No Waste Carrot Greens Smoothie, a simple food waste recovery recipe using carrots and carrot greens in a show-stopping orange and green smoothie. Tasty and sustainable!
Do you throw out carrot greens? Don’t toss those tops! Those leafy greens are actually edible and they’re delicious in a carrot greens smoothie.
Don’t trust us? Here are three reasons why you should reuse carrot greens in a smoothie:
- It’s tasty. This smoothie has an earthy, warm flavor that comes from the carrots, carrot greens, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla.
- It’s sustainable. This recipe uses carrot greens, a food scrap that usually gets thrown away.
- It’s a showstopper. You must admit that a pretty smoothie is just more fun to eat, and this orange and green swirled smoothie is photo-worthy.
👉 Ready to learn how to make this food scrap smoothie with carrot greens? Let’s do it!
🥣 How to make (step-by-step)
1️⃣ Step One: Slice + freeze the banana
First, slice the banana into ½ inch (1-2 cm) slices, place on a plate or in a bowl, and freeze for a minimum of 15 minutes before making this smoothie. Don’t freeze the entire banana with the peel, or else you won’t be able to remove the outer peel before using it because it will be too hard (we’ve made this mistake).
👉 Why use frozen banana in smoothies instead of ice? Freezing banana slices (and other fruit) instead of using ice is the perfect way to get a smooth consistency that isn’t grainy from the blended ice. You can add ice if you need to when making the smoothie, but we like to start with a frozen fruit base and then add in ice if we need a thicker consistency.
2️⃣ Step Two: Make the carrot smoothie base
When the banana is frozen, add ¾ of it to a high powered blender or food processor with the chopped carrots, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ½ cup of the plant-based milk (we used oat, but pea milk is also great for smoothies because both have thicker consistencies).
Blend the ingredients together until smooth, adding 1-2 ice cubes for a thicker consistency or adding more plant-based milk if you need to make the smoothie thinner.
Pour the smoothie into a serving glass, then place in the freezer to keep it cold until you’re done with the carrot greens swirl.
3️⃣ Step Three: Make the green carrot top smoothie
Next, wash out the blender and add in washed and chopped carrot greens, the rest of the frozen banana, 1 pitted date, and 2 tablespoons of plant-based milk. Blend until smooth, adding in more milk if needed.
4️⃣ Step Four: Build the smoothie
The final step is the fun part! Remove the carrot smoothie base from the freezer and pour the green carrot leaves smoothie into the glass.
Finally, top the smoothie with a bit of shredded carrot and a few carrot leaves. Enjoy!
❓ Recipe + ingredient questions
What if I don’t want to use banana?
In place of banana you can use another smooth ingredient like avocado or even a plant-based yogurt like coconut or oat milk yogurt. Carrots on their own are not a super smooth ingredient, and while you may get a smooth consistency if you have a very high powered blender, we suggest using a creamy ingredient like banana, avocado, coconut cream, or vegan yogurt for extra creaminess.
How do you cut and wash carrot greens?
Simply cut carrot greens from the hard stems, soak in water, and then let dry. Then remove any additional hard stems and chop. Read our full tutorial on How to Wash Carrot Greens or check out our video for Sautéed Carrot Greens to see how we cut, wash, and prep carrot leaves. Also check out our full guide to storing carrots to keep them fresh.
Do I have to use the spices you listed?
No! You can omit the cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and ginger if you’d like but we included them in the recipe because they add a nice warm flavor. However, a smoothie with banana, carrots, carrot greens, and dates will still have a great, earthy flavor.
👉 Smoothie FAQ
To make a smoothie without ice, freeze the fruit you’re using first. The frozen fruit will do double duty as a flavorful ingredient and take the place of ice for a smoother consistency.
Any plant-based milk will do, but a milk alternative with a thicker consistency like oat milk or pea milk is best for smoothies. These thicker milks will make for a smoother, thicker textured smoothie.
There are many ways to swirl two different colored smoothies, but the easiest way that we’ve found is to pour the lighter color smoothie into a glass first, and then slowly mix in the darker color smoothie without completely combining them.
🥕 More recipes using carrot leaves
Looking for more carrot greens recipes? Check out our other food waste recovery recipes using carrot tops:
- Carrot Top Pesto
- Carrot Top Pesto Pasta
- Sautéed Carrot Tops
- Carrot Greens Vegetable Stock
- Carrot Leaves Soup
Looking for more food waste smoothies? Try out Radish Greens Smoothie and our Zero Waste Beet Greens Smoothie!
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Carrot Greens Smoothie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large banana, sliced and frozen
- ½ cup fresh carrot, peeled and chopped
- ½ teaspoon minced ginger
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- ½ cup plant-based milk
- ¼ cup carrot greens, chopped and washed
- 1 whole medjool date, pitted and soaked
- Optional: shredded carrots and carrot greens as a topping
Instructions
- Freeze banana: First, slice banana into small slices and place in the freezer for about 15 minutes to freeze. Freezing the banana means you don’t have to add additional ice to the smoothie to make it cold. After freezing, you’ll use ¾ of the banana for the carrot base and ¼ for the greens swirl.
- Make carrot smoothie base: Add ¾ of the banana to a blender with the chopped carrots, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, and ½ cup of plant-based milk (we used oat milk). Blend until smooth, adding ice for a thicker consistency and more plant-based milk for a thinner consistency. When done, pour the carrot smoothie into a serving glass and set inside the freezer until ready to serve.
- Make the carrot greens swirl: Next, wash out the blender and add in the carrot greens, the other ¼ of the frozen banana, 1 date, and 2 tablespoons of plant-based milk. Blend until smooth.
- Prepare the swirled smoothie: Finally, remove the carrot smoothie from the freezer and pour the carrot greens swirl slowly into the glass, using a tall spoon to mix the two colored smoothies together for a cool swirl effect. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- Recipe notes: Freezing the banana will mean you don’t have to add ice to the smoothie; however, if you like a colder and thicker consistency, then add 1-2 ice cubes to the carrot base.
- Tools needed: high powered blender, knife set, cutting board
- Prep ahead: This smoothie is best when enjoyed fresh, we do not recommend freezing and then eating later (it will become very icy when frozen and will not have the same smooth texture).
- Nutrition notes: This smoothie uses all plant-based ingredients and is gluten-free. It is high in fiber and, depending on which plant-based milk you choose, it may also be a good source of plant-based protein. Feel free to add your own plant-based protein powder for a more filling smoothie.
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