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You are here: Home / Recipes / Easy Carrot Top Pesto

Easy Carrot Top Pesto

Published on September 7, 2018 by Helen Best-Shaw 29 Comments
Last Updated on July 25, 2021

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A bowl of carrot top pesto on a grey work top surrounded by carrot tops, garlic, lemon and rainbow heirloom carrots Text overlay reads "Carrot Top Pesto"

Don’t discard those leafy green carrot tops! Use them to make this delicious carrot top pesto with a difference. Fresh tasting, healthy, and a definite change from the usual. Naturally nut and gluten free.  Easily vegan.

A bowl of carrot top pesto on a grey work top surrounded by carrot tops, garlic, lemon and rainbow heirloom carrots

Everything You Need To Know

  • Leafy Carrot Tops are Useful and Delicious.
  • Reasons You Will Love This Recipe
  • What are Heritage Carrots?
  • How to Make Carrot Top Pesto
  • Can I Freeze This Pesto?
  • How do I Serve This Pesto?
  • Easy Carrot Recipes
  • Carrot Top Pesto
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions
    • Notes

Leafy Carrot Tops are Useful and Delicious.

I’m always looking for easy ways to add some extra vegetables to my diet, as well as to reduce food waste, and when I am fortunate enough to get a bunch of carrots with their tops I always make a batch of this carrot top pesto.

It would be tragic to waste the carrot greens– the leafy tops are delicious and an all too rare treat as here in the UK supermarkets seldom sell carrots in this state.

A bunch of heirloom carrots with their tops

Reasons You Will Love This Recipe

  • It is an easy, simply and delicious way to use carrot tops – something that is often thrown away making this a frugal recipe
  • It is a variation on classic pesto – pesto without basil is also delicious
  • This carrot top pesto is naturally gluten free
  • I’ve used seeds rather than the classic pine nuts to make a nut free pesto
  • Although the recipe uses Parmesan or other grana type hard Italian cheese, you can easily substitute a vegetarian hard cheese, or some nutritional yeast to make a vegan pesto
A row of heirloom carrots on a grey worktop viewed from above

What are Heritage Carrots?

Carrots used to naturally come in yellow, white, black and purple before the Dutch breed the large and uniformly orange variety in honour of the House of Orange and the national colour of the Netherlands.

Sadly heirloom carrots are not widely available from supermarkets but are popular with vegetable box schemes and can often be found in local farmers markets.

If you get the chance do buy some, they are smaller, more tender and have far more flavour than their orange cousins.

How to Make Carrot Top Pesto

A food processor viewed from above containing carrot tops, seeds, garlic, parmesan, garlic and lemon juice

Step 1 – Wash the carrot tops well to remove the sand or grit, then spin in a salad spinner. Add with the rest of the ingredients (roughly chop the Parmesan or other cheese), to a food processor, mini chopper or blender.

A food processor bowl of fresh carrot top pesto - viewed from above

Step 2 – Whizz all the ingredients together until you have a paste; scrape down the sides, check the seasoning and add more salt or pepper if needed.

Can I Freeze This Pesto?

Sure you can – either pack into small glass jars and freeze, or portion into a silicone ice cube tray and then pop the pesto cubes out and store in a sealed plastic bag or air tight container until you are ready to eat it. It’s a great way of keeping the flavours fresh.

A bowl of carrot top pesto on a grey work top surrounded by carrot tops, garlic, lemon and rainbow heirloom carrots viewed from above

How do I Serve This Pesto?

Here are a few things you can do with carrot top pesto as well as use as serving with homemade fresh pasta or with risotto.

