The Easiest Way To Dry Lettuce Without A Salad Spinner

No salad spinner? No problem. While this kitchen tool might make life easier if you go through a lot of lettuce or need to remove seeds from canned tomatoes, it's easy enough to get by without one. Whether you're short on storage space, don't eat salad often, or are cooking on a budget, a salad spinner might not be a practical or worthwhile investment. Sure, some collapsible options certainly go on clearance from time to time, but there's no need to stalk stores for sales. Turns out, it's easy to DIY your own salad spinner — no spending needed.

To dry lettuce easily and efficiently without this special tool, it's worth looking into how it works. A salad spinner generally features an inner strainer basket for lettuce and an outer bowl attached to a spinning mechanism, usually a cord or a knob. With a quick twist or pull, the strainer basket spins rapidly, sending any water on the leafy greens sitting inside away from them and out into the bowl. At its core, the kitchen accessory functions through the power of centrifugal force, which involves the inertia of a rotating object pulling it away from the center. 

When it comes to drying lettuce sans salad spinner, the concept is easy enough to replicate yourself. All you have to do is grab a couple of household objects — a pillowcase or a plastic bag — and stuff one with wet lettuce, then take the spinning into your own hands.

Say you have some leafy frisée and stale bread lying around and want to make your favorite panzanella salad recipe, but the frilly lettuce is difficult to dry with just a simple patdown. Don't fret — a few ordinary objects can help you rid the greens of any excess moisture so the fresh summertime dish will be coated in tangy vinaigrette instead of water.

The first salad spinner alternative that only requires something you already have at home is a clean pillowcase. After washing lettuce, gently stuff it inside. Grip the open end of the pillowcase closed and spin it around to recreate the centrifugal force of a salad spinner. With several rotations, any moisture will transfer from the leafy greens to the fabric by way of centrifugal force, leaving you with ready-to-eat greens.

If you aren't keen on tacking laundry onto your list of chores, there's a solution that doesn't require ransacking the linen closet. Grab a clean plastic bag (like the one you buy produce in) and put the wet lettuce inside along with a few paper towels. Hold the bag's opening closed with your hand then spin it. The water will be pulled away from the leaves for the paper towels to absorb, just as they do messes or excess oil on soups or sauces.

Are you more of a visual learner? The Chowhound YouTube channel showcases these lettuce-drying methods step by step in under a minute.