HomeFoodButter Lettuce: How to Use, Prep & Store

Butter Lettuce: How to Use, Prep & Store

Butter lettuce is soft and succulent with a mild, sweet flavor.

Wellness your inbox

Subscribe to our newsletter

You might also know it as: Butterhead lettuce, Boston lettuce, and Bibb lettuce

Taste: sweet, mild

How to buy: Look for butter lettuce with fairly large, loose heads with thick leaves and even green coloring.

How to eat: It’s subtle taste and crisp leaves means that Butter lettuce lends itself to countless uses. Butter lettuce makes for a wonderful salad, especially with creamy salad dressings. Also, its leaves are ideally sized for sandwiches, and the leaves are almost almost crisp and tout – perfect for making sandwiches. This also makes it great for using as a low-carb wrap or edible vessel (e.g. tacos, lettuce wraps).

How to store: Store in a perforated bag and refrigerate the lettuce at 35 to 40 degrees F within two hours of purchasing.

Health Benefits

A type of head lettuce, this tender lettuce has a smooth texture and its most well know varieties are ‘Bibb’ or ‘Boston lettuce,’ which are rich in lutein and zeaxanthin (1223µg/100g).1

Research suggests that these two antioxidant carotenoids reduce the risks of malignant melanoma, the most severe type of skin cancer, by protecting the skin against UV radiation,2 as well as filter light’s high-energy blue and blue-green wavelengths from the visible-light spectrum – in doing so, lutein and zeaxanthin help prevent cell damage in the eyes.3

3 sources

  1. Webb AJ, Patel N, Loukogeorgakis S, et al. (2008) Acute blood pressure lowering, vasoprotective, and antiplatelet properties of dietary nitrate via bioconversion to nitrite. Hypertension.; 51(3):784-790.
  2. Bunning, M. (2007) Evaluation of Antioxidant and Sensory Properties of Multiple Cultivars of Colorado-grown Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.). PhD Dissertation. Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO.
  3. Millen AE, Tucker MA, Hartge P, et al. (2004) Diet and melanoma in a case-control study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev.; 13(6):1042-51.

Read more

Recent Posts

Popular Posts

Read more

How to Make a Salad

Healthy, crunchy, fresh and infinitely changeable, salads are the pin-up of all that’s healthy. Whether snack, side or starter, lunch-on-the-run or sit-down meal, salads...

Homemade Spinach and Goat Cheese Calzone

A rustic Italian treat, calzone is a great on-the-go meal. Perfect for a picnic, road trip or pack lunch. This recipe uses wholemeal flour and veggie filling for a lighter and healthier twist on the classic recipe.

Read more

How to Make a Salad

Healthy, crunchy, fresh and infinitely changeable, salads are the pin-up of all that’s healthy. Whether snack, side or starter, lunch-on-the-run or sit-down meal, salads...

Homemade Spinach and Goat Cheese Calzone

A rustic Italian treat, calzone is a great on-the-go meal. Perfect for a picnic, road trip or pack lunch. This recipe uses wholemeal flour and veggie filling for a lighter and healthier twist on the classic recipe.

Comments

Scroll over comments to read more or to leave a comment.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here