How To Quickly Core Iceberg Lettuce With A Simple Hack

Among many reasons people feel you should not buy iceberg lettuce is that it's difficult to cut. Before you even start slicing, you need to core your lettuce, which can be a cumbersome task. Taking a knife and slicing slowly around the core takes a certain degree of time and precision, and slips can result in nicked fingers — or worse. Luckily, one hack can make it simple to core iceberg lettuce quickly and efficiently with zero sharp objects required.

First, firmly grasp the top of your head of lettuce. Then, place the lettuce down hard on a flat surface — you need to apply some decent force when placing your lettuce down. With sufficient force, the core should retract inside of the lettuce. From there, simply pick the core out with your hands and start slicing your lettuce. If this trick does not work the first time, you might have been a bit too gentle. Try again with more strength and the core should come off nicely. This hack makes working with this often cumbersome type of lettuce a breeze.

Once you core your lettuce, it's time to get cutting. First, closely inspect your produce; one mistake everyone makes when making salad is inadvertently letting dirty or damaged leaves into their food. Carefully inspect each layer of your head of iceberg lettuce and remove any discolored or slimy leaves. Then, dunk the head in a bowl of cold water, slosh it around a bit, and let it sit for 10 minutes.

With iceberg lettuce, there are generally three methods of preparation: you can cut your lettuce into wedges, shred it, or cut it into large leaves. To shred your lettuce, cut the head in half and then cut each half into very thin slices. If you would prefer larger leaves, repeat this same process, but make your slices slightly larger. For a wedge salad, slice the head in half and cut each half into two or three wedges.