Vegetable
Boston
A tier
Boston lettuce is a larger butterhead market type—soft, round, pale hearts, slightly bigger than Bibb, used interchangeably in many US kitchens for soft salads. Texture is silky when dressed lightly. The supermarket soft head beside romaine and iceberg. Best same-day after purchase.
Track this ingredient
Unit
Characteristics
Preparations
Light DressingSandwichSoft Salad
Traits
Large ButterheadMildMild SweetRoundSoftUS Market Name
Grading systems
Grades are placed along a shared scale so systems can be compared side by side.
US No. 2
US No. 1
History
US
Boston-area markets popularised soft butterheads under the Boston name.
US
Seed catalogues listed Boston as a leading butterhead class.
US
National retail stocked Boston lettuce as the soft head option.
Boston remained the common US name for large butterhead.