  • Add to some fried chicken for extra flavour
  • Add to soup as a garnish
  • Blitz with breadcrumbs and use as a coating for chicken. Dip the chicken in a beaten egg and the pesto and breadcrumb mixture and fry
  • Add more oil and use it to flavour a couscous or lentil salad
  • Swirl a spoon into dips
  • Spoon this carrot top pesto onto a pizza for a extra flavour
  • Add to roasted root vegetables – see our original serving suggestion below, where we roasted the carrots with some halloumi before topping with carrot top pesto

Easy Carrot Recipes

  • Easy Carrot Salad – the classic French style carrot salad is so easy to make!
  • Carrot and lentil soup – lightly spiced frugal and warming!
  • No Mayo slaw – Quick, easy and with a rainbow of vegetables
  • Sandwich Spread – recreate this British classic at home!
  • Crudité platter – Carrots star in my ultimate cruditie platter – perfect for dipping and an easy way to eat more vegetables!
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A close up of a bowl of carrot top pesto on a grey work top. Differently coloured heritage carrots in the background.
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4.96 from 24 votes

Carrot Top Pesto

Don’t discard those leafy green carrot tops! Whizz them up to make this delicious pesto with a difference. Fresh tasting, healthy, and a definite change from the usual. Naturally nut and gluten free. Easily vegan, Keto, Paleo and Whole 30 friendly! 
Servings: 8 tbs
Author: Helen Best-Shaw
Prep Time10 mins
Total Time10 mins
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Ingredients

  • 75 g carrot tops – about two large handfuls – washed well and spun in a salad spinner
  • 75 ml good quality olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 30 g seeds ((a mix of sunflower and pumpkin))
  • 40 g Parmesan ((roughly chopped))
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Simply place all the ingredients into a blender of food processor and blitz until you have a pesto like paste. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

Notes

  • Keeps in the fridge for 3 days.
  • Keeps well in the freezer: either in a jam jar, or frozen into individual portions in an ice cube tray, then transferred to a sealed plastic bag.
  • You can vary the seeds that you use according to taste.
  • Substitute a vegan hard cheese or nutritional yeast to make this vegan
  • This recipe is 4 Weight Watchers Smart Points per portion
• Please note that the nutrition information provided below is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
• Unless stated otherwise cup conversions have been made with an online tool. For accuracy please check with your favoured conversion tool. We recommend buying inexpensive digital kitchen scales.
Nutrition Facts
Carrot Top Pesto
Amount Per Serving
Calories 133 Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Fat 12g18%
Saturated Fat 2g13%
Cholesterol 3mg1%
Sodium 80mg3%
Potassium 4mg0%
Carbohydrates 1g0%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin A 40IU1%
Vitamin C 7.7mg9%
Calcium 92mg9%
Iron 0.9mg5%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Course: Sauce
Cuisine: Fusion, Italian
Keyword: carrot top pesto, Pesto with a difference
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Recipe for carrot top pesto originally published October 2014, updated with new photos August 2018. 

Original photo and serving suggestion.

Roasted carrots topped with white cheese and carrot topped pesto.

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Filed Under: Dips, Dressings & Sauces, Easy Ways to Extra Veg (and Fruit), Quick & Easy, Recipes, Side Dishes, Starters & Light Bites, Vegan Recipes, Vegetables, Vegetarian Recipes, £ Ingredients: Cheese, Garlic, Oil, Seeds, Vegetables

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Sarah, Maison Cupcake

    5 stars
    That looks wonderful and reminds me of conversations I have with Nick. Only I get less sensible answers.

    Reply
    • Helen

      Ed does get a little upset and could be forgiven for wondering if I actually listen to anything that he says

      Reply
  2. Jan Bennett

    5 stars
    lol at Sarah – I was about to say the same! Great recipe Helen

    Reply
    • Helen

      Thanks Jan.

      Reply
  3. Camilla @FabFood4All

    5 stars
    What a fabulous ideas, I would never think to eat carrot tops. I’ve often seen bunches with tops in our local Tesco so next time I see them I might well give this a try:-)

    Reply
    • Helen

      Oh – good to know that you can get them with tops in the supermarkets. Go for it Camilla, waste not want not!

