Roasted Carrots with Tarragon Carrot Top Pesto
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This roasted carrots recipes uses the tops of the carrots to create a healthy Tarragon Carrot Top Pesto—no waste!
ROASTED CARROTS WITH PESTO
Ohhh yes, roasted carrots aka the ultimate side dish! I know everyone has their favorite way to roast carrots, and by “favorite way”, I mean their favorite spice or spices to flavor the carrots. My spice of choice for roasted carrots is and has always been tarragon. It’s a spice that I don’t use super often because of its mildly sweet flavor, but it pairs perfectly with carrots.
Typically I just sprinkle dried tarragon on the carrots, but I decided to take it up a notch and create a tarragon carrot top pesto. ….which I’m almost regretting because now I’m pretty sure this is going to be my go-to method for roasting carrots.
HOW TO MAKE CARROT TOP PESTO
I decided to use the tops of the carrots as the base for the pesto. It’s a great way to use the carrot tops, which typically get discarded.
- First, slice the tops of the carrots off (that is, the green part) and place it into your food processor.
- Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until a smooth pesto is formed. If you own a Nutribullet, I highly recommend using that–it’ll create a super smooth pesto in seconds.
- Essentially, you’re using carrot tops in place of the basil that you use in traditional pesto.
Note: If you’re doing strict Whole30, you may want to sub almonds in stead of pine nuts. Just an idea. I’m pretty sure pine nuts are “ok”, but other nuts are preferred.
WHAT DO I SERVE WITH THESE CARROTS?
Roasted Carrots with Tarragon Carrot Top Pesto
Ingredients
- 1 bunch carrots
- 2 cups carrot tops
- 1 cup fresh tarragon
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp water, or more
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°.
- Place carrots on a baking sheet, then drizzle them with a little olive oil (approx. 2 tbsp) and sprinkle them with a pinch of salt.
- Roast carrots for 30 minutes, or until carrots are done to your liking.
- While carrots are roasting, make the pesto. Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until everything is combined. You may have to scrape down the sides of your food processor a couple times in order for everything to mix. Also, if you have trouble getting it to mix, add more water 1 tbsp at a time.
- Once carrots are done, place them on a plate or your serving dish, top them with the pesto and enjoy!
Nutrition
I have both French and Russian Tarragon and have been looking for a Tarragon Pesto that doesn’t call for Asiago cheese as I feel that overwhelms the taste of the Tarragon.
Will give this a try!
I prefer the classic flavor of French Tarragon. Russian is milder and the plant needs to be kept tamed as it gets unruly and tries to take over.
How have I never tried tarragon before?! I LOVE carrots…in any form. And pesto. Basically this recipe is already my new favorite thing!! Definitely going to try this 🙂
Holy mackerel, this looks amazing! I’m always up for using my resources wisely and am a huge fan of making pesto with carrot tops. PLUS, that tarragon is sounding amazing. I could definitely put this dish on repeat!
These carrots look delicious!
I love having them roasted. and they look so pretty this way too!
Debs @ https://tiger-mint.com