It’s Not Easy Buying Greens

As simple as it is to throw together a salad, there’s often one major challenge: buying the right amount of greens. While recipes usually call for greens by volume in cups, they tend to be sold in other forms: by weight or by the bunch, head, bag or box. Plus, many recipes call for already-prepped greens. Since there’s a drastic difference in volume between whole and prepped greens, it’s especially difficult to gauge the amount you need by sight alone.

To make shopping simpler, we measured 15 varieties of greens—from frisée to collards—first prepping them, if needed, in the way they’re commonly used. We found that with loose greens, 1 ounce of greens is equivalent to roughly 1¼ cups. By comparison, lettuce heads yield approximately ½ cup chopped greens per ounce once prepped. And cabbages and endives produce roughly ⅓ cup per ounce once prepped.

Greens by Weight and Volume

GreensStarting AmountPrepped SizePrepped VolumeBaby Arugula5-ounce containerLoosely packed6 cupsBaby Spinach5-ounce containerLoosely packed6 cupsCabbage, Napa2-pound head1/2-inch strips12 cupsCabbage, Red/Green (Medium)2-pound headShredded12 cupsCabbage, Savoy1 1/2-pound head2-inch pieces10 cupsCollard Greens8-ounce bunchStems stripped, 2-inch pieces8 cupsEndive5-ounce head1/4-inch crosswise slice1 1/2 cupsFrisee8-ounce head2-inch pieces8 cupsKale, Curly8-ounce bunchStems stripped, 2-inch pieces6 cupsKale, Lacinato8-ounce bunchStems stripped, 2-inch pieces6 cupsLettuce, Green/Red Leaf8-ounce head2-inch pieces5 cupsLettuce, Iceberg (Medium)1 1/2-pound head2-inch pieces12 cupsLettuce, Romaine Heart12-ounce heart2-inch pieces6 cupsLettuce, Romaine1-pound head2-inch pieces8 cupsMesclun Greens Mix5-ounce containerLoosely packed6 cups