Types of Lettuce: Exploring the Different Varieties

Ah, lettuce! The common, undervalued vegetable.

Some call it bland. Some even accuse it of being the least healthy vegetable. But lettuce has a lot to offer, with unique tastes and great health benefits!

Let’s explore the difference between types of lettuce like romaine, looseleaf, butterhead, and crisphead, plus the best ways to use each variety.

Growing Greens

I love to make culinary creations with fresh, seasonal ingredients and exceptional flavor profiles. Even more, I love growing those ingredients right outside my back door!

There are so many varieties of lettuces that you may not have heard of or have a hard time finding in stores, like crisphead lettuce. Growing your own lettuce gives you access to those amazing varieties that you otherwise couldn’t source. Who knows, maybe your favorite lettuce is one that you haven’t tasted yet?

Gardeners, salad lovers, and culinary gurus alike should definitely be growing lettuce at home. I’ve already shared how to grow lettuce, how to harvest lettuce, and my favorite lettuce seeds, so anyone can start growing their own lettuce!

Benefits of Growing Your Lettuce at Home

Lettuce plants are simple to cultivate and require minimal care. They can produce a wonderful yield in a small square footage. You can even grow lettuce in containers and patio gardens!

Having fresh lettuce at home is a big plus for me, saving us money on groceries because we eat a lot of lettuce. We might eat a pound to a pound and a half of lettuce in a day. A salad is usually an entire meal for my family.

Having lettuce growing in my garden means it can be picked and eaten at its freshest. The longer lettuce sits in the store or in the fridge after harvesting, the more freshness and nutritional content it loses.

Lettuce 101: Types of Lettuce

Lettuce is one of the most popular leafy greens. It can be eaten so many ways besides just salads and sandwiches. Lettuce can be grilled, juiced, braised, and even sauteed or made into slaw, wraps, and soup.

There are four main types of lettuce: looseleaf, romaine, butterhead, and crisphead. These types grow in one of two ways, as head lettuce which forms a tight head, or as leaf lettuce which forms a loose center of leaves.

All four types can be grown as cut and come again lettuce. Let’s look at the different lettuces to help you pick the best varieties for your meals.

I love growing looseleaf lettuce. It is easy to grow and low maintenance which makes it perfect for all gardeners.

Here are some awesome varieties of looseleaf lettuce:

• Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce - One of the most popular lettuces for the home gardener. Easy to grow and versatile, providing lots of food from just a single plant.

• Slobolt Lettuce - As the name suggests, this variety is one of the slowest to bolt. It is heat tolerant with a pleasant flavor that doesn’t get bitter easily.

• Prizehead Leaf Lettuce - Lime green leaves are tipped with purple and bronze. This lettuce is delightfully crisp, tender, and sweet making it perfect for salads and garnishes.

• Tango Leaf Lettuce - Adds a wonderfully unique texture caused by hundreds of crinkles in the leaves. This is one of my favorite varieties that I grow every year!

• Grand Rapids Leaf Lettuce - Produces large loose heads with delicious, crisp, frilled leaves.

• Ruby Red Leaf Lettuce - A dramatic deep colored lettuce that looks and tastes best when paired with tender green lettuce and spinach. The anthocyanin levels in Ruby Red lettuce are off the charts!

• Lolla Rossa Leaf Lettuce - This curly, dark purple leaf lettuce grows extremely well in containers.

• Red Sails Leaf Lettuce - Tender, mahogany purple leaves are fun to toss-up in your salad mix. The flavor is bold and fresh, pairing well with a light fruity vinaigrette or a creamy dressing.

Looseleaf lettuce is a good source of vitamins A and K. It also contains iron, potassium, folate, and vitamin C. All lettuce is low in calories and fat.

Red and purple leaf lettuce is known for its high levels of anthocyanins! Anthocyanins are antioxidants that protect cells from free radical damage and potentially improve cardiovascular health and vision.

