Do you cook with carrot tops? I have been using them for awhile now, but I remember my mom discarding carrot tops and peels when I was growing up. A few years ago, I learned that carrot tops were edible and packed with nutrients – and also packed with delicious culinary possibilities 🙂
“Also called carrot greens, carrot tops are the frilly greens visible above the soil. If you only buy baby carrots or bulk carrots in a bag, you probably don’t see this part often. Not only are these emerald-hued greens edible, they’re delicious. Use carrot tops similar to parsley, or substitute them for parsley in any recipe” (thespruceeats.com)
According to The Spruce Eats, you can find whole carrots with their tops intact “at many grocery stores in the produce aisle, or at farmers markets. They’re also easy to grow in your garden at home. Big box stores probably won’t carry carrots with the tops still attached, but they’re easy to find year-round at health food and specialty produce markets.” Easy to grow, indeed – we recently harvested our very first homegrown carrot 🙂
Delicious and nutritious, carrot tops are versatile, and they can be used in pesto, salads, chimichurri, or as a garnish. I find them slightly stronger flavored and more aromatic than parsley, and I like to use them in simple preparations.
One of my all-time favorite dishes is a simple combination of boiled skin-on baby potatoes mixed with red onion, plump olives, hard boiled eggs, evoo, and coated in plenty of finely chopped carrot tops. Equally exciting to me is the combo of roasted veggies with feta, extra virgin olive oil, and finely chopped carrot tops.
I recently used carrot tops in the wild rice salad pictured below, which I posted on Instagram:
I find carrot tops surprisingly underused, along with other veggies/veggie parts such as parsnip, parsley root, celery root, or kohlrabi, for example. You are welcome to check out my recipe suggestions for these underrated (in my opinion) veggies here, here, and here.
Do you cook with any of the above? What’s your favorite produce item that you believe is not being used to its full potential? Let me know in the comments 🙂
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