Seasonal Spotlight: Miner's Lettuce

When Kathryn posted about miner's lettuce last year, we were surprised to learn that this springtime weed, which grows in many parts of the West, is actually edible – and delicious!

Miner's lettuce makes a pretty salad and has a delightfully crisp texture and green, spinach-like flavor. All it needs is a light vinaigrette, salt, and pepper. We recommend eating it as soon as possible after picking, or keeping the stems fresh in a glass of water for up to a day (they make a lovely green bouquet, too!).

Native to California, miner's lettuce is mostly found in the wild but sometimes sold at farmers' markets. Have you ever tried it?

Learn more:
• Ingredient Spotlight: Miner's Lettuce
• Foraging for Miner's Lettuce, America's Gift to Salad (The Atlantic)
• Claytonia perfoliata (USDA Plants Profile)

Related: Native Greens: Purslane

(Images: Gregory Han; Emily Ho)

Comments (9)

This stuff is also called Claytonia and it rocks! It's tender like lettuce but without any of the bitterness. It also has a bit more of crunch and juiciness than lettuce. You can also find this green in some winter time salad mixes as it is very cold friendly.

I just discovered this stuff growing in my neighborhood in Seattle! I saw someone picking a bunch of it near Green Lake and Woodland Park, and went back the next day to investigate. It's got a lovely, light flavor and is now one of my favorite additions to a mixed green salad.

I used to pick and eat this when I went on day hikes at Point Reyes (just north of San Francisco). That and wild huckleberries!

I just saw this at Hidden Villa in Los Altos and thought it was so cute but didn't know I could eat it!

We used to pick it on summer hikes and chew on the stems. They release a pleasingly cool burst of juice, which is where the alternate name "sweetwater" comes from.

@Tazer -- Hidden Villa is where I first learned about miner's lettuce a few years ago! My friend worked there and took me on a hike, and it was growing all along the trails. She's the one who told me that it was edible.

It's pretty enough to put in a vase.

My sister and I would always eat this when we played outside as kids.. We called it Indian Lettuce.. I never really thought about it, but I was so shocked (pleasantly, of course) when it appeared in my CSA in London!

I've never even seen this before, but from the comments I feel like I should have, since it's traveling up the west coast? Not far enough I guess! :D