Carrot tops condiments
This is part of our series on upcycling fruit & veg by-products.
Table of Contents
i. Introduction
Carrots are one of the most widely grown and eaten vegetables, with about 42 million tonnes produced globally in 2023.¹ When buying fresh carrots from a farmers market, the leafy tops often account for more than half the volume of the bunch. As lovely as they are to buy with tops on, most people simply remove and discard them. And even if we might not always see them when we buy them at the supermarket, all carrots grow with leaves, so in such cases they’ve simply been discarded elsewhere.
Whilst the leaves can be readily composted or used as animal feed, they are also edible for people. Most recipes that do use fresh carrot tops tend to be focussed mainly on eliminating waste and less on deliciousness, as the fresh unprocessed tops can taste extremely grassy, bitter, astringent and even metallic.
Sometimes, all it takes is a slight twist in technique to unlock the potential of an ingredient. Blanching carrot tops in salted water—that is, briefly boiling them before shocking them in ice water to halt the cooking process—removes the more unpleasant flavours, leaving a clean, green carrotyness. They can then be used for all sorts of applications, two of which we demonstrate here. The first is inspired by a tsukudani, a Japanese technique for preserving seaweed (and sometimes other ingredients) that can be used as a topping for rice or other dishes. The second is a vibrant green mayonnaise, ideal for when you want a bright and fresh condiment.
ii. Recipes
a. Blanched carrot tops
Ingredients
Fresh carrot tops, washed
Salt
Method
Blanch the carrot stems by first cooking them in boiling water salted at 3.5% for 5-10 minutes, then chilling them in an ice bath to halt the cooking process.
Use immediately or freeze to store.
b. Carrot top tsukudani
Method
Place all of the ingredients in a skillet on high heat and cook until the mixture is reduced and thickened around the carrot top pieces.
Cool and reserve until use. It can be used straight away or kept for some time in a clean, sterilized jar due to its high salt content.
Ingredients
200g 10-minute blanched carrot tops, chopped into 1cm pieces
100ml water
33ml sake
33ml mirin
33ml soy sauce
20g brown sugar
15ml rice vinegar
c. Carrot top mayonnaise
Method
Combine the blanched carrot tops, egg whites, vinegar and salt and blend in a high-speed blender until combined, for about 20-30 seconds.
Scrape the sides and bottom of the blender, then slowly stream in the neutral oil as you blend further, until all the oil is used up and the mayonnaise is fully emulsified.
Ingredients
50g 50-minute blanched carrot tops
40g egg white
10g vinegar
150g neutral oil
4g salt
iii. Adaptations
The blanched carrot tops could be used in all sorts of green sauces or salads or to improve any existing recipes that call for (unblanched) carrot tops!
Contributions & acknowledgements
Kim performed the original culinary R&D. Aly reproduced Kim’s recipe and documented the process with additional notes, which Eliot used to help write the article following further discussions with Kim. Josh contributed editorial feedback. Aly photographed the final products in our food lab.
This recipe has roots in Kim’s previous work as Head of R&D at the former Amass Restaurant in Copenhagen. Thanks to Amass for facilitating such trailblazing work in culinary upcycling and holistic sustainability.
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Endnotes
[1] FAOSTAT (2025) ‘Production/Yield quantities of Carrots and turnips in World’. This figure does include turnips as well; FAOSTAT does not provide undifferentiated data for these two crops.