You made a big salad at lunchtime, dressed the whole bowl, and by evening the leaves are
limp and sitting in liquid. Nothing spoiled — the dressing simply did what dressing does.
What the dressing does
Salt and acid draw water out of the leaves by osmosis. That water ends up in the bottom of
the bowl, and the leaf that gave it up cannot take it back.
Which is why the honest answer to “how long does salad keep” splits in two:
undressed, three to five days. Dressed, hours.
How many hours, exactly
| What | Fridge |
|---|---|
| Whole unwashed head | up to 1 week |
| Washed and dried leaves | 3–5 days |
| Chopped, undressed | 2–3 days |
| Dressed with vinaigrette | 2–4 hours |
| Dressed with a creamy dressing | 1–2 hours |
| Containing meat, egg or fish | 3–4 days undressed, 1 day dressed |
The fix is a paper towel
Wet leaves rot; dry leaves keep. Wash, spin or pat completely dry, then line a box with
kitchen paper, add the leaves, put another sheet on top and close it.
The towel absorbs the moisture the leaves keep releasing, and it is the difference
between three days and five.
And dressing at the table
Keep the components and the dressing separate; combine only what will be eaten.
A jar of vinaigrette keeps a week on its own, so there is no reason to commit the bowl —
the same logic that governs
potato
salad and coleslaw.
Reviving what has already wilted
Undressed leaves come back: soak them in ice water for 15–30 minutes, then dry thoroughly.
Dressed leaves do not — the water is already gone.
One storage detail people miss
Keep salad away from apples, bananas, tomatoes and pears. They release ethylene,
which browns the leaf edges within a day or two.
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