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.
Delicious. I am so happy to have discovered this recipe. Since I get my radishes fresh from a farm. Thank you
Loved this radish pesto recipe! Delicious without lemon and cheese. Highly recommend!
I harvested my radishes a couple days ago, and couldn’t just toss those big, beautiful greens. A search landed me your recipe, and I am so glad! This stuff is delicious and light! Thank you!!
I have grown 6 different types of radishes this year, and can’t bear to throw out all those greens…So, I typed Radish Green Recipes into Google and, once again, your amazing site popped up! I can’t wait to try them!
Update:
Radish Greens are a new favorite in our family!!! I was expecting to need a bit of vinegar, but no–just olive oil, salt, and pepper.
I thought I’d get fancy and add bacon and garlic, but frankly, I think I like the clean tastes of just olive oil, salt, pepper and just a touch of lemon with these greens best!
Loved this recipe! I needed a quick and easy way to use some radish greens in an attempt to reduce waste and this did just the trick. I have to ask, is that the Venice Pro GreenPan in your photo? How do you like it??
Hi AJ – it is – I like it a lot!
Can I use dried basil?
no, the pesto requires fresh basil
Delightful! Used Raw Shelled Hemp seeds in place of pine nuts. Enjoyed on salad
Can you use all radish greens for the pesto?
You can, it’s just a bit more bitter (not necessarily a bad thing), depending on your greens which is why I did a 50/50 mix.
how would cilantro work instead of basil
Can radish tops ever be too big to use? The radish tops I brought home from the farmers market this morning are at least twice as big as yours in the picture. The farmer wanted to cut them off, but I said I’d find something to do with them and I did!
Hi Diane, I don’t think they can be too big to use, but it’s possible that they can vary in bitter flavor from bunch to bunch. There shouldn’t be a noticeable difference in the sautéed greens. If you make the pesto and it’s too pungent, add more oil or cheese to offset it. I hope you put them to good use!
Use them as a substitute for spinach in cooking. I use them in my Palak dal in place of spinach. They have a great texture and flavor in dishes.
I love that idea, thank you!
So the traditional Indian way (where we waste nothing) is to saute radish leaved in oil, garlic and chilli! We eat this with roti or as a side to anything is my modern Indian way of cooking. We also use them in Indian salads, chopped with some tomatoes and cucumber, salt and lime (and chilli, yes indian salads have chilli).
yum, that sounds so delicious!
I made the radish greens and basil pesto today. I used roasted garlic rather than raw and lightly toasted almond slivers because didn’t have pine nuts. Really like the combo of the radish greens with basil. Will use the pesto on turkey breast tonight. This recipe is a keeper. Thanks
Hi Colleen, I’m so glad you loved it!
How many ounces for basil and radish greens? Can’t figure out how much is actually 1 cup. Should I pack the cup or not pack? Is it 1 cup chopped or not chopped?
Anyway, thank you for the recipe. I used to throw out the greens now I know how to use them!
Hi JJ, 1 packed cup, un-chopped. I realize it’s kind of awkward, but doesn’t have to be perfect down to the gram.
Can you use almonds instead of pine nuts?
yep! I’d chop them a little bit.
Walnuts are wonderful in pesto, too.
Wow very nice reddish green recipe
radish greens pesto, wow, sauteed work too, but the pesto is really creative, love all of these new ingredients, for me at least, thank you
Thanks for calling attention to the fact that we don’t need to toss these greens! I put them in my juicer this morning and radish greens were great in my green drink!
Excellent idea! What did you mix in with the radish greens?
I generally put some more greens of any kind ( kale, chard, collards ) apple, lemon , celery. Enjoy.
Awesome, finally find the way to use the radish green,
The backside of the leaves are a little prickly – do they soften when you sautee them?
yep, they soften!
They are also great in a salad or on their own with a light dressing! I love your books – I am slowly cooking my way through both of them. 🙂
Hi Shannon, I’m so glad you’re loving the books!
Yum! This was great! Radishes were the only sad thing that grew for me this year.
I’m so glad you loved it!