Carrots Vs Parsnips: What's The Difference?

We're all familiar with carrots — what would a platter of veggies or an elementary school lunchbox be without them? But, are you as well versed with carrots' pale, slightly spicy cousin, the parsnip, and could you define how the two differ? For most of us, the answer is a resounding nope. To unpack why one's so ubiquitous in every grocery store and the other you're maybe only spotting in your CSA haul, we'd have to unpack how certain produce picks become favored while others get much less love; an article for another time. But, the fact is, the standard American shopper is presented with a small sliver of the vast world of produce options — carrots make the cut, and parsnips, not so much. 

While both root veggies are similar in shape, packed in nutrients, and have a crunchy bite, you can easily spot the most basic difference between the two with your eyeballs alone. Carrots, in most cases, are orange (thanks to their beta carotene content), though they can come in purple, white, or yellow. Parsnips are almost always a creamy white. Appearance aside, carrots have a milder, subtler, and sweeter flavor, making them an ideal candidate to add to treats like the perfect carrot cake and puree into juice. Parsnips are their spicier counterpart with a deeper flavor and earthy, root-y heat. They're perfect for savory dishes and roasting.

As different as they are, there's a good bit of overlap in how you can prep and cook both carrots and parsnips. Both can be delightful sliced and served raw on a salad or crudité spread, and both can be slid into the oven for roasting or cooked down into a creamy mash. 

Having said that, each emerges as the best choice for certain uses. Notably, parsnips have a denser texture due to their lower water content and more starchy, carb-y heft than a carrot. This makes them an ideal candidate for roasting and mashing as an alternative to classic potatoes. Carrots have a higher water content and can turn mushy if overcooked or roasted — though carrots make for great crispy vegan bacon when prepared right.

In both cases, we traditionally eat only the root and toss the tops. The green bits are often seen as inedible, but not so fast: If reducing your food waste is a goal, both parsnip and carrot tops are indeed edible and have similar nutritional benefits to the root portion. Cook them as you would other greens — chopped and sauteed, tossed into soups, or mixed into vibrant pestos. They're too full of goodness to go to the compost bin.