This roasted carrots recipes uses the tops of the carrots to create a healthy Tarragon Carrot Top Pesto—no waste!
Ohhh yes, the ultimate side dish! ROASTED CARROTS.
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.
Also this post is relevant because it represents the opposite of what I’ve been eating the past few days on my trip. No surprise there! I could really go for some roasted carrots right about now, but truthfully, I probably won’t eat anything overly nutritious until I come home. I mean c’mon, vacation is for splurging!
I also decided to use the tops of the carrots as the base for the pesto. What else are you supposed to do with them? That’s not a literal question because I know there are other uses for the tops, but if and when I buy carrots with the tops, I typically create pesto with them. Along with the carrot tops, this pesto uses fresh tarragon, olive oil, water, and pine nuts.
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.
Hopefully this will become your new go-to roasted carrots recipe, too!
PrintRoasted Carrots with Tarragon Carrot Top Pesto
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 35 mins
- Yield: 2
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!
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
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