Easy Green Juice Recipe + Juicing Nutrition Tips
4.50 from 2 votes

This is my go-to easy green juice recipe! You can use a high-speed or regular blender, no juicer required. Just blend and strain! Plus, the juice is packed with healthful and tasty ingredients.

A Weck mason jar holds a freshly made green juice.

I enjoy a green juice.

Green juice refreshing and sweet, and I like sweet things. I also like that green juice presents an easy way to get the benefits of green veggies without having to sit down and eat a massive bowl of them.

What I don’t like about green juice is the fact that it can be time-consuming and that most recipes require an expensive juicer. I don’t drink juice often enough to justify having a juicer at home (appliance space is limited in my apartment!).

So what’s an occasional green juice drinker to do?

This easy green juice recipe is the answer. It’s made in a blender—any blender—and then strained with cheesecloth or a nut milk bag. It’s flavorful and full of micronutrients, but you don’t need a fancy juicer to make it.

What is green juice, anyway?

Green juice gets a lot of hype, but the idea behind making it is simple: extract micronutrients and water from green vegetables while removing the fiber.

We all know that fiber is important for heart health and digestive health. We also know that it’s associated with the prevention of some types of cancer. So, why would we want to remove it?

Two reasons that I can think of.

Juicing for efficiency

The first one is that fiber is really filling. This can be a good thing, of course. But the cool thing about a green juice is that it affords you all of the micronutrients of a bunch of green veggies in an efficient, easy-to-take dose.

My easy green juice recipe calls for half a large cucumber, some celery a bunch of spinach, three stalks of kale, parsley, half a navel orange, and a pear.

If you were to eat all of those things at once, you’d get full pretty quickly (before you had time for protein or starch or any other part of your meal). Juicing allows you to take in the vitamins and minerals without filling up too quickly or too much.

This can be really great for people who are busy or on-the-go. They may not have time to eat big heaps of vegetables, but they may still wish to get the nutrients that those veggies afford.

It’s also helpful for people who like the benefits of green vegetables, but don’t love the taste. Or people who are learning to love the taste, but aren’t quite there yet 😉

Juicing for sensitive or impaired digestion

The other group of people who can benefit from juicing are those with sensitive or impaired digestive function. This might include people with IBS, IBD (Crohn’s Disease and ulcerative colitis), or any other digestive condition that makes it hard to eat lots of fiber.

Yes, fiber is good for digestive health and function. But large amounts of fiber can wreak havoc on IBD patients who are flaring, and it can be really irritating to those with IBS-D as well.

I have a lot IBS and IBD clients, as well as clients who struggle with what might simply be called a sensitive digestive tract. It’s important for me to help those clients continue getting fiber in their diets without overwhelming them with too much fiber at once.

Green juice can be a great solution here. It’s a light snack or meal component that delivers lots of vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes without triggering peristalsis or activating a sensitive digestive system.

To be clear, I don’t believe that “digestive rest” is beneficial as a prolonged habit, at least not for most people. In fact, I think that too much digestive rest can weaken peoples’ digestive systems.

It’s a phenomenon I’ve seen many times in my dietetics practice—a client with digestive distress has started replacing meals with liquids and eliminating a lot of foods in the hope of feeling better. But the large and small intestines are made of a lot muscle, and they function better when that muscle is worked.

There’s no rule that fits everyone. I meet my clients where they are. Many of them are working to heal impaired digestion, and healing is best served with moderate, carefully controlled doses of fiber. Juicing can help to maintain nutrient levels while that goal is met.

How I incorporate green juice into my diet

I like to enjoy green juice as a snack or with a meal. For me, it functions as a supplement of sorts: a concentrated shot of nutrition.

I know that juices and juicing are often tied up with fasting. Fasting works for some people, and it can be an efficient way to create a calorie deficit, if that’s person’s goal.

Given my eating disorder history, which included replacing necessary meals with green juice and “fasting till lunch,” I don’t mess around with fasting at all.

I also don’t recommend fasting to my nutrition clients. From what I can tell, the evidence in favor of fasting for health (autophagy and blood sugar control) isn’t strong enough to outweigh the very danger of fasting as a trigger for disordered eating.

I also worry about adequate nutrition with skipped meals—each one of those is a missed opportunity to get vital protein, calcium, iron, and other nutrients. To say nothing of inconvenience and discomfort: eating is part of socializing and enjoying life!

