How to Regrow Carrot Tops

Grab a carrot that still has some of the shoulder end intact, a knife, and a cutting board. Set out a shallow saucer for the water method and a small pot of soil for the soil method. You can do both, like the video does, or pick one. Any carrot works, even a bendy one from the back of the fridge. Give it a rinse so you can see the crown at the wide end where the leaves once grew.

Slice about an inch off the wide top end of the carrot. That is the part you want. The rest of the carrot is yours to cook with, so nothing is wasted. Keep the cut clean and flat so the piece sits steady later. If you are doing more than one, cut a couple of tops now. The little green nub on top, or the flat crown if the leaves were already trimmed, is where new growth comes from.

Hold the cut top and look at the flat face and the crown. See that ring in the center? That is where the new shoots come from. As long as a bit of that crown is there, you are in good shape. If your carrot came with a stubby green stem still attached, even better. You do not need roots or anything else. This small piece has everything it needs to wake up.

Put the carrot top cut-side down on a shallow saucer, then add a little water. You want the bottom sitting in water while the crown stays exposed to the air. A saucer is perfect because it is shallow and easy to top up. This water method is the fun one for beginners since you get to watch tiny roots creep out and green shoots push up over the next few days.

Move the saucer to a bright windowsill. Carrot tops want plenty of light to green up and grow. The one job you have from here is changing the water every day or two. Old water goes cloudy and can turn the top slimy, so a quick rinse of the dish keeps things sweet. Within a few days you should see fresh feathery leaves unfurling from the middle of the crown.

Once the crown has sprouted, or if you want to skip the water stage entirely, nestle a carrot top into a small pot of potting soil. Press it gently so the cut base sits in the soil with the crown just at or above the surface. Soil gives the plant more to feed on than water alone, so it grows on stronger and lasts longer. Water it in and firm the soil around the base.

Stand the pot, and the water saucer if you kept one going, in the brightest spot you have. A windowsill that catches sun for a good chunk of the day is ideal. Keep the soil lightly moist, not wet, and keep refreshing the water in the dish. Now it is a waiting game. Over the coming days and weeks the tops fill out with more and more of those lacy green leaves.

Here is the payoff. The potted top has grown into a bushy clump of feathery carrot greens, and even the little top on the saucer has thrown up its own shoots. Snip the leaves as you need them for salads, pesto, or a herby chimichurri-style sauce. They taste bright and a little like parsley. Leave the plant to keep growing and it will eventually flower and set seed. Remember, this is a greens crop, not a new carrot.