy cold water. Separate your leaves and place them in the water to wash them (let them sit about 5 minutes).
- Remove the lettuce, gently shake or spin dry with a salad spinner (not completely dry, just get most of the water off).
- Lay out paper towels and heap the lettuce on the paper towel, roll it up and place it in a food safe plastic grocery bag. Store in the fridge.
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Your lettuce will always be crisp and ready to go!
More great tips here!
Do not cut lettuce with a metal blade. It will turn brown.
I have tried this it still get brown because of the water …. once it cut it does not last long
Which type of lettuce were you using? I’ve done this for years and not had browning with the exception of ice berg lettuce.
This is a great method for storing greens!
Food Saver has a device that sucks the air out of jars. I use a 1/2 gallon Mason jar to store lettuce in, and remove the air with my Food Saver. I experimented to see how long lettuce would stay fresh. It was fresh and crisp after one month!
(I do not work for Food Saver…just love their products!)
I have tried this method of keeping lettuce for years and it just doesn’t work for me!
If it is left wet it turns brown or gets mushy. I have done it exactly as you described and even laid out on dish towels to drain before putting in Green Bags. I usually found if I put paper towel in with it, it lasts a little longer but still turns brown.
I have better luck just wrapping the lettuce in paper towel and storing in my hydrator.
As for the bag salad mixes, I gave up on trying to store them at all.
What about for head lettuce
I take the leaves apart and wash them. If it’s a romaine head I either cut it in half lengthwise or wash between the leaves, shake dry and wrap as above.
What is a food safe grocery bag? Does it work for ice berg head lettuce?
I do this with all my vegetable. Make a fresh cut on the bottom so they absorb some water as they are still alive. Spin them and put a slightly damp paper towel in the zip lock bag and use a straw to suck out excess air, put straw out quickly and zip the end shut. They last a long time. Suck the air out with a straw every time you take some out.
I always add vinegar to my water when I wash lettuce or any fruit or veggie.
That’s a great idea. I do that with berries and they last SO much longer!
Does it work for head lettuce too. Mine seems to go dark leaves soon after I open it
I use this with all kinds of lettuce. Can you tell me which specific variety of lettuce you are referring to?
Thanks for the tip! This also works to keep melon fresh after it has been cut, though theres no need to rinse or ice the melon. Simply layer the paper towel with a layer of melon and continue layering until the container is full. Put the lid on the container and the melon will stay as fresh as it was the day you cut it.
Great tip, thanks for sharing!
Or… wash lettuce in large bowl, adding a capful of apple cider vinegar, spin dry, place in gallon Ziploc, then just add a folded paper towel. Every 4-5 days when it gets saturated, change out to a new paper towel. My last head of romaine (huge!) lasted a month!
Wow!! Awesome, I’ve heard that vinegar helps it keep even longer! I’m going to have to try it out!
Do you leave it in the paper towel when you are rolling it to put it in the fridge?
I sure do!
I just want to warn people about the salmonella and other things that live in your sink. Use a big bowl of some sort to wash any fruit or vegetables in.
Always sanitize your sink before washing fruit and vegetables.
I keep a spray bottle of vinegar and another of Hydrogen Peroxide under my sink.
I spray the sink with either of those and wipe it down, then soak incoming produce in a sink full of water with a cup of vinegar. Kills all the bad guys dead.
Yes, absolutely, Maureen..I cringe everytime I read of putting/washing veggies In Sink….
tupperware fridgemate is the best food keeper to keep veggies and fruits last longer
Really great ideas. I can’t wait to try it and pass it on . Food is way to expensive in this day and time so any way we can save is a GREAT day!! Thank ya for sharing.
I look and wash my lettuce place on paper towels or cloth towel to dry part of the water off then place in a glass jar will keep foe a couple of weeks.
Gonna try this now.!!!