Juice as a sweet, hydrating snack or within-meal beverage? That’s something I can definitely embrace. If I need the green juice to keep me fuller, longer, then I sometimes blend in avocado after I’ve strained it.

Benefits of Juicing vs. Blending

There seems to be a big debate between proponents of juicing and blending, respectively. Fans of juicing argue that it is more conducive to healing than blending.

Champions of blending/smoothies point out that removing fiber from vegetables and fruits is taking away an important nutrient. They also argue that removing fiber, which helps to control the release of glucose from food into the bloodstream, can blood sugar.

I think there are benefits to both blending and juicing. And they’re not mutually exclusive: both types of drinks can have a role in a balanced diet.

For the average person with no digestive impairment, I think smoothies will offer more opportunity for balanced nutrition (protein and fiber included). And I do think that smoothies are better than juices when it comes to blood sugar control, unless the juices in question are very low sugar. (Those aren’t the type of juices that I enjoy!)

I think juices work nicely as a micronutrient supplement and can be beneficial for those with sensitive digestive systems. I also love the way they taste.

Especially this refreshing, sweet, easy green juice recipe. And in some ways it’s the best of both worlds, in that it uses a blender to create a juice 😉

How to make green juice at home

There are two simple steps to making this easy green juice. First, blend all of the juice ingredients together. You can use any blender for this! A high-speed, fancy blender isn’t necessary.

I have a Breville Super Q, and I absolutely love it, but I’ve made the juice using a Vitamix in the past. And I’ve made it with the basic, inexpensive blender that came before that.

If you’re working with a blender that isn’t very powerful, you can omit the celery and ginger (or use pre-minced ginger instead). And be sure to peel your cucumber.

Begin by piling all of your ingredients into the blender.

A clear blender is filled with healthful, plant-based ingredients.

Blend for 30-120 seconds, or as long as it takes to get things evenly blended. A high speed blender will do this quickly, while a regular blender might need a little more time.

Then, pour the blended vegetable and fruit mixture through cheesecloth or a nut milk bag. I like this one and this one.

Juice is being poured from a blender into a piece of cheesecloth for straining.

Squeeze the cheesecloth or nut milk bag tight to extract as much fresh juice as you can.

Fresh green juice is being squeezed through cheesecloth into an open mason jar.

It’s that easy!

The beauty of this easy green juice recipe is that you won’t have to clean a juicer, which is a daunting task. You won’t need to spend money on a juicer in the first place. And you’ll have juice within minutes.

Using a little elbow grease to strain the juice through the cheesecloth is the toughest part of the process.

Does blending juice destroy nutrients?

Of course, most green juices are made with a juicer. And many of the best juicers are designed to avoid oxidation—the process by which oxygen reduces the quality of juice.

Blending does introduce some oxygen into this easy green juice recipe. It’s more oxidized than juice from a blender, and so it doesn’t keep for very long. Certainly not as long as a bottled juice from a juice shop or juice from a high-quality juicer. I recommend drinking right away, or within a few hours if you store it in the fridge.

But that’s OK! Within the context of a well-rounded, healthy diet, it’s OK if your cup of green juice isn’t maximally nutritious. If it tastes good and delivers some important micronutrients—which this easy green juice recipe definitely does—that’s still a win.

Do I have to strain my green juice?

Of course not! You can do whatever you want to do.

Not straining the juice will essentially turn it into a smoothie. If that’s what you’re craving, then by all means, skip the cheesecloth and go straight to drinking your green drink.

Easy green juice ingredients

There are many thousands of potential green juice formulas, or mixtures of vegetables, greens, and fruits. This is just my favorite, the one I’ve come to rely on for juice at home.

It encourages me to get some Vitamin C from citrus, has enough fruit for sweet flavor (which I like!) and also allows me to get plenty of green goodness from parsley, kale, and cucumber. Here’s what’s in it:

Cucumber

This helps to make the juice juicy and hydrating! If you use a blender that isn’t very powerful, I recommend peeling first. If your blender is powerful, then no need to peel.

Celery

A good source of naturally occurring sodium for electrolytes. Celery works best in a strong blender, so you can omit or add extra cucumber in its place if you don’t think it will blend up easily in the blender you have at home.

Spinach

I like using two types of greens, spinach and kale, in this juice. You could use chard, collards, arugula, or baby kale in place of spinach.

