Lettuce

Lactuca sativa

Crisp, hearty and refreshing, a really good salad can be a revelation. We have lettuce from our farm and grower friends in France early on and follow up with our own homegrown crops as the year progresses.

In the kitchen

How to store Lettuce

Store in the fridge for 4-10 days, depending on the variety. Whole leaves attached to the lettuce last twice as long as chopped, washed leaves. Wash well before use.

Prep & Cooking tips

For salads, pull off the leaves you need, wash them well and use shredded or torn into manageable pieces. Keep the rest of the head in the fridge. Not just for salads, lettuce can be braised or griddled and adds a sweet, clean taste to soups.

Easy ideas

1. Balance

Try for a mix of strong, peppery and mild flavours to create an interesting overall balance. Contrast a salty cheese or olives with something sweet like apples, roast peppers or tomatoes. Combat any bitter tastes with something sharp and acidic.

2. Texture

Toasted nuts, seeds or croutons will lend a crunch to proceedings. Cooked and cooled pulses and grains such as puy lentils, spelt, farro, and chickpeas will lend a bit of bite as well as bulk. Early in the season, try adding raw broad beans, asparagus and peas for extra succulence.

3. Style

Take the time to layer and place your ingredients to show off their colours, shapes and contrasts. Herbs, crumbled cheese, nuts and vibrant coloured dressings are best added at the end as a finishing flourish.

Goes well with

Olive oil

Salt

Lemon

Mustard

Blue cheese

Croutons

Peas

Lettuce recipes

View all Lettuce recipes

In the field

Meet the grower: Riverford on Sacrewell Farm , Peterborough

Sacrewell Farm is Riverford’s home in the East. We’ve been farming there since 2007; it was the first ‘sister’ farm to our original Devon HQ, Wash Farm.

UK seasonality

jan

feb

mar

apr

may

jun

jul

aug

sep

oct

nov

dec

Lettuce varieties

Cos/Romaine

The old-fashioned Mr McGregor-style lettuce. Sweet and crunchy - the classic Caesar salad leaf.
Lamb's lettuce

Sometimes known as mâche, lamb's lettuce is a soft, succulent salad green with a delicately tangy flavour.
Batavia

The most common lettuce in France. They have a fairly crunchy texture and earthy flavour and can be either green or red in colour.
Little Gem

Really a mini Cos. Good shelf life and texture, plus they can be very sweet. They are good cooked, too.
Oakleaf

True to its name, the leaves of this lettuce look like large oak leaves. It has a buttery texture and a sweet, mellow flavour with just a hint of nuttiness, making it a perfect match for savoury dressings.
Pain de sucre/Sugarloaf chicory

The sweetest of the bitter leaf family. Balance its earthy bitterness with a balsamic dressing, or cook with ham/bacon and lots of cheese and cream.
Butterhead

Butterhead lettuce gets its charming name from the sweet, mild flavour and tender texture of the ruffled outer leaves. Some varieties are green, and some dark red.
Red Salanova

Dark rosettes, with burgundy outer leaves paling to a light green heart. Their leaves are tender, with a delicate, sweet, buttery flavour – just right for refreshing salads.