Simple Tip: How to Keep Lettuce Fresh Longer
posted by Andrea | 07/11/2011I had big garden at our old house and I grew TONS of lettuce and spinach. It was so delicious and we loved having a wide selection of fresh lettuce all spring, summer, and fall.
However, we had so much lettuce that it often started to go bad before we could eat it all. So I did a bunch of experimenting and after 2 summers, I figured out an extremely simple and effective way to keep our lettuce fresh longer.
We didn’t have time to put in a huge garden this year, but I’m still using the same technique to keep our store-bought lettuce fresh long after the sell-by date.
The trick for me is to separate the lettuce with multiple sheets of paper towel. This prevents excess moisture from making the lettuce soggy and wilted.
There is NO right or wrong way to this — simply rip or cut a few sections of paper towel {or you can use clean, thin cloths} and layer them in between the lettuce. I change out the paper towel every few days, or whenever it gets pretty damp.
Also, don’t pack the lettuce in too tightly. You want it to have room to “breathe”.
I top off the container with one more sheet of paper towel and then tightly secure the lid. There is no need to keep the lettuce in your produce drawer because it will stay just as fresh on any shelf {this is an added bonus for us as our produce drawer has very limited space!}
That’s it! SO simple 
Obviously, you can use any container that you have on hand — I just like this one because it’s really light weight, it’s the exact same size as our paper towel, and it fits perfectly on one of our narrow refrigerator shelves.
And if you’re skeptical, let me just say that the lettuce in these pictures is almost 2 weeks old — which is WAY past the sell-by date — and it’s still as crunchy and fresh as the day I brought it home from the store!
Do you have any simple tips for keeping your produce fresh longer?
Filed under: From My Kitchen • Tips and Tools
Lisa @ I'm an Okie
11/07/2011Love it! thanks for the tips.
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Monika
11/07/2011Wow. I hope this will work with the big bags of spinach we buy.
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erin
11/07/2011two weeks old? that’s amazing! we have lettuce go bad after just a few days if we don’t eat it up. thanks so much for sharing!
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Heart and Haven
11/07/2011Great tip! I’ll have to try this!
We have been growing lettuce & spinach in our home garden too.
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Andrea Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 9:57 pm
I find that homegrown lettuce lasts MUCH longer than store bought — so hopefully yours will last for weeks and weeks!!
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Megan
11/07/2011Do you buy lettuce heads or the pre-bagged/boxed lettuce?
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Andrea Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 9:58 pm
I usually buy the pre-washed tubs of lettuce {like the tub of lettuce in my pictures} but this method works either way. If you buy heads of lettuce, just wash it and chop it up, then layer it between paper towels.
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Rivki Locker (Ordinary Blogger)
11/07/2011I use the same trick with herbs, whether store bought or homegrown.
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Bonnie K.
18/09/2011I have these containers from Tupperware that let you control the humidity level. They make produce, esp lettuce last for SO much longer! And very handy!!
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Truffles Magazine
20/02/2012Andrea,
As someone who doesn’t have a backyard for a garden I always purchase my produce at the store, especially lots of spinach. I just tried your tip last week and my spinach is still going strong I see me being able to save a lot of money in the future, normally my spinach lasts 3 days after purchasing before going bad, were on our 9 days!
Thank-you so much!
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Andrea Reply:
February 21st, 2012 at 9:01 am
yay — so glad it’s working for you! We have a tub of lettuce in our fridge from 2 weeks ago… and it’s still fresh!
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How to Keep Lettuce fresh Longer « Truffles Magazine
10/03/2012[...] which seem to go bad long before I get to use all of it. So after desperation I tried this tip on Simple Organized Living – I really urge you to go ahead and give this a try plus it costs nothing and you will save $ [...]