Lettuce and bagged salad leaves often have a short lifespan once they're brought home from the supermarket - with many types quickly turning brown, wilted or soggy. Despite being stored in the fridge in their original packaging, it's nearly impossible to keep lettuce at its best for more than a few days. However, with a few extra steps, there is a method to keep these green leaves fresh and crunchy for weeks - and it involves getting rid of the plastic wrap immediately.
TikTok content creator @choreswithmom shared her food storage hack, revealing her "secret" technique to extend the shelf life of fresh greens. She advised: "Here's a tip for prolonging the shelf life of your lettuce, saving fridge space and always having salad on hand.".
To demonstrate the hack, she used two tools - kitchen towels and a zip-lock plastic bag. Since there's no need to keep the old wrapping, it's a great reason to buy loose lettuce instead of the pre-packaged kind to minimise waste from the start. She began by folding two sheets of paper towels in half and pushing them into the bag to create a liner. It's crucial to ensure the towels are the right size to fit in the bag, or else they will need to be folded up smaller initially, reports the Express.
According to @choreswithmom, this method is ideal for those short on space as it keeps the leaves in a container space without encouraging any deterioration. The TikTok whizz has revealed a nifty trick to keep lettuce fresh for up to two weeks. After prepping the lettuce by shredding, washing, and drying it, they pack it tightly between two pieces of kitchen towel that straddle the sides of a zip bag with an air pocket in the middle.
