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20 lettuce varieties

Looking for a few tasty lettuce varieties to plant in your garden? Here are some of the most popular picks in terms of varieties that you can grow at home from seeds.

Buttercrunch lettuce - 20 top lettuce varieties to grow

1. Buttercrunch lettuce

Buttercrunch lettuce is a butterhead lettuce with green, buttery-textured leaves. It has a sweet, mild flavor and is great for salads, fresh wraps, or sandwiches. It’s perhaps the most common lettuce to grow in the garden due to its general deliciousness and wonderful homegrown texture.

Buttercrunch lettuce is very popular as a gourmet option and is commonly grown in kitchen gardens and chef’s gardens. It takes about 50 days (7 weeks) to grow in the garden, although you can harvest baby greens just four weeks after planting. Buttercrunch is an open-pollinated variety of lettuce.

Little gem lettuce in the garden

2. Little Gem lettuce

Little Gem lettuce is a small, romaine lettuce with dark green, tender, savoyed leaves that are soft enough to make them seem like butterhead-type greens. It has a sweet, nutty flavor and is great for salads or garnish.

This is an old French variety renowned for its delectable flavor and buttery texture. Little Gem romaine lettuce takes about 40 days (6 weeks) to grow in the garden. This variety is open-pollinated and works well for saving your own lettuce seeds.

Iceberg lettuce

3. Iceberg lettuce

Iceberg lettuce is a crisphead lettuce with light green, crunchy leaves. This cultivar is by far the most popular crisphead type of lettuce. It has a mild flavor and a wonderful crunchy texture. It is most commonly used in salads and sandwiches. Additionally, it is often used as a base for salads because it holds up well when mixed with other ingredients and does not wilt easily.

Iceberg lettuce is a classic for backyard barbeques, taco nights, and year-round salads. Iceberg crisphead lettuce takes about 85 days (2-3 months) to grow in the garden. The classic old variety is open-pollinated, but there are now many modern hybrids available too.

Planting oak leaf lettuce in the garden

4. Oak Leaf lettuce

Oak Leaf lettuce is a leaf lettuce with frilly, oak-shaped leaves that range in color from green to red. It has a mild, sweet flavor and is great for salads or as a garnish.

This is a very old variety, dating back to the 1800s in France. Oak Leaf lettuce takes about 45 days (6-7 weeks) to grow in the garden. This variety is open-pollinated.

Black seeded simpson lettuce seeds - planting in garden

5. Black Seeded Simpson lettuce

Black Seeded Simpson lettuce is a popular open-pollinated variety of lettuce. It can be grown for baby greens (which takes about a month) or for open heads (which takes about six weeks). It is heat and cold tolerant, making it a great choice for gardeners in many climates. The leaves are pale green with soft edges and have a mild flavor. This lettuce can be enjoyed fresh or cooked.

Black Seeded Simpson lettuce is easy to grow and does not require much care as long as it has adequate water and soil nutrition. It is best started from seed planted directly in the garden as soon as the soil can be worked. Plant seeds about ½ inch deep and 1 inch apart, then thin to 4 inches apart for mature plants. Apply a layer of mulch (like straw or composted yard trimmings) over the planting bed to help keep moisture consistent and reduce weeds.

If you’re growing indoors, this is a perfect cultivar for growing in the AeroGarden. The Heirloom Salad Greens Seed Pod Kit generally includes Black Seeded Simpson in pre-seeded pods, so you don’t have to buy the seeds on their own.

Deer tongue lettuce in the garden - raised bed gardening

6. Deer Tongue lettuce

Deer Tongue lettuce is a leaf lettuce with long, narrow, tongue-shaped leaves that are green on the top and sometimes a bit reddish-purple on the bottom. They are arranged in an open whirl, making for a very upright lettuce. It has a mild, slightly bitter flavor and is great for salads or burgers.

This variety is an heirloom dating back to the 1700s. It takes about 50 days (7 weeks) to grow in the garden. It’s an open-pollinated heirloom cultivar (meaning you can save the seeds from it).

Red romaine lettuce

7. Red Romaine lettuce

Red Romaine lettuce is a type of romaine lettuce with dark red, crunchy leaves. It has a slightly sweet, savory flavor. Red Romaine lettuce is an open-pollinated variety, taking about 70 days (10 weeks) to grow in the garden. It’s a popular choice for chefs because it stands up to salads and dressings very well. The red color also makes for an attractive and unusual presentation (especially for a gourmet Ceaser salad).

Red romaine lettuce is one of the new varieties of pre-seeded lettuce pods by Click and Grow. This makes it easy to grow your own indoors! Here’s a guide to growing lettuce indoors in a Click and Grow.

Tom thumb lettuce

8. Tom Thumb lettuce

Tom Thumb lettuce is a small, butterhead lettuce with round, green leaves. It has an incredibly smooth texture and a sweet, mild flavor. This is a great variety for making individual salads, as one head of lettuce is usually just the right size for one meal.

