Don't toss those tops! Carrot greens are just as edible as carrots themselves, and they're delicious in this tangy chimichurri sauce, pesto, and more.
Today, we’re making chimichurri out of carrot greens! I don’t know who ever spread the idea that vibrant carrot tops should be tossed. They’re edible and delicious, so let’s start using them!
This carrot tops recipe comes with a cute little backstory. A few years ago, Jack and I spent some time in Argentina, where I fell in love with chimichurri sauce. Upon returning home, I couldn’t find a recipe that tasted just like the bright, smoky chimichurri we had there. But recently, we learned that one of our friends in Austin is Argentinian! He kindly called his mother for her chimichurri recipe, and it was, of course, just right.
This recipe is a slight spin on hers. I used carrot greens instead of the traditional parsley, and I added less water and oil to make a thicker, dip-able sauce. It’s not at all authentic, but it’s delicious nonetheless.
How to Use Carrot Greens
Before we get to the sauce, let’s talk carrot tops! They have a lightly sweet, earthy flavor that’s like a cross between carrots and parsley, and they’re delicious raw or cooked. This recipe uses most of the tops from one small bunch of carrots, or half the tops from a large bunch. That means you’ll have leftovers! Aside from this chimichurri sauce, here are a few of my favorite ways to use carrot greens:
- Pulse them into carrot top pesto in a food processor. Make a nut-free pesto by swapping sunflower seeds or pepitas for pine nuts!
- Dice them and toss them into a salad.
- Sprinkle them over roasted veggies like carrots, butternut squash, or cauliflower. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and a little Parmesan cheese to take this over the top!
- Use them to garnish soups like my Many-Veggie Soup, Carrot Ginger Soup, or Butternut Squash Soup.
- Mince them and sprinkle them over a grain bowl, like the Carrot Ginger Grain Bowl on page 93 of The Love and Lemons Cookbook.
- Stir them into the Stem and Scrap Tzatziki on page 302 of Love and Lemons Every Day.
- Simmer any extras into vegetable stock! Find my Scrap Stock Recipe on page 106 of Love and Lemons Every Day.
Carrot Greens Tips
Ready to cook? Here are my best tips for working with carrot greens in the kitchen:
- Clip them off right away. In order to keep the carrot leaves (and the carrots!) fresh, you need to store them separately. As soon as you get a bunch of carrots with bright green tops, clip off the greens. Wrap them up and store them in the crisper drawer in your fridge until you’re ready to use them, or freeze them to make vegetable stock.
- Wash and dry them well. It’s no secret that carrots grow in dirt, so wash the leaves well! You’ll also want to dry them with a kitchen towel or salad spinner before chopping them – if they’re too wet, they’ll clump together and be soggy.
- Get rid of the tough stems, unless you’re making stock. Carrot greens’ thick stems can add delicious flavor to vegetable stock, but they’re too tough to use in salads, bowls, or sauces like this chimichurri. I like to use the tender leaves in carrot top recipes right away and freeze the stems to simmer into stock later on.
Chimichurri with Carrot Tops Recipe
This chimichurri sauce is so simple to make! First, wash your greens well, and chop them as finely as you can. Then, mix them with spices, olive oil, and white wine vinegar. That’s it! I love to serve this sauce with roasted carrots as a starter or side dish, but it’s also fantastic with grilled veggies, crusty bread, or any cooked protein.
If this chimichurri is too oily or vinegary for you, dilute it with 1/4-1/2 cup of lukewarm water. Mix well, and spoon it over whatever you’re eating, rather than serving it as a dip.
Stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, the sauce will keep for up to 4 days. It will thicken in the fridge, so allow it to come to room temperature before serving!
More Favorite “Scrap” Recipes
If you love this carrot tops recipe, try experimenting with other common veggie scraps! Here are a few recipes to get you started:
- Broccoli Rice
- Cauliflower Rice
- Beet Salad with Pistachio Beet Green Gremolata, page 127 of Love and Lemons Every Day
- Leek and Radish Green Tart, page 181 of Love and Lemons Every Day
Carrot Greens Chimichurri
Ingredients
- 1 cup finely chopped carrot greens
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the carrot greens, oregano, cumin, paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir in the vinegar and olive oil. Taste and adjust seasonings.
