In the spring, you’ll often find bunches of carrots in the grocery store with their green tops still attached. Stop tossing those carrot greens! Our delicious recipe for carrot top pesto will help you use up every last bite of what you buy. Drizzle this vibrant pesto recipe on everything from sandwiches and toasts to soups and roasted veggies.

Tips for Making Carrot Top Pesto

Keep these helpful BHG Test Kitchen tips in mind when buying carrots and using them to make our carrot greens pesto.

• They may be a crisper-drawer staple year-round, but late spring and early summer are the best times to find local and organic carrots at their prime at farmers markets.
• Here’s how to choose a good bunch of carrots. Overlarge carrots tend to be less sweet than their slender counterparts, so look for young, thin-skin roots that are 1-inch diameter or less. They should be bright, firm, and free of cracks. And if they’re fresh, peeling isn’t necessary. Give them a scrub and a rinse, and you’re all set.
• To keep the carrots (and their greens) as fresh as possible, store the carrots in the crisper drawer of your fridge.
• We love to serve this carrot pesto recipe with roasted carrots. To make roasted carrots, toss carrots with 2 Tbsp. olive oil, 1⁄2 tsp. salt, and 1⁄2 tsp. black pepper. Place in a baking pan; roast at 425ºF for 25 minutes or until tender.
• Don’t limit yourself to just orange carrots! Purple carrots contain anthocyanins, which can reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.