Sick of limp lettuce? You might be storing it wrong. For lettuce that stays crisp and fresh longer you need to let it do two things. It needs to be able to breathe and have access to moisture. Both of these things are easily accomplished with a salad bag.
I'm not going to complain about the heat. I'm not going to do it. We had the most winter-like spring ever and I vowed not to complain about the heat when it came. Instead I will simply inform you that all of my organs have liquified and now slosh when I walk.
And summer gut sloshing means it's salad season. The trick to a great salad in the summer is to keep the lettuce crisp. Very few things in this world are better when they're limp and lettuce is no exception so I have two tips for you today. One on how to bring sickly lettuce back to life and one on how to keep lettuce fresh longer.
Table of Contents
How to revive limp lettuce.
If your lettuce isn't "rusty" or slimy and is just sort of bending and sad looking, you can usually revive it by letting it soak in ice cold water for 15 minutes or so.
This works with leaf lettuce, iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce ... allllll the heads of lettuce. Tear (don't cut) the lettuce leaves away from the core and then just let them soak.
You can do it in your sink or in a large bowl with cold water.
How do you keep lettuce fresh for a month?
After your dry the revived lettuce you have 2 good ways to store it:
In a plastic bag
At the risk of dissuading you from making a salad bag you do have another option for storing lettuce but it involves plastic.
Wash the lettuce, shake out the excess water and dry it. Put it into a Ziploc bag and press or suck all of the air out of the bag. This will keep your lettuce fresh for 3-4 weeks. Remember you have to return the unused lettuce to the plastic bag and resuck the air out every time you remove some.
Then dry the lettuce with a salad spinner (this is the salad spinner I use) and store it in a plastic bag with a couple of damp paper towels. The paper towels will absorb extra moisture when there's too much and it will also keep the bag humid enough to keep the lettuce crisp.
In a salad sack
OR you can be one of the cool kids and use a Salad Bag which means you'll never have limp lettuce again and you'll NEVER have to dry salad greens again and you won't be using any plastic. It's the kind of revelation that'll make you question your entire existence. Turn your liquid guts solid again. I'm not kidding.
YOU WILL NEVER HAVE TO DRY LETTUCE AGAIN. This is real people, this is happening.
This is where I disclose what most of you don't want to hear. You have to sew 4 straightish lines to make your Salad Bag. On a sewing machine. Sorry 'bout that but it's true. I know there are some of you out there who are opposed to sewing but sometimes you've gotta suck it up and do what needs to be done.
If you already know there is absolutely no way in hell you're going to sew a salad bag, you can buy a Salad Sac on Amazon.
How do you keep lettuce from turning brown?
When you buy one of those premixed salads in a bag or clamshell container, by day 3 or even 2 of using it, the lettuce has gone brown and gross. Why is that?
That's because of ethylene gas. Lettuce gives off a bit of ethylene gas, but vegetables give off a lot. So if you have a mixture of lettuce and chopped vegetables in that bagged salad, the lettuce is going to go brown much faster than if it was just a bag of lettuce.
To keep your lettuce from going brown don't store it in the same container as other cut vegetables.
How to make a salad bag.
Materials
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- 1, Terry cloth hand towel
- 2, lengths of cord, rope or ribbon (approximately 40" each)
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- Lay out your hand towel right side up.
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2. Fold the bottom up to meet the top.
3. Sew sides up leaving 1.5" open at the top.
4. Turn down the top by ¾ of an inch. The top hem of the towel will align with where your side stitching starts.
5. Sew down folded portions with a very small seam allowance to create a channel.
6. You now have a tube to run your ribbon or rope through for closing the bag.
7. Turn your bag right side out and using a safety pin run an approximately 40" length of ribbon through the entire top of the bag. Repeat this step but starting from the other side of the bag.
8. You now have to pull strings on either side of your bag.
9. Soak your bag in water.
10. Wring out as much water as possible. You want the bag to be damp not wet.
11. Fill the bag with wet lettuce!
(if the lettuce is reallyyyyy wet you can put it in a dry bag as opposed to a damp one)
12. Pull the drawstrings closed and keep the bag in the fridge.
Make a Salad Bag
Keeps your lettuce fresh and crisp. It's how all the cool kids store their lettuce.
Materials
- Terry cloth hand towel
- lengths of cord, rope or ribbon (approximately 40″ each)
Instructions
- Lay out your hand towel right side up.
- Fold the bottom up to meet the top
- Sew sides up leaving 1.5″ open at the top.
- Turn down the top by ¾ of an inch. The top hem of the towel will align with where your side stitching starts.
- Sew down folded portions with a very small seam allowance to create a channel.
- You now have a tube to run your ribbon or rope through for closing the bag.
- Turn your bag right side out and using a safety pin run an approximately 40″ length of ribbon through the entire top of the bag. Repeat this step but starting from the other side of the bag.
- You now have to pull strings on either side of your bag.
