Butter Lettuce
What do Bibb lettuce and Boston lettuce have in common? If you guessed that they are two varieties of butter lettuce, you’d be correct, but you’d still be confused as to what they are exactly.
So, what is butter lettuce? Butter lettuce, also known as butterhead lettuce, has extremely tender, smooth, and loosely-coiled leaves that have a rather sweet taste. With origins going back to the Mediterranean basin, butter lettuce has become one of the most popular forms of lettuce around the world.
Although Bibb lettuce and Boston lettuce are both forms of butterhead, there are some differences between the two varieties. You can tell these two apart if you look at the leaves. Boston’s leaves are going to be wider and a lighter shade of green when compared next to the dark Bibb lettuce.
Thanks to its sweet taste, crunch, and great texture, butter lettuce is often used to enhance salads, sandwiches, and other dishes in a number of different cooking styles.
Let’s take a look at some of the most popular recipes that get the most out of this sweet, crunchy, and versatile lettuce.
Butter Lettuce Recipes
Now that you know about butter lettuce, how are you going to use it?
PF Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wrap
Although butthead lettuce was first discovered in the Mediterranean basin, it is used in a number of different international dishes, including this take on the classic PF Chang’s chicken lettuce wrap recipe.
This copycat recipe is something that can be made in the comfort of your home kitchen with little effort or prep work. Just combine a few different sauces, water chestnuts, onion, garlic, and ground chicken, and you’ll have your guests thinking you are PF Chang in no time.
Bibb Lettuce Salad
Next we have this exquisite Bibb lettuce salad recipe. That at-home version of an elegant and classic popular salad that will turn your simple dinner party into an affair to remember.
All you have to do is combine the Bibb lettuce (Boston lettuce will work as well), salt and pepper, a few vegetables and aromatics, and a little vinaigrette to craft this remarkable gourmet salad.
Butter Lettuce Salad
And finally we have the classic butter lettuce salad that is composed of tender butter lettuce, green olives, bread crumbs, and manchego. Even though it comprises of only a few ingredients, the flavorful salad is anything but simple.
This is the salad all of your friends and family will be talking about after they leave your next dinner party.
Butter Lettuce Nutrition
Butter lettuce — yes, that means you too Bibb and Boston — is one of the most nutritious types of lettuce, which puts it up at the top of the bunch with the likes of Romaine lettuce.
Butter Lettuce Nutritional Information
Per 1 cup serving (shredded or chopped; 55g):
- 7.15 calories
- 0.7 g protein
- 1.23 g carbohydrates
- 0.605 g dietary fiber
Romaine Lettuce Nutritional Information
Per 1 cup serving (loosely packed; 35g):
- 6.65 calories
- 0.486 g protein
- 1.32 g carbohydrates
- 1.08 g dietary fiber
Butter lettuce and Romaine both don’t have a lot of calories, but they do provide you with a decent amount of dietary fiber in each 1-cup serving size. And as we know with Fiber, a little goes a long way. Varieties of butter lettuce like Bibb and Boston are also rich in calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and multiple vitamins, so either will be a great addition to your healthy diet.
