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Now that we’re deep in the summer months, the farmers markets across the country are in full swing. Doesn’t matter if you’re in Alaska or California, there are plenty of markets to visit and fresh produce to explore. And with every farmers market, there’s likely at least one farmer selling carrots. And where there are carrots, there are carrot tops! Don’t discard the tops from your next carrot purchase, chop them up and make this Carrot Top Salsa Verde for a tasty garnish on any grilled summer dish.
Carrot Top Salsa Verde is Way Better than Any Steak Sauce
Carrot Top Salsa Verde is my riff on Italian Salsa Verde, which is a condiment made from parsley, capers, lemon juice, and olive oil. Despite similar names, Italian salsa verde and Mexican salsa verde are not at all the same. While both salsas are, in fact, green, their flavors are quite different. Italian salsa verde is not spicy. Instead, it uses the brightness from lemon juice to cut through heavy dishes rather than relying on spice from hot peppers.
Italian salsa verde is an excellent garnish for heavy meat dishes. The bright flavors balance out the rich fats and umami from steak or porchetta. I prefer adding acidic sauces to heavy dishes to balance them out, rather than adding an umami-rich steak sauce to an already umami-rich steak. It just becomes too much, you know? Not to mention that salsa verde is a fresh topping, rather than something that may have been sitting in the pantry for a long, long time.
In this recipe, the parsley in traditional salsa verde is replaced with carrot tops. Carrots and parsley are all in the same botanical family, so it’s not as crazy as it may sound at first glance. We often get the carrot tops for free when we buy a bunch of carrots, so let’s put them to use!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Carrot Tops
I know, I talk about carrot tops a lot. Like, a lot a lot. But these greens are so often just thrown away when they are both edible and tasty. Why waste these tops when you can use them to add a punch of flavor to your dishes?
Carrot tops taste mostly like parsley but with carrot undertones. They can be used anywhere you would use parsley.
Mint
Mint brings a cooling, fresh flavor to this salsa verde.
There are so many different types of mint that can be found at the farmers market, and you can use any of them in this recipe. I used lemon balm, which has citrus-y notes and is brighter than spearmint, but whether you use spearmint, pineapple mint, apple mint, or peppermint, you’ll get a similar effect of balancing the rich umami flavors with fresh herbs.
Lemons
Lemon juice adds the key acidic component to this salsa verde; the brightness from the lemon juice and zest help cut through the rich meats the sauce is paired with.
If you don’t have fresh lemons right now in your area, try substituting with champagne vinegar. Or, alternatively, try using preserved lemons if you happen to have them in your pantry.
Did you know that you can save lemon zest in the freezer? If I only need fresh lemon juice in a recipe, not the zest, I’ll use a vegetable peeler to save the rind for use later. These pieces can be saved in the freezer for whenever you want to add a touch of lemon flavor to your dishes.
Tips and Tricks
It may be tempting to pull out a food processor and use that to make this carrot top salsa verde, but I urge you to resist. The food processor will blend the sauce too uniformly, and it’ll loose its pleasing texture. Trust me, it won’t take that much longer to chop the parsley, mint, and capers by hand, and you won’t have to worry about cleaning all the machinery afterward. I don’t know about you, but cleaning food processors and blenders can be a hassle, so sometimes I’ll just chop by hand even if it takes a little bit longer.
Think of it as an opportunity to practice your knife skills.
If you really insist on using a food processor, do not use it to stir in the olive oil and lemon juice. Stir those in by hand so that any texture is maintained and the sauce doesn’t become a giant green blob.
Serving Suggestions
My favorite way to use carrot top salsa verde is on top of a nicely marbled ribeye steak. Serious Eats has a wonderful guide to searing the perfect steak, covering all the topics from how often you should flip the steak to when you should add salt.
But don’t limit yourself to using carrot top salsa verde on steak alone. It would be wonderful served atop some beautiful lamb chops, or with crispy cracklin’ chicken thighs. Any meat on the richer side of the spectrum will pair beautifully with the freshness of salsa verde.
Another great option to use up carrot top salsa verde is to use it like a salad dressing. Add a little extra olive oil and toss it with your favorite salad greens (and maybe a few ornaments too).
What About the Leftovers?
Leftover carrot top salsa verde can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If you are using good quality extra virgin olive oil, you’ll notice that it’ll solidify in the refrigerator, but don’t panic. Let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes and the olive oil will melt and the salsa verde will return to its initial texture.
You can double this recipe and save extra carrot top salsa verde in the freezer. Freeze the extras in an ice cube tray, then thaw just what you need when it’s time to serve! Frozen carrot top salsa verde will last for about 3 months.
Whole30 Carrot Top Salsa Verde
Where there are carrots, there are carrot tops! Don't discard the tops from your next purchase: make this Carrot Top Salsa Verde instead.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup carrot tops, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp mint, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp capers, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 lemon
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
- Add carrot tops, mint, capers, garlic, and red pepper flakes to a small bowl and toss until well combined.
- Add the zest and juice of one lemon to the bowl and mix together.
- Stir in olive oil.
- Add kosher salt, to taste