Romaine lettuce is the mainstay of a classic Caesar salad. It is loved for its crisp texture and mild flavor.

I like romaine lettuce because it offers both the nutritional value of leafy lettuces and the juicy crispness of head lettuces. Here are some of my favorite varieties of romaine:

• Super Red Romaine Lettuce - Leaves are the deepest shade of red that adds a pop of color and amazing antioxidants to any salads, wraps, or other dishes.

• Freckles Romaine Lettuce - This variety has a bolder taste and more striking color than traditional romaine.

• Cimmaron Lettuce - Cimmaron forms tight, upright heads with delicate rust red leaves that add pizzazz to your salads or your smoothies!

• Crisp Mint Lettuce - Mint green in color, but with a mild, sweet taste. Great for adding crunch and texture to salads.

Romaine lettuce is packed with vitamins and minerals. It's full of vitamins A and K to help your eyes, immune system, skin, and bones.

It's high in fiber for your gut, low in sodium, and contains potassium, calcium, iron, folate, magnesium, and phosphorus. In short, romaine lettuce is a nutritional superstar.

Looking for a sweet and soft lettuce with incredible texture? Butterhead lettuce is loved by chefs and home cooks for its velvety, almost luxurious texture and delicate, sweet taste.

You’ve got to try these exceptional butterhead lettuce varieties:

• Little Gem Butterhead Lettuce - Produces small, tight heads of lettuce that are wonderful in salads!

• Bibb Butterhead Lettuce - This is a classic variety of bibb lettuce. The leaves are soft, tender, buttery, and lack all bitterness! It adds a wonderful creaminess to salads and is a favorite for those who love juicing.

• Marvel of 4 Seasons Lettuce - This lettuce has a stunning color pattern, with bright green leaves that change into shimmery bronze.

• Bronze Mignonette Lettuce - These showy, oakleaf-shaped leaves are loaded with vitamins, potassium, fiber, and iron.

• Tom Thumb Dwarf Bibb Lettuce - A charming and compact variety that boasts a sweet, delicate flavor. You can get multiple harvests from this perfect heirloom lettuce.

Butterhead lettuce contains significant amounts vitamins A, K and C, plus essential minerals like iron and manganese. It is a good source of antioxidants like beta carotene.

Crisphead lettuce has a crunchy texture perfect for salads, slaws, and snacks. Even the outer leaves are useful, adding freshness to dishes. You can use the large leaves as wraps for a low-carb option.

If you like crisphead lettuce, you’ll love these varieties:

• Pablo Lettuce - Forming rosette heads, this bi-colored crisphead lettuce variety is very unique and hard to find. This phenomenal lettuce is one of my all-time favorites for good reason!

• Iceberg Lettuce - Homegrown iceberg lettuce will surely taste better than anything you buy from the store! Tightly bound heads release fresh flavors with a wonderful crunch.

• Hanson Improved Crisphead Lettuce - This variety is great for those that love iceberg but want something a bit crunchier. Add a crisp delicious flavor to deli sandwiches, lettuce wraps, or toss it in a salad.

• Crisphead Great Lakes 118 Lettuce - Produces heads that are like a cross between romaine and iceberg. This lettuce is nutrient-rich, refreshing, and crisp, perfect for wraps, salads, and sandwiches.

Contrary to what you might have heard, crisphead lettuces are healthy and nutritious. The high fiber and water content aids digestion and hydration. And they contains significant amounts of folate and vitamin K.

As you can see, this undervalued vegetable has a place at every table!

How to Prep and Store Lettuce

Wash lettuce soon after you harvest it. Separate and wash the leaves with cold water, then drain and spin off the excess water with a salad spinner.

Store lettuce in the fridge to keep it fresh in an airtight container or bag with a paper towel to soak up excess water.

Whether you enjoy gardening, cooking, or eating, I hope you learned something new and found this lettuce journey fun.