Carrot Greens Smoothie

I love it when I can blend a delicious smoothie and minimize my food waste by using every part of an ingredient. This Carrot Greens Smoothie is a great example of exploring more than just the “typical” parts of our produce.

I’m no stranger to trying new things. Check out my Sauerkraut Juice Smoothie if you need evidence! Carrots are an easy vegetable to add to smoothies since they carry some natural sweetness, and pair well with other ingredients like in my Pineapple Smoothie Bowl and Strawberry Carrot Smoothie.

I realized how much I was wasting (or composting) when I harvested my own carrots since they are as much a leafy green as they are the root vegetable below. Through a quick search on how edible the tops are, I learned that not only are they edible, but they’re nutritious, too! Thus a Carrot Greens Smoothie was definitely on the table.

Table of Contents

1. Recipe Ingredients
2. How to Store Carrot Tops
3. How to Blend a Carrot Greens Smoothie
4. FAQs
5. Easy Ways to Eliminate Food Waste
6. Carrot Greens Smoothie Recipe

Recipe Ingredients

Since these leafy tops are more flavorful than spinach, I didn’t fill the whole smoothie with them and added some other sweet ingredients to help keep a good balance. If you’re ready to just go for it, try using a whole cup of carrot tops instead of spinach! Here’s what I’m blending:

• Spinach: This leafy green has a super mild flavor and is easy to use for the beginner smoothie maker.
• Carrot (including the leafy tops): Be sure to scrub the outside of the carrot well yet there’s no need to peel it to add to a smoothie.
• Water: An easy liquid to use that requires no prep! Feel free to swap with coconut water if you want an electrolyte boost.
• Pineapple: The tang from the pineapple helps to balance out the sharpness of the carrot greens.
• Mango: I love how mild mango is in a smoothie. I blend it in almost every smoothie I make!
• Banana: A sweet ‘n creamy addition. If you want to lower the natural fruit sugar in this smoothie, swap this out with frozen cauliflower or avocado.

Pro Tip: To make sure you have a refreshingly cool smoothie, use at least 1 frozen fruit in your blend. Learn how to freeze bananas so you always have some on hand or grab a bag of frozen pineapple/mango at the store.

If you want to bulk this smoothie up a bit then add in 1/2 cup yogurt or homemade protein powder (plus a little more liquid since both these options will make it super thick).

How to Store Carrot Tops

Whether growing your own carrots in the kitchen garden or getting them from a market or grocery, save the tops! Now that you know they are edible, you can easily freeze them to toss into recipes as you want to.

After removing the greens from the carrots themselves, wash and dry well. Roughly chop and place in a silicone freezer bag. Keep frozen for up to six months.

How to Blend a Carrot Greens Smoothie

Since this is a green smoothie, we’re going to use my no-fail two-blend method for a creamy, not chunky smoothie. Even if you’re using a high-powered blender like a Vitamix, blending in two steps can help you make the best smoothie every time.

1. Blend the spinach, carrot tops and water until smooth. You may need to stop and scrape down the sides of the blender container to ensure you get every leafy green part.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and blend again until smooth. If you’re using frozen ingredients, set them out to thaw for 15-30 minutes before you start blending so they are still super cold yet easier to blend.

Since this recipe has both fruits and vegetables, there are a lot of different textures. Take your time and let your blender do its job in creating a creamy result.

Easy Ways to Eliminate Food Waste

I love fruits and vegetables, and buying them fresh gets me the most nutrients. I always seem to be tossing wilted greens, fuzzy berries and soft carrots by the end of the week. I decided to take action to eliminate food waste in creative ways.

• Compost: I have a small kitchen compost bin trash just for food scraps. Any produce I can’t salvage (or chopped ends of produce, rinds, etc.) goes in. A few times a week I take this bin to the backyard compost bin. I then use this compost for the garden. With these great carrot top recipes, you’ll never toss those greens again!
• Smoothie prep: I find that prepping my smoothies for the week or month helps me keep up the daily green smoothie habit, as well as keeps me from wasting fresh leafy greens and produce.
• Freezing individual ingredients: When I don’t have time to prep full smoothies, yet the bananas are one spot away from getting ugly, I learned how to freeze bananas individually. This applies to that wilted spinach too! Freezing spinach really helps give it a longer shelf life. Simply get out a cookie sheet and line with parchment. Peel, dice, or chop whatever fruits/veggies you’re trying to save, then lay them out in a single layer on the sheet. Freeze for a few hours, then toss in a freezer-safe storage bag.
• Ingredient swaps: I like finding different recipes for dinner, yet I also want to use up my produce in the best way possible. So I find the ingredients that need to be used first, then craft a recipe around them. Or if I have my heart set on a certain recipe, I’m not afraid to swap in an ingredient not called for to use it up. For example, if I’m making Portobello Mushroom Burgers then later in the week I’ll toss the remaining mushrooms into some Thai Lettuce Wraps that use the lettuce from the burgers as well.

Will you let me know how this smoothie turns out for you by leaving a rating + review? I love getting your feedback!