9. Rouge d’Hiver lettuce

Rouge d’Hiver lettuce is a type of lettuce with dark red, crisp leaves. It has a slightly bitter, nutty flavor and is a top gourmet choice. As the name (Red of Winter) suggests, this cultivar is cold-hardy and can be grown year-round (especially if you use a season extension system like a cold frame).

10. Tango lettuce

Tango lettuce is a variety of leaf lettuce with green, crinkly leaves and a slightly sweet, nutty flavor. While it is beautiful in salads, the frilly leaves look wonderful on a freshly-grilled backyard BBQ burger.

Salad bowl lettuce

11. Salad Bowl lettuce

Salad Bowl lettuce is a popular cultivar of leaf lettuce with large, green, oak-leaf-shaped leaves. It was developed to be easy to grow and perfect for fresh salads throughout the entire growing season. Sometimes ‘Salad Bowl’ is called ‘Green Salad Bowl’ to differentiate it from the red version (see below).

12. Red Salad Bowl lettuce

Red Salad Bowl lettuce is the red-leaved companion variety to the regular green ‘Salad Bowl’. It is similar in every way except for the color of the leaves is red. The leaves are still oak-leaf in shape, and the plants are still great all-season plants.

13. Prizehead lettuce

Prizehead lettuce is a variety of leaf lettuce with large, crisp, ruffled leaves. Boasting a vibrant light green hue with hints of crimson, these leaves are broad and deeply curled for quick harvesting. Plus, this variety is resistant to bolting early; you’ll be able to enjoy its satisfying flavor much longer than your typical leaf lettuce!

Parris island cos lettuce

14. Parris Island Cos lettuce

Parris Island Cos lettuce is a variety of romaine lettuce with long, crisp leaves that are green on the top and reddish-brown on the bottom. It has a slightly bitter, savory flavor. This cultivar is named after an island off the coast of South Carolina. It takes about 65 days (9 weeks) to grow in the garden.

Marvel of four seasons lettuce

15. Marvel of Four Seasons lettuce

Marvel of Four Seasons lettuce is a gourmet French butterhead variety with tender, sweet red leaves. Also known as ‘Merveille de Quatre Saisons’, this hardy lettuce type can thrive in many temperate climates all year round with the right seasonal extension techniques.

16. Green Ice lettuce

Green Ice lettuce is a leaf lettuce cultivar with pale green, crisp leaves. It has a sweet, mild flavor and small-medium-sized leaves, making it a great choice for salads. Its crunchy texture also makes it perfect for adding to sandwiches or wraps. Green Ice lettuce is easy to grow and is a great option for anyone looking to add some greenery to their garden or balcony.

17. Muir lettuce

Muir lettuce is a Batavaria-type of lettuce with large, green, crisp leaves. These plants form attractive rosettes that are a cross between crisphead-type and butterhead-type growth habits. Muir lettuce has a sweet and mild flavor, making it an excellent addition to salads. Its leaves are also crunchy and hold up well when cooked or grilled.

18. Lollo Rosso lettuce

Lollo Rosso lettuce is a lettuce with small, red, frilly leaves. Its flavor is slightly milder than that of other lettuces, making it a great addition to salads. Its texture allows for easy chewing, and its pleasant taste blends well with other flavors in a dish. As a result, it’s a popular option for adding crunch and flavor to salads, wraps, tacos, sandwiches, and more.

19. Bronze Mignonette lettuce

Bronze Mignonette lettuce is a type of lettuce with small, bronze-colored leaves. It has a crisp, crunchy texture and a slightly sweet taste. This type of lettuce is typically used to add color and flavor to salads and dishes. It can also be cooked with other ingredients or served as a side dish.

Red sails lettuce seeds

20. Red Sails lettuce

Red Sails lettuce is a leaf lettuce variety with leaves that are tender, sweet, and frilly. The leaves are typically bicolor, with a green center turning to a bronze red at the leaf perimeters. This type of lettuce has a mild flavor and is often used in salads. It can also be cooked with other ingredients or served as a side dish.

Mary Jane Duford
Mary Jane Duford

Mary Jane Duford is a quintessential Canadian gardener. An engineer by trade, she tends to an ever-expanding collection of plants. In her world, laughter blooms as freely as her flowers, and every plant is raised with a dash of Canadian grit.

Mary Jane is a certified Master Gardener and also holds a Permaculture Design Certificate. She's also a proud mom of three, teaching her little sprouts the crucial difference between a garden friend and foe.

When she's not playing in the dirt, Mary Jane revels in her love for Taylor Swift, Gilmore Girls, ice hockey, and the surprisingly soothing sounds of bluegrass covers of classic hip-hop songs. She invites you to join her garden party, a place where you can share in the joy of growing and where every day is a new opportunity to find the perfect spot for yet another plant.

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