- Soak your bag in water.
- Wring out as much water as possible. You want the bag to be damp not wet.
- Fill the bag with lettuce.
- Pull the drawstrings closed and keep the bag in the fridge.
- Re-dampen the bag when you notice it starting to dry out.
Notes
If your lettuce is wilted, revive it before putting it in the bag by soaking it in ice cold water for 15 minutes.
If your lettuce is very wet you can put it in a dry bag as opposed to a damp one.
Recommended Products
I'm an Amazon affiliate some I get a few cents when you buy something I've linked to.
The only pain of this system is you really have to make sure your bag stays damp. THAT'S the key to keeping your lettuce crisp and fresh. If you can manage that, your lettuce will stay fresh for an astonishingly long time.If your bag starts to dry out re-dampen it and return it to the fridge. Lettuce, especially heartier lettuces like romaine, will last for well over a week, perfectly fresh, stored like this.
If you're still completely opposed to sewing 4 straight lines and making your own bag for a total cost of about $2, you can buy a Salad Sac on Amazon.
Cheater Tip
You can also forego the sewing by wrapping your lettuce up in a damp terrycloth towel.
Now if you'll excuse me my pancreas is dripping on the floor and I need to wipe it up.
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SusanR
Just finished making mine. Took about 10 minutes, mostly because I couldn't find my bodkin right off the bat. Looking forward to having lettuce more frequently this summer! Thank you!
Jan in Waterdown
Here's a nifty idea that I stole from a Canadian Living mag back in the dark ages before the Interweb was invented. If you need to dry a large batch of lettuce, spread it out on a big bath or beach towel, roll it up gently to avoid crushing the leaves and making sure all is tucked inside. Then pop the whole thing in the last spin cycle of your TOP loading washing machine. It works brilliantly to spin all the water off the lettuce and into the towel. Do not use a front load one or you'll have tossed salad!
Mary W
How do you take the most normal, mundane things we do and turn them into really cool ideas, gifts, useful items that we actually need and will use? Tell Betty I said Hi and she did something very cool when raising you. Wonder what it was?
shannon
This is brilliant. Even though I will have to drag out my sewing machine and have my husband remind me how to use it (for real), I'm gonna do this. I'm also guessing it would work well for fresh herbs.
Jan in Waterdown
Hi Shannon, I like to put fresh herbs in a glass of water (like an herb bouquet) then put that in a plastic bag and tie the top loosely and the whole thing goes in the fridge. It works very well for parsley and cilantro, anything with stems but make sure to strip off any leaves below the water line or you'll have a green slime science project!
SueSchneid22
This is such a great idea!! I, too, am a plastic bag/paper towel kind of salad maker. Thank you for such a useful idea that is delightfully simple. It will have to wait until I am home as I am on vaca in the mountains of NC where it is delightfully cool and breezy, but I left the MidAtlantic area when it was in the 90's, so I hear you on that score. Not rubbing it in or anything... ;)
Thank you! I love your blog.
Alena
I am willing to give it a try but for a different reason - I eat a huge amount of veggies every day and I find that if I don't pre-chop everything ahead of time I am very likely to reach for something less healthy in order to escape the prep work.
I will let you know how it worked out.
Now if somebody could come up with an idea how to keep spinach fresh. I prefer spinach to romaine lettuce (although my salads are usually a mixture of spinach, romaine and dandelion and/or black kale when it's available). I buy the bundled spinach because the spinach leaves sold in bags start going limp the second day.
Martina
I bought a food safe container, line the bottom with paper towel, place half the spinach in, separate with another paper towel, throw the rest of the spinach in and top with another paper towel. My spinach stays fresh for up to two weeks. I also alternate placing the container upside down in the fridge and then right side up the next day as I take it out. I know it sounds time consuming, but it really isn’t and you don’t waste your spinach!
Hope that helps!
Flash
I don't grow enough that there is ever enough to store.
Monique
I want to make one now:)I have been the paper towel girl..FINI!
Dawn
Wow! Thank you for the quick and easy tutorial! Beats the way I have been doing things.
I'm going to make a few for gifts!
So people can chill the flip out! (and keep their lettuce cool and fresh too)
Amy
I buy a package with three Romaine hearts in one bag. I'm wondering whether I couldn't just dampen a face cloth and put it inside the plastic bag, because I'm concerned that the wet bag in my crisper drawer would cause some of my other veggies to rot.
Karen
No, it doesn't affect the other vegetables. Most like to have humidity, which is the purpose of the crisper drawer. The bag isn't wet, it's damp which just creates humidity around anything near it. ~ karen!
Joanne
What a great idea! I think I even have the same hand towel (Costco, bulk purchase?)--and my sewing machine is out, ready to go, with white thread in it. Will this work for those baby greens that turn to mush overnight?
Karen
The baby greens are more difficult to keep fresh, you're right. I find it's touch and go with the baby greens. The odd one still goes gross. And mine towels are from Dollarama. :) ~ karen!