      Reply
  4. [email protected]

    5 stars
    I am envious of those gorgeous looking carrots. Even better that you have been able to use the tops in such an innovative way. I could also eat Halloumi with anything, love it. I never have any food conversations with my husband and I have noticed recently how he hasn’t actually cooked anything for me for months so maybe I will bring that up in conversation instead!

    Reply
    • Helen

      He absolutely should be cooking for you Laura. I do most of the food here, but Ed does do the breakfast, bread and coffee.

      Reply
  5. Sally - My Custard Pie

    5 stars
    I have always thrown my carrot tops in the compost. When the carrot season is back and I buy them in huge bunches (complete with tops) I’m making pesto. Brilliant idea.

    Reply
  6. Urvashi

    5 stars
    I made carrot top pesto to go on top of my beetroot pasta. perfect combo and such a brilliant use of the greens which people normally throw away

    Reply
  7. Katie Bryson

    5 stars
    What a clever idea for using up carrot tops which would otherwise end up in the food recycling bin! We must all spend so much time thinking and talking about food… I know I certainly dream about dishes i’m trying to develop – especially those that are proving pesky!

    Reply
    • Helen

      I cannot imagine why anyone would throw carrot tops away.

      Reply
  8. Jacqueline Meldrum

    5 stars
    Mmmmmmmmm! Pass that this way Helen. It looks divine. What a simple but wonderful idea.

    Reply
    • Helen

      I’ll be seeking out carrots with tops so I can make pesto in the future.

      Reply
  9. Deena Kakaya

    5 stars
    Lovely and unusual way to treat halloumi and I happen to have lots of halloumi left from a recent cookery class! That pesto looks fab x

    Reply
  10. Dems Banjo

    5 stars
    Brilliant idea!!I never thought of eating carrot tops. Great recipe!!!

    Reply
  11. Suki

    5 stars
    This pesto sounds delicious. I had no idea you could eat carrot tops. I will have to deliberately buy them next time I see them, just to try this out.

    Reply
  12. Melinda Patsy

    5 stars
    I love that this recipe can be nut free. Pesto so often includes nuts, which I can’t have. Perfect and tasty.

    Reply
  13. Babs

    5 stars
    Such a good idea to use carrot tops. I always think they smell lovely, but wouldn’t have known what to do with them until now.

    Reply
  14. Rebecca K

    4 stars
    We love getting Heritage carrots, the kids think they are so special being different colours. I usually give our carrot tops to the rabbit, but may just have to share and get some of this made.

    Reply
  15. Pamela

    5 stars
    Homemade pesto is always so good. Using carrot tops is something totally different. Sounds delicious.

    Reply
  16. Tasha

    5 stars
    This would be really good swirled in to greek yogurt. Sounds really tasty.

    Reply
  17. Tammy

    5 stars
    Those carrots look amazing. I’ve never seen them before. Nice idea to use the carrot tops.

    Reply
  18. Nikki Ward

    5 stars
    My supermarket is really good now for selling carrots with tops on. I shall purposely buy them now just for making this tasty pesto.

    Reply
  19. Paul W

    5 stars
    We have carrots growing in the garden still, with enormous tops! I could easily make this. Tasty and easy recipe.

    Reply
  20. Zara Douglas

    5 stars
    I imagine I could easily eat this by spoonful! I’ve used carrot tops in soup before and they are very tasty.

    Reply
  21. Anna

    5 stars
    Making your own carrot pesto is so rewarding! I tried this recently and it tasted great. Thanks for much for the recipe :)

    Reply
  22. Sonia

    5 stars
    Added some green onion to this and it was SOOO yummy

    Reply
  23. Linda

    5 stars
    This was delicious! I made it vegan by using Nutritional Yeast instead of Parmesan, plus half Sunflower Seeds, half Cashews.
    After blending everything, I stirred in Almond Meal.
    Thank you for sharing the recipe!

    Reply

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Headshot of Helen Best-Shaw, Food Blogger at Fuss Free Flavours I'm Helen, full time freelance food writer, photographer and blogger. On this site you will find my fuss-free recipes, travel and reviews. Learn more here
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