Kale

My favorite leafy green, so it’s no surprise that it ends up in my juice. You can substitute chard, beet greens, collard greens, or mustard greens for kale. Or you can substitute additional spinach.

Parsley

I love using this for flavor and health benefits. Sometimes I use cilantro in its place—I’m in the cilantro lover’s club!

Lemon + ginger

Both of these ingredients give the juice a little zing. But they’re both optional! You can omit either if it’s not to your taste. If your blender isn’t super strong, you can use pre-minced ginger.

Orange

Provides some sweetness, some acid, and plenty of Vitamin C. I usually use a regular navel orange, but two mandarin oranges or a different type of orange would also work well.

Apple or pear

Both of these fruits can provide lovely, mellow sweetness to the easy green juice recipe. Pear is my preference—it’s so subtle and sweet—but I use apple often, too.

What should I do with leftover juice pulp?

Great question! One of the downsides of making juice at home is having a lot of fibrous vegetable/fruit pulp that can go to waste.

Fortunately, you don’t have to throw this mixture away. If you compost at home, you can compost it. If you’re lucky enough to have a garden, you can use it as fertilizer.

You can also use the leftover juice pulp in additional recipes! My favorite is these juice pulp crackers. I like to use beet pulp in these beet balls (great with zucchini noodle or regular spaghetti). When I have carrot pulp, it usually goes in these carrot falafel or this carrot avocado pâté. I also bake with carrot pulp (muffins or quick bread). Baking is a great use

And there are a lot more excellent resources on what to do with leftover juice pulp online!

More juicing tips + recipes

I may not own a juicer nowadays, but I used to own one. At that time, I drank a lot of homemade juice, and I loved it.

So I’ve still got a lot of great juicing recipes and resources on the blog! Some of my favorites:

A Weck mason jar holds a freshly made green juice.
4.50 from 2 votes

Green Juice Recipe + Juicing Nutrition Tips

Author – Gena Hamshaw
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 2 minutes
Straining time 3 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Yields: 1 serving

Ingredients

  • 1/2 large cucumber (peel if you have a regular blender, no need to peel for a high speed blender)
  • 2 medium stalks celery, cut into 3-inch pieces
  • handful baby or regular spinach
  • 3 stalks stemmed curly kale
  • handful curly or Italian parsley
  • 1/2 lemon, skin cut off
  • 1/2 navel orange, skin cut off
  • 1-inch piece peeled ginger
  • 1 pear or apple, cored and quartered
  • 2/3 cup water (more as needed)

Instructions

  • Add all ingredients to your blender. Blend all ingredients together for 30-120 seconds, or as long as it takes to create an evenly blended mixture. Add up to an additional 1/4 cup water as needed to facilitate blending.
  • Cover the mouth of a roomy mason jar with two layers of cheesecloth or a nut milk bag. Pour the juice into the mason jar, straining through the cheesecloth.
  • Give the cheesecloth a good squeeze to extract as much juice as possible.
  • Drink juice immediately, or cover the mason jar and refrigerate for up to a few hours.

Video

https://youtu.be/HZg9x5CQekA
A liquid measuring cup has been filled with a frothy, freshly made, easy green juice.

Hopefully this recipe will give you an accessible way to enjoy green juice at home. Feel free to change around the proportions of fruits and veggies so that it becomes your own. Adaptation and flexibility is what this easy green juice recipe is all about.

Happy sipping!

xo

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Categories: Snacks
Method: Blender
Dietary Preferences: Gluten Free, No Oil, Raw, Soy Free, Tree Nut Free, Vegan
Recipe Features: 30 Minute or Less, Quick & Easy

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Recipe Rating




    129 Comments
  1. 4 stars
    Hi Gena,
    I’m a fan of green juices — if properly done, they’re as healthy as it gets!
    Just a couple of points here:
    1- Not everybody will enjoy the taste of green juices, at least not at the beginning, some people might need some help with the taste, like adding a ripe banana, or even a bit of honey;
    2- You might want to go easy on the spinach.

  2. I love this post, Nicole- so informative! I had no idea the Vitamix blenders are made in the USA. That is good. I feel the same reservations you voiced here- that the Vitamix is too extravagant. You do make a good point about how if you add up all the busted blenders buying one Vitamix for life makes sense. Love the smoothie recipes and those cute little recipe cards!

