Stir-Fried Romaine Lettuce: Fast, Easy Recipe

You must try stir-fried romaine lettuce! It’s a fast and easy recipe, nut-free, and free of top 9 allergens. It’s a perfect simple side dish to serve with foods that are rich, saucy, or highly seasoned.

Disclaimer: Please check that all ingredients are suitable for your allergies and be sure to ask your medical care team regarding any allergy related questions (I do not share medical advice). As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Asian-American Food Adaptations

My mom used to make stir-fried iceberg lettuce. It’s a creative way to adapt to living in the US by cooking American vegetables the Chinese way. I love stir-fried romaine lettuce even more than stir-fried iceberg lettuce because romaine lettuce is considered the most nutritious lettuce. If you do a quick internet search, romaine lettuce is considered a very nutrient dense lettuce.

A Surprising Reason to Cook Romaine Lettuce

I love romaine lettuce in salads and it’s good to have other recipes. Fresh tender romaine is delicious fresh. But sometimes as the weather heats up or toward the end of the growing season, romaine tastes a little bitter. You will know when the leaves are spaced out a bit on the stalk. That’s when you want to stir-fry or otherwise cook your lettuce.

I was surprised to learn that cooking lettuce can help breakdown anti-nutrients found naturally in lettuce. “In addition, green leafy vegetables containing anti-nutrients such as nitrates, oxalates, phytates, cyanogenic glycosides, and tannins influence micronutrient absorption. Some thermal processing can decrease the content of anti-nutrients in lettuce by boiling, cooking, and blanching.”

My parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles all cook their leafy green vegetables. It’s interesting for me to find a scientific reason to cook my veggies.

Allergy Aware Stir-Fried Romaine Lettuce

I wrote this recipe so that it’s free of top 9 allergens. The romaine lettuce is only seasoned with a little bit of salt. The salt actually serves a functional purpose to make the lettuce sweat and cook in its own liquids.

This simple preparation makes the stir-fried romaine lettuce perfect as a topping for something flavorful such as Wonton Mein. Add veggies to a salty or rich dish, such as Lu Rao Fan, Braised Pork and Egg Rice Bowl.

If you want a little bit more seasoning, I recommend a small drizzle of oyster sauce or sesame oil. Stir to coat evenly.

5 from 1 vote

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Stir-Fried Romaine Lettuce: Fast, Easy Recipe

You must try stir-fried romaine lettuce! It's a fast and easy recipe, nut-free, and free of top 9 allergens. It's a perfect simple side dish to serve with foods that are rich or highly seasoned.

Course Side Dish, Vegetable Stir Fry

Cuisine Chinese-American

Keyword romaine lettuce stir-fry, stir-fried romaine lettuce

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 7 minutes

Total Time 12 minutes

Servings 4

Author Sharon (NutFreeWok.com)

Ingredients

• 3 romaine hearts
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon oyster sauce or sesame oil optional

Instructions

1. Wash and separate the romaine leaves, tear them in half so that the stems are about 3 inches long. Set aside to drain in a colander until ready to cook.

2. Preheat a large skillet or pot on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the oil, swirl to coat, sprinkle the salt, and add the romaine leaves.
3. Spread the stir-fried romaine leaves and allow them to sear and cook down slightly, stir fry until half of the romaine looks translucent (1-2 minutes).

4. Drizzle approximately 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce or sesame oil, if using, and continue to stir-fry. The romaine is ready when most of the romaine looks translucent.

Related Recipes:

I have other vegetable stir-fried recipes on my blog. Here are some conventional and Asian vegetables cooked with Asian-inspired methods:

• Broccoli Stir Fry with Ginger and Garlic Sauce Recipe – make some broccoli in a classic Chinese way with garlic and ginger.
• This Thai inspired recipe for stir-fried cabbage looks ordinary but tastes amazing with a little drizzle of fish sauce and a touch of sugar!
• I love fuzzy melon, it’s never bitter and is delicious in soups and stir-fries. I like making Fuzzy Melon (Moa Gua) with Vermicelli Recipe.
• Napa cabbage is a sweet and tasty vegetable that is also high in nutritional value Napa Cabbage Stir Fry: Easy, Kid Approved, and a Super Food.
• Watercress is also a very nutritious vegetable, I like it lightly cooked in a fresh Easy Watercress and Garlic Soup for a Weeknight Dinner.
• I recently shared a recipe for Yu Choy, a Chinese vegetable that you will need to buy from an Asian supermarket, Yu Choy with Garlic, Easy Chinese Vegetable Stir-Fry. It’s one of the best tasting Asian veggies and worth the effort to look for it.
• My other favorite Chinese leafy green is baby bok choy and I have a stir-fried baby bok choy recipe on the blog. I am also particularly proud of my Instant Pot bok choy recipe because it solves the problem of how make tender crisp veggies in the Instant Pot.

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I may mention the names of stores and/or brand names of products that I use because readers ask and I share products and sources which I use and think may be helpful to readers, all opinions are my own. Please note that manufacturing practices and ingredients can change at anytime without notice and readers are always responsible for assuring allergen safety before buying or consuming foods. NutFreeWok.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Thank you for reading!