We might think of radish greens as scraps, but in fact, they're just as delicious as radishes themselves. Find my favorite ways to cook them below!
Don’t toss those radish greens! I don’t know who got the idea that radish and turnip greens, carrot tops, kale stems, broccoli stalks, and other common veggie scraps should be discarded, but I’m here to tell you that it’s not true. At this time of year, I’m equally happy feasting on lush radish tops as I am spinach or Swiss chard. They’re not as popular, but they have a lovely peppery flavor, and they’re easy to cook. Best of all, they come with radishes attached! What’s not to love?
Below, you’ll find my best tips for cooking radish tops, as well as two simple radish green recipes. If you’re lucky enough to find spring radishes with good greens attached, think twice before you toss them. Try one of these recipes instead!
What to Do with Radish Greens
When you bring a bunch of radishes home from the farmers market or grocery store, the first thing you should do is clip the greens from the roots. Otherwise, the leaves will pull moisture from the radishes, and they won’t stay fresh for long. If you’re not using the greens right away, wrap them up and store them in the crisper drawer of your fridge.
When you’re ready to cook, wash and dry the greens well. Then, use them in any recipe that calls for radish greens, or try one of these two simple preparations:
Radish Greens Pesto
Making pesto is one of my favorite ways to use almost any type of herbs or greens. It’s traditionally made with basil, but I commonly swap in mint, parsley, cilantro, carrot tops, kale, arugula, and more. When I make radish green pesto, I use a 50/50 blend of radish leaves and basil to create a fresh, peppery flavor. Here are some of my favorite ways to use it:
- Toss it with fresh or dry pasta to make my Easy Pesto Pasta.
- Slather it onto crusty bread.
- Dollop it onto a grain bowl.
- Spoon it over polenta topped with roasted radishes, fennel, and/or asparagus and roasted chickpeas.
- Swirl it into a soup like my Asparagus Soup or my Carrot Ginger Soup.
- Thin it to a drizze-able consistency to make a dressing for a spring salad or grilled veggies.
Find the complete recipe at the bottom of this post!
Sautéed Radish Greens
If I’m not making pesto, I most often sauté radish greens. They’re a quick and easy side dish on their own, but they’re also a great addition to stir fries, frittatas, scrambled eggs, rice bowls, quesadillas, tacos, and the Leek and Radish Green Tart on page 181 of Love and Lemons Every Day. Here’s how I make them:
Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the radish greens and cook, tossing, until the greens are just wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove them from the heat and season with a squeeze of lemon juice, salt, and pepper. That’s it!
What’s your favorite way to eat radish greens? Let me know in the comments!
More Favorite “Scrap” Recipes
If you love this radish greens recipe, try experimenting with other common veggie scraps! Here are a few recipes to get you started:
- Broccoli Rice
- Cauliflower Rice
- Carrot Greens Chimichurri
- Beet Salad with Pistachio Beet Green Gremolata, page 127 of Love and Lemons Every Day
Radish Greens Pesto
Ingredients
- ½ cup pine nuts or pepitas
- 1 small garlic clove
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup radish greens
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- ¼ to ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more if desired
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, optional
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine the pine nuts, garlic, salt, and pepper and pulse until well chopped. Add the lemon juice and pulse again.
- Add the radish greens and basil and pulse until combined.
- With the food processor running, drizzle in the olive oil and pulse until combined. Add the Parmesan cheese, if using, and pulse briefly to combine. For a smoother pesto, add more olive oil.
Love the sautéed radish greens recipe. Worked perfectly. Simple and delish!
I’m so glad you loved it!
I sauteed them and they were wonderful! I felt like I was at a fancy restaurant.
I’m so glad you loved them, Josh!
Looking forward to trying this! Thanks so much!
Simply amazing! I used tops from red and white radishes and chopped them up before putting into the food processor. This is a forgiving recipe – I used what I had on hand which was Thai basil and sprouted pumpkin seeds (which are different than pepitas but still in the same family). At the end, I sprinkled in Brewer’s Yeast for a non-dairy cheesy flavor. Thank you for taking the time to create this recipe for an often discarded part of the veggie. I’m learning to appreciate all parts of food!
Hi Dana, thank you for your sweet comment! I’m so glad you loved the pesto.
Radish leaves are wonderful chopped and added raw to pasta dough. It is especially good for sautéed radish raviolis.