  3. I purchased my Vitamix direct from their website. They offered a convenient payment plan and I was able to get a $500 model for less than $300 because it was refurbished. Still comes with full warranty.

  4. I am so happy to have “googled” on to this site. I’ve had my vitamix for several years making green “smoothies” mixing mostly greens with a few fruits, flax seed, chia seed, protein powder and the like. I then started reading more about juicing. After much thought and research, I purchased the Breville Elite juicer. While it worked like a dream, I like previous posters, hated the clean up. And, again like previous posters, I started making batches to store for a day or two as I couldn’t face the Breville everyday. It wore me down. Lol. So I returned it and went back to my vitamix smoothies. I also starting purchasing pre-made pressed juices. Drinking 3-4 a day at $3 a bottle was getting a bit much.
    To now learn I can choose to make my smoothie into juice when I choose is liberating. From start to finish I have a smoothie and cleaned the blender in under 2 minutes. Adding the juicing step will take a few more minutes but I’m not spending 20 minutes cleaning a juicer for one glass of juice.
    Thank you for showing me yet another use for my wonderful vitamix.

  5. Thanks for all the great tips. I have been using my Vitamix to make fruit & veggie smoothies for some time. After deciding I may be getting too much fiber for my sensitive digestive system to handle, I began straining through my nut milk bag (which is now hopelessly stained). I like the fresh, clean taste of the juice so much that I thought perhaps I needed to buy a juicer. But after reading all the comments here I’ve decided to go buy some paint straining bags instead and just keep doing what I’ve been doing. I am adding some of the pulp to my dogs’ food and the rest I compost. But maybe I’ll start saving some of that for soups, etc. Great info here!

  6. I use my Vitamix for juicing and strain with a fine mesh wire colander in the sink. Just pour it into the colander and use the vitamin tamper to swirl the mixture in the colander over a bowl. Doesn’t take long, a minute or less, and the remaining pulp is quit dry. Easy cleanup all the way around and no need for dealing with a bag… and you get very little pulp in the drink. I’ll even add a little pulp back occasionally.

  7. Thank you for this simple solution! I had thought about cheesecloth and strainers then saw the bags watching a Norwalk video ($3,000!) I’ve done smoothies for years but am new to juicing so starting simple while I determine my needs is perfect. Since I have a crush on my Vitamix adding a $10 bag rather than another piece of equipment is so easy. (And I can get one a few aisles over from produce at Whole Foods!) I’m not vegan (or even 100% vegetarian) but have settled nicely into about 75% vegetarian, half of that raw. Looking forward to my upcoming pulp vs. no pulp experiments. (One recent discovery – though I LOVE arugula, I won’t ever consume it as a juice again, lol.) Thanks again!

  8. An alternative to cheese cloth is a paint stainer bag. They are inexpensive and easy to clean. I use them for my juice and nut milk straining. No need to spend big bucks on a specialized product.

    Also, wanted to chime in on the mixing fruit and vegi. I make a kale, pineapple, celery juice that’s wonderful in the morning. Also love, spinach, frozen strawberry, coconut water and protein powder.

    Thanks for your great work!

  9. This article has been flagged as spam, if you
    think this is an error please contact us. It’s best to use products with a
    minjmum amount of ingredients. Its lightweight and does a great job at keeping my face matte throughout the day.

  10. I do love the green juice and now I am borrowing a Vita Mix if this turns out great I am going to buy me one…I have lost a lot but mostly because of the diabetics int he family. I am boarder line so wanna stay healthy and fit.

  11. Thanks for providing your smoothie ingredients! I have been making green smoothies for some time now … mostly celery, pear or apple, basil, chocolate mint, Persian cucumber, kale, parsley. I don’t strain b/c the fiber has helped to keep me healthy. I used my old blender and it worked but you had to make sure what veggies to start with (i.e., hard ones). We received the Vitamix for wedding present and it is so quick … tho’ now I have to unlearn the order of veggies. Green smoothies don’t have to be ice cold for us so they are the best for winter time. I recommended them to a friend with young children and she says that the kids don’t get sick as much! GO GREEN! Thanks again! T

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  13. Thanks for your post! I tried cheese cloth and a fine strainer, and then decided both required too much effort (due to their very small holes). After some roaming around my local Wal-Mart, I purchased a Sink Strainer for $1 (http://tinyurl.com/sinkjuice) and it worked FABULOUSLY to produce delicious, pulp-free juice with little effort. Plus, it’s stainless steel, reusable, and sturdy. I think it will last for a long time, but, it’s so cheap that if it doesn’t, I’ll just replace it! 🙂

