How to Use Radish Greens for Zero-Waste Deliciousness

updated Mar 1, 2023
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Credit: Joe Lingeman/Kitchn; Food Stylist: CC Buckley/Kitchn

Making our springy asparagus, radish, and mint salad or tossing radishes with farro and goat cheese? Or maybe you’re slicing a few to dip into salted butter on a crudités platter. Whatever you’re making, don’t toss those radish greens! You can eat them.

That’s right. If you’ve always chucked the tops into the compost or the garbage you may be curious enough to give them a try. Here are 6 ways you can use radish greens.

How do radish greens taste?

Raw radish green have an earthy, peppery flavor similar to mustard greens. The flavor likely varies by the age and type of radish, but we’ve eaten young French breakfast and Easter egg radish greens, both of which were pleasantly pungent and delicious in a salad. Cooked, their flavor mellows out some (check out our tips for taming bitter greens). They’re safe to eat raw or cooked; just be sure to rinse them well, first.

Ways to Use Radish Greens

Radish tops don’t stay fresh for very long, and it’s best separate them from the roots soon after harvesting or bringing them home from the market. Wash and store the leaves like other salad greens and eat them within a day or two.

Do you eat radish greens?