Joanne
Love Dollarama! I have to research how to grow greens. I know nothing about gardening.
Lisa
I get baby greens (spinach etc) from the markets each week. The market stall sells them in plastic bags with air holes - they last for up to 10 days - perfect. Or, if they have run out of the "holey" bags I store them in the good old mushroom paper bag, but put holes in the bag - they need the air to circulate or slime fest central.
Martina
Hmmm...you haven’t been here long then...lol
Heather MacDonald
What a useful internet pal you are! Thanks!
Karen
Ha! You're welcome. ~ karen!
jaine kunst
I've been putting my lettuce in a very large casserole dish with a damp paper towel on the bottom and covering with a glass lid. Seems to last about 10 days. But I will try the towel method.
Kathryn
We've been just wrapping up the washed greens in a towel and sticking the whole thing in the crisper drawer, so when we want salad we just grab a handful. I get a farm box of veggies every Tuesday, and use the last ones for Tuesday lunch, so I know they last for a week nicely.
But I like the idea of the bag.
Ann
I find I have great luck if I wash and prep the greens, letting them almost go dry in a colander. Then I put a folded up paper towel down in the bottom of a half gallon glass jar, fill it with the greens and vacuum seal. Which means you have to have a vacuum sealer with a jar adapter. But this way my salad stays pristine, usually for a full week.
Leticia
I'm not a big fan of lettuce, I prefer meaner greens, with more flavor. What I have been doing lately, since it's winter and I am in no mood for cold salads, is to soak the leaves in the sink, swish them around to dislodge the dirt, dry in the salad spinner, chop and freeze in portions.
This way I can add collard greens or broccoli leaves and stems quickly and easily to my cooking food. Just drop them in at the last minute. Defrosted means done.
I will save this idea for summer. In the region of Brazil where I live we have a lot of a wide leaf endive, we call escarola. It's very much like lettuce, but hardier and with flavor. It's also very good cooked.
TucsonPatty
This is pretty genius! You could sew by hand, too, if you don't want to get the sewing maching out of storage. If I put my purchased salad-in-a-bag into the salad bag, will it all stay crisp? I keep not getting to eat the last of the bag of shredded cabbage or all of the ready made salad I've taken to purchasing. Don't judge me, please...lately it seems to be to only way I can get my greens on! The Amazon link also leads to only of these made of a microfiber cloth - is that as good? Stay damp the same or better? Do you get credit for anything we purchase, if we get there from your site? (I'm looking for new capris.)
Karen
Hi Patty. Yes, I do get credit if you buy anything from my site as long as you go to Amazon from any one of my links, thanks. :) Yes this works with salad in a bag salads too. The only trick is making sure the bag is damp and stays damp. ~ karen!
judy
wow! I wish you would have mentioned this long ago. Due to Husbands illness I have had to purchase a hospital bed,wheelchair,gait belts-diaper pants-soaps creams pads moving thingys etc. I could have popped over and grabbed a link. Will do so from now on. thanks for all the wonderful,chuckles giggles and downright guffaws. sorely needed and greatly appreciated. people who can make us laugh are a priceless treasure,also people who can sing.
Kelly ~ It took me 10 years to lose 10 pounds
Stay Calm & Let-tuce never have leafy casualties again. Awesome idea Karen!
Melissa Stinson
Sold!! I'm on It! Do I really need to drag out the sewing machine?? Ugh
Rebekah
No - actually, in my family we just wrap the washed lettuce in a clean tea towel, and then stow the roll in a plastic bag in the fridge. Clean, crisp, stays fresh for days - and no sewing or worrying about keeping a salad bag moist involved.
Janie
Just what I was going to say. I buy Romain hearts in packages of 6 at Sams Club. I wash them, cut off the stem end and roll each one in a clean cotton towel. These go into a plastic bag. Easy to take one out at a time and they will last for 2 or 3 weeks for me. The plastic bag keeps the towel from becoming too dry.
Linda
Amen! I have been doing this for years and have been amazed at how well lettuce will keep!
Nicole
Using a crochet hook to pull the ribbon through is easier than a safety pin.
Would you use this *after* using the salad spinner, or instead of?
Doesn't the bag leave a wet splotch in the fridge? I've just finished un-sticky-ifying the crisper drawer (no idea what the heck that gunk was) and I don't want to ever do it again. Or at least not for a really long time. Like decades.
Gillian
I put a dry washer in the bottom of my crisper drawer. If anything leaks I just swap the washer for a fresh one. Seems to keep things fresher too.
Mariah
What is a "washer"?
Wendy
Wash cloth?
Karen
No wet splotches that I've ever noticed. The bag is damp, not wet. The beauty of it is you don't need to use a salad spinner to dry the lettuce unless you want to use the lettuce right away. The terrycloth of the towel absorbs the excess moisture of the lettuce (unless they're absolutely sopping wet). ~ karen!