Hi Jamene, what a great suggestion! I’ll have to try it.
Hi. Many thannks for the radish pesto recipe. Only small problem is that when the serving size is changed, all the other ingredients change accordingly, except for Notes which always shows ‘Makes about one cup’ no matter the serving size. Regards, Mike
Made this today. It was pretty tasty. Used jalapeño olive oil, has a light warm sensation at the back of throat. We have used it with carrot sandwiches and with chao cheese and tomato sandwiches as well as on toast, gonna use in a jackfruit fiesta bowl.
Thank you,
Trina
Hi Trina, those sandwiches sound so delicious!
I made this today after returning from the farmers market. Delicious and I’ll be making it more often. I had to sub the pine nuts for walnuts but it didn’t matter.
Hi Diane, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I use my radish leaves in a modified spinach and feta pie, along spinach I use beetroot greens, radish leaves, celery leaves whatever I have on hand it’s a mixed greens and feta pie yummy and good for us.
Hi Mimi, that sounds delicious!
This sounds great! Can’t wait to try it. May have to sub for the radish greens though, currentlt bunches of fresh radishes with greens aren’t available in stores and farmers market season hasn’t begun just yet. But Radish sprouts, water cress sprouts, or leafy water cress are available. They all can provide a peppery bright taste. This will be good all Summer too., and tasty with the fresh lettuces of Spring and Summers.. Fresh Kale is not available during the hottest months here, but is back in early Fall. This looks yummy!
I hope you enjoy!
I make a soup with radish greens. It’s even better the next day as the flavor intensifies.
I cook the potatoes first, mash up in their cooking water. Add the chopped up radish leaves, salt, pepper and a little cream if desired. It’s delicious.
Sounds fantastic! Love a good suggestion for using radish greens.?
So so delish!!! Word of caution. I thoroughly rinsed my greens knowing they can be sandy. Apparently that was not even enough. It was a little gritty here and there. I also added a spicy pepper and it really rocks!!!
Hi Kelly, I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. (And yes, radish greens can be quite sandy!)
Oh my goodness! I made this today since I am new to gardening and did not thin my radishes early enough so all I have are greens and stunted roots. This is amazing!! I found Recipe for radish butter so I can use my bitty radishes so they don’t go to waste either. Definitely keeping this one in the front of my recipe box! Thank-you so much for sharing this!
Can I freeze this… I just made a batch without the parmesan cheese
Yep, you can!
I just made the pesto . It was divine.
I had an almond flour pancake with a egg and pesto . Amazing. You can put the pesto on anything. I just marinated pork chops with it as well . Very good recipe. Used something that was going to be tossed out and tasted delicious.
I’m so glad you’ve been loving it so much!
Loved this! I used it on your Navy bean and roasted radish salad. Who would have thought radish greens would add another level of flavor to pesto. I shared the recipe with my community garden members today.
I’m so glad you loved them!
I have always discarded the radish greens, probably because most of the time they are kind of sickly when I get them home. But, was fortunate to get a bunch this week with abundant nice greens so I made this pesto recipe. I used 1/2 radish greens and 1/2 basil. Fabulous! Tonite I mixed a couple TBLS of the pesto with about a 1/4 C plain Greek yogurt and used it as a dipping sauce for roasted veggies with roasted chicken breast. Life changing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the radish greens!
You did not lie about that delicious peppery taste! And, I have always been a fan of a lot of Parmesan in my pesto. However with this recipe I found that the Parmesan creaminess sort of masked the bright peppery flavor the radish greens provides. I would definitely leave the Parmesan out if I made it again!
I make a winter soup of all the greens in my garden. Saute in a little olive oil Onion and garlic tops, celery, parsley, turnip and radish tops, spinach and lettuce and my all time favourite lots and lots of beautiful nasturtium leaves. Chicken stock cube, black pepper . Cook and blitz smooth and serve with a dollop of cream and some nasturtium flowers on top for decoration.
Sounds great!
Amazing Pesto! Started my first garden and was trying to find something to do with all my radish greens. So glad I made this recipe. I will definitely make it again. My husband loved it just as much as me. Used is to make an amazing pasta salad and used it on some crusty garlic bread. In my opinion, the added peppery taste from the radish greens made this better than an average pesto. I did use Parmesan cheese in mine.