Stir-fried lettuce transforms the humble, predictable, and often ho-hum salad green into something unexpectedly special. Crisp romaine is quickly stir-fried with garlic and then finished with soy sauce and a drizzle of sesame oil for an elegant and really quite easy dish that’s done in literally less than 15 minutes. It’s a riff on the more common stir-fried iceberg lettuce with oyster sauce but made with more common ingredients.–Angie Zoobkoff
CAN I MAKE STIR-FRIED LETTUCE AHEAD OF TIME?
Nope. Well, sure, you could. But it’s not gonna go well. The same goes for leftovers. The beauty of stir-fried lettuce is how it gets just wilted enough to be unexpected and delicious. After sitting around for too long, though? It turns really, really wilted. Besides, the prep time is so quick and easy, there’s no real reason not to make it the moment you want it.
Stir-Fried Lettuce
Ingredients
- 14 ounces romaine lettuce hearts, about 2
- 1 tablespoon mild vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Trim the romaine lettuce and cut it crosswise into 1-inch (2.5-cm) wide pieces. Pat the lettuce completely dry.
- Place a wok or medium skillet over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Carefully swirl in the oil. When the oil is shimmering hot but not yet smoking, add the garlic and then toss in the romaine lettuce in batches, stirring after each addition to coat the lettuce with oil before adding the next batch. This should take a total of about 2 minutes. The lettuce will have just begun to wilt.
- Add the soy sauce and sugar and give it a quick stir to coat the lettuce well. You want the lettuce to be almost tender yet still a little crisp and still bright green. Drizzle the sesame oil over the lettuce and immediately remove it from the heat.
- Move to a bowl and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This stir-fried lettuce recipe is a keeper. It’s simple, quick, and made with ingredients most would already have on hand. AND it’s inexpensive to make. AND it’s vegan-friendly. Having said all that, the part I liked best about the stir fried lettuce, after having made it, is how versatile this easy Chinese recipe is. One could add spicy flavoring to give it a kick or use thinly sliced pork or chicken to make it more of a one-dish meal. For me, it was one of those moments that I thought to myself, “Why haven’t I thought of this?”
This stir-fried lettuce recipe is a quick, easy, flavorful weeknight side dish that I will definitely make again. Who knew that homely old romaine had such potential? As one of my tasters put it, this recipes “takes something quite ordinary that I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat even in a salad and makes it quite good.”
Absolutely do try this stir-fried lettuce recipe! It takes just 10 minutes to make. (Too much to ask? I think not.) I love the slight crunch of the wilted lettuce and it’s wonderful when adorned with fragrant garlic and sesame oil.
Whether you’re a wok wizard or grilled salad lover or have never even considered sautéed romaine, this quick technique is a useful one and a great intro to how a simple change to how you think about lettuce can open up all sorts of new dishes. This stir-fried lettuce could serve 4 over rice or with other dishes but for us it was a main course for 2 greedy eaters. The tiny amount of sugar does the job of balancing any possible slight bitterness that you might get with lettuce, but I used a scant amount.
Overall, the stir-fried lettuce was easy to make and tasted great. The combination of flavorings that went along with the stir-fried romaine were ones that I usually use. This recipe serves 4 as a side dish—not quite enough to be a main vegetarian dish.
I had reservations about this dish, I’ll be honest. I’ve never tried sautéed romaine lettuce and didn’t think it would taste very good. In my family we eat stir fry regularly and pair the veggie/meat mix with rice or ramen or rice noodles. As I’m watching my carb intake, I needed an alternative to the carb pairing and this was the perfect solution for me. I used the stir fried romaine as a base to the other ingredients and it was a hit! I definitely preferred the taste better after adding the sesame oil at the end-it really added to the flavor.
April, I love the idea of using this as a carb substitute. Genius!