How to keep salad fresh in 5 easy steps

How to keep salad fresh

Soggy salad? No thank you! There is nothing worse than getting ready to enjoy a lovely, crisp salad only to find that your salad leaves are now wilted, or even worse, slimy.

When you buy salad, there are 5 easy steps that will prolong its life so you can munch on fresh greens all week long.

1. Handle with care

While you're shopping and on the way home, keep your salad cool (don’t pack it next to the hot rotisserie chicken) and avoid crushing it under heavy items.

For pre-packaged salad, choose the freshest bags. If you’re packing your own loose-leaf salad at the grocery store, handle it with care. Crushed or bruised leaves will spoil much faster, and they can cause other salad leaves to spoil, too.

2. Make sure your salad is dry

Nowadays, pre-packaged salad is usually ready to eat and doesn’t need to be washed. However, if the leaves look damp in the package, give them a whirl in the salad spinner when you get home. Damp salad will break down faster, so it’s worth taking extra time to dry them.

If you don’t have a salad spinner, it’s a piece of equipment that might be worth investing in. Otherwise, you can gently pat the salad dry with paper towels, but be careful not to crush or bruise the leaves.

3. Remove any spoilt leaves

Sometimes a rogue squishy leaf can make it home with you. Before you pack your salad away, fluff up your salad and pull any of these out.

4. Put salad in the right containers

Store your clean, dry salad in an airtight plastic container lined with paper towel. The paper towel will absorb any excess water, and the airtight container will keep the salad from wilting.

5. Keep salad in the fridge

Keep salad in the crisper drawer of your fridge. This is the ideal temperature for fruits and vegetables, and it should ensure the salad doesn’t get frosty.

More salad recipes

Now your salad leaves are prepped and ready to eat! If you're looking for interesting salad recipes to try, check out the recipes below. If you're looking for more filling salads, check out these salad recipes for dinner. Or check out the full collection of salad recipes here, and don't forget to save them to your free cookbook!