  14. I don’t know if this is helpful here but I read somewhere that blending green vegetables slightly damages the enzymes and some other stuff. I use a Green Star juicer that slowly masticates the juice and ostensibly preserves these nutrients. I cured cancer with this drink so I share this recipe with you. It is exactly as Dr. Max Gerson desinged it, tested it over fifty years. It is, in my mind the perfect green juice. Bill Z Zimmermania YouTube channel.
    http://youtu.be/ONIIRMplLjo

  15. Wow…thanks so much for your post!

    I recently bought a very nice juicer. This morning was my first time to try it. I just spent 30 minutes cleaning the kitchen – I had kale, apple and pear juice all over the counter, floor and my nicely pressed pants and shirt! Dang, what a mess! Never, never, never again! I’m done.

    He was also very helpful to learn from your post that juicing create sugar spikes – which I have been avoiding for the last 18 months. I had no idea. Thank you for pointing that out.

    I was really hoping that using was going to be fun and easy, (just like they say on the infomercials) no such luck. I just told my wife I will never juice again! (That sweet girl laughed freely over my huge mess in the kitchen – mostly because she knows I’ll clean it up.)

    On the other hand, I love my Vitamix! It’s super-easy to clean and works like a dream. Absolutely worth the investment. If you’ve never used a Vitamix folks, you have no idea what you’re missing!

    I don’t own the bag that you mentioned, but I do own the Gracie Juice Bag (which is a really nice, durable bag. You can see a video about it and purchase the bag here: http://secure.gracieacademy.com/categories/accessories/GSA-JUICE.html (no, I don’t work for them!) I’m eager to give their bag a try.

    Anyway, I’m encouraged by your post that I will be able to transfer the process over to my trusty Vitamix. And, I will smile all the way through my 60 second cleanup!

  16. The debate of juicing vs blending has been always there. Being a dietitian supporting Tryfoodlovers.com diet, a healthy eating plan we refer to our clients, I always support blending rather than juicing. Juices may be easy to digest but it lacks fibers.

    I love the concept of straining the juice using nut milk bags. Its clean and easy. Thanks for the idea Elizabeth and thanks Gena for sharing this beautiful post.

    But I had a small question for you Gena:

    The green juice recipe is too good, rich in veggies and fruits. And I love veggies and fruits. But won’t it taste a little bitter without honey or sugar? Yes there will be the natural sweetness of orange and peer, but still?

    • I really don’t find it to be bitter, Jezz, but as you start out, feel free to use some apple for sweetness!

    • Using half a lemon or lime will cut through the “greenness” usually. My eight year old will drink a half a litre of a green juice without wincing so, no, it doesn’t seem to bitter at all. Sure, it depends on the greens used. Kale, for example, can be a bit much so I de-rib it first and then it’s fine.

  17. Don’t know what I’m losing in the process but I make batches of green juice in the juicer (very old moulinex) and put them into water bottles, then freeze. It’s the only way I’d get to the juice every day. I know there are many health experts on this post compared with this newbie who might point out things I don’t know (such as one should only use glass containers or freezing destroys half the nutrients.) Hoping for some guidance, or if the process is good then it may be useful to others.
    Thanks for all the great info.
    xxxx

  18. You can get your Vitamix fom a company called ‘raw blend’ . I think they are on sale for $775 normally $995. $ 995 is what you pay in Myers . They have a great FB page with heaps of info on all the time .
    I hope that helps anyone looking for one.

    • I bought my Vita Mix at Cost Co for $375. I love it and use it 2 to 3 times a week. The rest of the time I juice. I have a Huron juicer and it is easy to clean and juices greens very well. Again paid less than $400. for it.
      Juicing helps your body to detox for gets right into your blood stream. This is important to me. Today I juiced 2 qts of beautiful greens, cucumber, ginger apples and lemon and celery and broccoli sprouts. Enough for 2 days then I will use my Vita Mix and make some delicious smoothies that are healthy and easy to make. I have to say these 2 purchases are the best investment I have ever made for my kitchen and health. When Juicing I only use apples and lemons. When making a smoothie my mainstay are berries, cranberries, pineapple and papaya and mango. I am just learning about Juice feasting and making juice in the Vitamix. Very interesting.