What waste we did all our life by not eating the carrots green.
Thank you for the inf
I just made this and my only mods were to add 1/2c cilantro and half a juiced lemon. This is amazing even just on tortilla chips. I will gladly make this again! I love chimichurri but don’t always love parsley – this was absolutely perfect.
I’m so glad you loved it!
I need to give this a try!
I have made this a few times already and really really enjoy this, even when I’ve had guests they hesitate but when they try it they enjoy it! Thank you for a fabulous sauce!
I haven’t ever had chimichurri. I was simply looking for a recipe to use my beautiful carrot greens in. Glad I found this one! My husband and I both love it! It’s a bit addicting!! We had it with whole grain crackers just to try it out. Yum! This won’t be my last chimichurri!
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Made this tonight as I had a huuuge bunch of carrot greens hanging around (and still have more!). Was super quick and easy and a really tasty addition to some lentil and cauliflower tacos!
ooh, I LOVE the idea of using the chimichurri over lentil and cauliflower tacos – yum! Adding that to my to-make list.
Thanks for the excellent recipe — I found it while looking for interesting things to do with my carrot tops. Tossed this with some sheet pan roast beets and chicken thighs and it was fantastic! Really good with the sweetness of the beets. I’m going to keep this recipe around for the rest of roast vegetable season and on into BBQ season.
I’m so glad you loved it and that it’s so versatile!
This is delicious!! I am going to have it on top of a nomster (nom nom paleo) burger for dinner tonight!
Stumbled upon this page looking for ideas to use carrot greens, and loved this version of chimichurri, thank you! I used red wine vinegar, and enjoyed the final product with egg tacos this morning 🙂
Just made this and used red wine vinegar too and loved it! I also mixed in some cilantro I needed to use up with the carrot greens – so yum!
thx for idea 😉
Perfect … making it tonight … my friend was visiting from Argentina recently and she whipped up a chimichurri with just what was in my cupboard … it was such an organic process for her and it was delicious! Thanks for the carrot top version!
It looks very savourous
I dried my greens and garlic and then make fresh/add the liquids when needed. The color is vibrant and tastes like summer. I usually mix it a few hours (to overnight) ahead of time to let the flavors marry before I need it. Deliscious. Thanks for the recipe.
I’m glad you loved the recipe!
This is one of my favorite recipes! I make it many times each fall when I harvest carrots from the garden.
I’m so so happy to hear that!!
this is a delicious recipe ! the only chnage i made was to use 4 garlic cloves. i will never roast and eat carrots differently than this way 😀 last time i made the chimchurri, i forgot to use it for 10 months !! i threw it away as i was not sure if it was safe to use, even though it was in fridge. thank you for sharing this recipe.
i forgot i used apple cider vinegar instead of an alcoholic one. will it change the shelf life ? thank yous
Thanks #loveandlemons for the recipe. I’very been using carrot greens for years, but this was a welcomed new way. I made two different batches of the chimichurri: 1 that stuck true to your recipe, and 1 that used ACV instead of white wine vinegar, add’l. 1/4 C. olive oil & 1/4 tsp. more paprika. Both were yummy, but my deviated version tasted more acidic & seemed to bring the heat out of the chilies a bit more for some reason (perhaps my white wine vinegar is too cheap or old?). Regardless it was a winner.
Yum! But… I did not know what I was making. I was just looking for a way to use carrot tops. I had in mind to use this dish as a salad. NO! It’s much too vinegary and moist for that. We ended up wrapping spoonfuls in pieces of tortilla. Now I realize that I’ve had Chimichurri before – on bread as an appetizer at an Argentinian restaurant in Cozumel, Mexico. We loved it then, and love it now with this recipe.
Hi Judy, I’m so glad you’re loving it! Yes, it’s a sauce, not a salad, sorry if that prep photo was deceiving! 🙂
I tried this recipe with fish and it was delicious! I’d definitely recommend trying it out even if you’re not sure about it. Very tasty!
Thanks for the great inspiration! Just made this tonight after my carrots have gone gang busters in the garden.
Loved it.
YUM! I just made this, except I pulsed in the food processor. Glad to find a use besides soup stock or chicken food. I am excited to try with parsley next. A fellow CSA member pointed me here. He took huge bunches of left over greens to make this, with lots of paprika!