How to Chop Romaine Lettuce

Use your chopped romaine as a base for salads, or add as a topping for tacos or add for texture to a Watermelon Feta salad.

It's easy to learn how to chop romaine.
It’s easy to learn how to chop romaine.

Learning how to chop romaine lettuce is a kitchen basic. If you are looking for how to cut romaine quickly, this is how to do it! The key is to remember to make everything for a good salad bite sized, so that it is easy to eat your freshly prepared salad. At first glance, a head of romaine may look daunting, but it is quite easy, especially after the first cut is made.

How to Chop Romaine Lettuce

  1. Take our your head of romaine and place it on a cutting board.
  2. Take a sharp knife and cut through the middle of the head of romaine.
  3. With your sharp knife, cut out the tough stem of the lettuce.
  4. Add the lettuce to a colander so that it can be washed. You can also wash the lettuce as a whole head, but it is easier when it is cut into spears. If you want to serve your salad, such as a Caesar salad, it is often served with just the spears of romaine.
  5. After it is washed, trim off any other hard parts of romaine and then slice the romaine into 1 inch bite-sized pieces.
Place your head of lettuce on a cutting board.
1. Place your washed head of lettuce on a cutting board.
Take a sharp knife and slice down the center.
2. Take a sharp knife and slice down the center.

Take our your head of romaine and place it on a cutting board. Slice through the middle of the head to split it in half.

Take your knife and cut out the stem of the lettuce.
3. Take your knife and cut out the stem of the lettuce.
Place the spears in a colander and wash. Allow to drain for a couple of minutes.
4. Place the spears in a colander and wash. Allow to drain for a couple of minutes.

Make an angled cut to take out the tough stem. Then wash the spears in a colander.

Slice the lettuce, discarding hard or inedible parts of core.
5. Slice the lettuce, discarding hard or inedible parts of core.
Continue to slice all the spears when chopping romaine.
6. Continue to slice all the spears when chopping romaine.

Chop the romaine spears. Or take the spears and serve them as a whole pieces of lettuce. This makes for a beautiful presentation for a group, but if you’re feeding a large group, cutting the lettuce into 1-inch pieces will be easier to eat and serve.

Use your freshly chopped romaine for a variety of different types of salads, such as Caesar salad, Chinese chicken salad or even use your romaine to add texture to a grain bowl.

Should I cut or tear my lettuce?

A commonly asked question is about how to break up the romaine into bite-sized pieces.

There are two ways to break up your lettuce – either cut or tear it.

Tearing the lettuce will break up the head of romaine along its natural fault lines, causing less of a rupture in the cell wall of the vegetable. Because of this, the lettuce will last longer if it is being stored in the fridge for later.

If you want to cut the lettuce, however, it is a much faster way of making easy-to-easy lettuce for salads.

If you plan on using your lettuce right away, it’s best to cut it with a sharp knife. You’ll save time and you will be more precise with your cuts. If you’re planning on storing the lettuce for a couple days, you can tear it instead.

Recipes you Might Like:

How to Chop Romaine Lettuce

0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Sarah Course: Cooking TipsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

40

minutes
Calories

300

kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 head 1 romaine lettuce

Directions

  • Take your freshly-washed head of romaine and place it on a cutting board.
  • Make one slice with a sharp knife down the center.
  • Cut out the hard middle root of the lettuce.
  • Take the spears of romaine and check that they are clean – sometimes dirt will get in between the leaves as it grows.
  • Cut the spears of romaine down into bite-sized pieces, roughly one inch pieces.
  • Use your chopped romaine in salads, for tacos and as a garnish for some soups.

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