Cos lettuce comes in a wide range of types to suite almost any palate. From the short length, dense baby cos, via the dark and upright midi cos to the different larger types, the great variety of shapes and colours adds visual appeal as well as mouth-watering taste to a dish.
Cos is most popular in Caesar salads, with its great crisp taste providing an interesting ‘crunch’ to the already busy salad.

The best cos leaves to eat are the inner “heart” leaves – they are sweeter and lighter in colour.

Once the leaves are removed give them a quick rinse under the tap and dry, preferably in a salad spinner to avoid breaking the leaves if you are making a salad with whole leaves.

Cos lettuce can also be roughly sliced sideways into small rectangular pieces and placed in a bowl with your favourite salad ingredients.

Look for big dark green leaves on the outside without any brown spots or slimy edges. The lettuce should have a nice full heart with good weight. Make sure the outside leaves are still crisp. Cos will generally store for longer with the outside leaves left on. Store in a plastic container in the crisper section of your refrigerator and remove the outer leaves before use.

Since cos is an already sweet lettuce, it works best in a salad with a light lemon based dressing or a thin mayonnaise dressing if used in a Caesar salad.

Cos is great as a base decoration on a food platter to add a touch of green to the presentation.

For a quick and easy snack try the combination of a square of cos lettuce, with a slice of apple and cheese.