How to Wash Lettuce
Bagged lettuce, romaine lettuce and spinach have been frequent stars of food recall warnings in recent years. Unfortunately, leafy vegetable fields are easy targets for E. coli contamination due to proximity to animal farms, unsafe irrigation practices, composting errors, and more.
While these options for washing lettuce won’t remove serious pathogens (cooking above 160°F should suffice), washing leafy greens is a food safety best practice if the veggies aren’t already prewashed. It naturally reduces the risk of you consuming dirt, as well as any insects, pesticides or additional contaminants that may have been associated with your greens during harvesting, shipping or handling.
Read on for our test kitchen’s pro tips for washing lettuce in the most common varieties, be it iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, butter lettuce; tender greens like arugula or spinach; or heavier leaves like radicchio, kale, or collards.
How to wash lettuce
If you’ve invested in bagged vegetables that are labeled “Ready to Eat,” “No Wash Required,” or “Triple Washed,” that means they’re already clean, according to the CDC. You don’t need to follow these instructions to wash lettuce. But in all other cases — whether you harvested the veggies from your vegetable garden, notched them at your local farmer’s market, or bought them at the grocery store — read on to learn how to wash lettuce.
How to wash lettuce with a salad spinner
Because it makes meal prep so much easier and more efficient, our test kitchen experts firmly believe a salad spinner is worth the cupboard space. This is how you wash lettuce if you also swear by your spin dryer.
- Fill a large bowl with cold water.
- Remove any damaged outer leaves and use a chef’s knife to trim off the stalk of the lettuce, if there is any.
- Separate the leaves, drop them into the bowl of water and, with clean hands, swirl them around the bowl to remove dirt or sand. Let the veggies soak for about 2 minutes to allow the residue to fall into the bowl’s bottle. Lift the leaves out of the water and take a look: if you still notice granular bits, change the water in the bowl and wash the bunch again.
- Place the washed leaves in the colander of the salad spinner; Do not fill it more than half full of each batch. Put the lid on and spin the leaves dry. Empty the water from the bowl and repeat the process with more leaves until the whole pile is dry.
- Place the washed and spun leaves on a clean tea towel or a few layers of kitchen paper. Gently roll up the towel to wipe off excess moisture and continue with your recipe or store as directed below.
Wash the lettuce without a salad spinner
No salad spinner? no sweat Follow steps 1-3 above, then place the washed leaves in a colander instead of a salad spinner. Drain the salad well.
Continue with step 5 of the lettuce washing instructions above, or store the leafy greens in your fridge for another time.
How to store lettuce to keep it fresh for as long as possible
It is best to wash and dry your vegetables immediately before using them. Generally, if the refrigerator is set at around 35 to 38 degrees F, unwashed vegetables will keep in the refrigerator for around 7 to 10 days.
But if you have a head start and want to pre-wash your leaves, be sure to dry them thoroughly after following the lettuce washing instructions above. Try to use pre-washed vegetables within 3 days.
Store lettuce that has already been washed on a few layers of kitchen paper. Gently roll up the towels with the lettuce stuffed inside; The paper towels help absorb excess moisture (to slow wilting) while maintaining a moist environment (to prevent overly dried leaves). Transfer this roll to a clean bag and place in the fresh food drawer of your fridge.
Next: 32 Fruits and Vegetables You Should Keep in the Fridge (And 7 You Should Never)