The Best Way to Use Up Lots of Lettuce

All spring long, I needed a good way to use up lots of lettuce. We’re talking buckets and buckets full.

It was growing like crazy in our garden! It was way too much lettuce to eat, even if we’d had salad for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I hated to waste it, but you can imagine how salad three times a day would go over with the youngest people at my house.

So I searched the internet for great ways to use up lots of lettuce.  I found ideas like “lettuce soup”. It tasted just like you’d imagine.  Mr. Native Texan said lettuce soup reminded him of an appetizer at a fancy restaurant.

If you’re a true foodie, you may love it. My family did not.

There were a few other good ideas for salads and stir fries and tossing lettuce into smoothies.  We fed lots of lettuce to the chickens and even gave bags away to family, friends and neighbors.

Still, none of this put a dent in our lettuce supply.

So I did a little experimenting and found a brilliant solution…

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Are you ready for this?

I puréed the (clean) lettuce and froze it in ice cube trays.  I then transferred the cubes to a freezer bag for storage.  These lettuce cubes are perfect for adding to smoothies, soups, taco meat and more!

I’m so delighted to have an easy way to use up lots of lettuce!  Not to mention the benefit of adding extra greens to our diet throughout the year.

By the way, remember the lettuce soup?  I froze that, too.  Because of the chicken broth and seasonings in the soup, I’ve been using those cubes for cooking and reserving the plain lettuce cubes for smoothies.

The Very Best Way to Use Up Lots of Lettuce

Step 1. Harvest lettuce.

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Step 2. Wash thoroughly.

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Step 3. You can dry the lettuce, but it’s not necessary.  
Older Bro is our designated Lettuce Washer.  
He developed a system that includes a salad spinner, because who doesn’t love to use one of those?

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Step 4. Stuff it into a high-powered blender.  (I use a Vitamix.)

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Step 5. Purée.  Use the tamper to press the lettuce down into the blades.

Step 6. Pour puréed lettuce into ice cube trays.
 (I love these baby food trays for freezing all sorts of foods!)

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Step 7. Freeze.

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Step 8. Transfer frozen cubes to freezer storage.

Step 9. Remember to label your storage bag or container!

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And there you have it!  The very best way to use up lots of lettuce.

How do you deal with lots of lettuce?  Share your tips below!

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