  19. I bought a Vitamix yesterday and am really confused about how much, how little, or WHEN to put water in with vegetable juices or fruit juices? Help!!

    • there are plenty of YouTube videos on this..I used to put about 1 cup water in, but it made it too foamy on the top. Now I don’t put in any wate except for 2 or 3 ice cubes to keep the temp down. Try not to overstuff the VitaMix and clean it straight away. IT.IS.AWESOME!

    • I make one certain smoothie a lot: 1 peeled orange, 4-5 large strawberries, a couple peach slices, a couple pieces fresh pineapple and a small handful of blueberries. No ice! In order to keep it cold, some of these items are thrown in frozen (blueberries) and others are thawed in a microwave on 50% power for 1 & 1/2 minutes (strawberries, peaches, pineapple). I start by placing the orange at the bottom, then the rest. Depending on how liquidy I want it, I add either a splash of water (probably a tsp worth) or a little more. Delicious! You can do without water and if for some reason you can’t get the Vitamix to whirl around the items inside, you can try using the tamper or adding a little more water.

  20. Switched from a traditional juicer to vitamix, at first it was way too thick like drinking kale applesauce, then figured out the right ratios of water and veggies, so now I like it better and instead of the half hour of juicing and cleaning its 2 minutes of juicing and cleaning, btw today i juiced fresh cannabis leaves and flowers, it was really good and you dont get high from that as THC is only pyschoactive after being heated up

  21. FYI- paint filter bags are much cheaper ($1 vs $8) and work wonderfully. I thought actually that Kris Carr had that tip- not sure where else I would have found it- but they are awesome, cheap and easy to clean, just like a nutmilk bag…but CHEAPER.

  22. I bought my Vitamix at Costco a couple of years ago for $375 and my Omega Juicer from Bed Bath & Beyond with a 20% off coupon.

  23. Omega Juicer clean up time is under 5 minutes…. soooo easy and wonderful juice. I also have a Vitamix, they are different products both are great. I want an Excalibur dehydrator next !!! Nancy

  24. The straining bags used in ber brewing tend to be cheaper than nut milk bags and work just as well.

  25. This is great. I have a Blendtec that I have used for smoothies for years. Here is a question. Any suggestions to the various uses of the leftover pulp after straining/squeezing? I would hate to waste all that fibery goodness!

  26. Paint straining bags work well for milks or this process. Cost about $1 at any paint supply store. Never broken one yet.

  27. Thank you so much for this post! I am so happy to finally be able to blend green juices. Many, many thanks!

  28. After a long long debate with myself about what route to take it came down to, money and what am I more likely to actually use every day. Which was a blender, so then I went on the hunt for what blender compares some what to the vitamix which lead me to the Nutribullet (I paid $80 on sale for it… cant really make 600 happen). Which I love its small compact size and its so easy to clean. And to make juice I just put it through my super fine mesh strainer! Now my only thing on my food journey I am not debating about is a food processor it seems so many raw food recipes and vegan ones use one!

  29. OK, I have a Vitamix which I love and HAD a juicer which I hated cleaning so I rarely used it. This is fantastic and I feel a little silly for not thinking of it. Going to try this for lunch! Thanks!

  30. Hi!! I love this article on blending and juicing. When I started making green juice, I did not have a juicer (only a blender.) So I too thought about ways to get all the nutrients from the veggies/fruit into my juice after blending. After experimenting with many things, I finally have mastered it. This is my process: I blend all my ingredients, I then bring the blended mixture into a food mill with the finest strainer. I crank my food mill over a big bowl to extract all the juice~ it’s therapeutic. After I have my juice, the remains are then placed in a container and stored in the refrigerator. I will use it the next day, while adding onion and garlic for sautéing butternut squash or as a soup base. Or, yesterday, I blended them again to make a smoothie with berries. It was absolutely delish! After spending good money on organic produce, there should be no waste! All nutrients get into the body somehow!

  31. This is a great post, Gena! Thank you so much for sharing! I’ve just been thinking about blending vs juicing and I already have a Vitamix so I didn’t want to invest in a juicer, especially since I’m lazy and know I won’t want to use it because I’ll have to clean it out. This is a great way to get in some green juice without the expense/minor hassle of a juicer.

  32. I love this! I have a juicer, but I hate cleaning it. I’d love to just rinse out my blender and toss it in the dishwasher afterwards. Thanks for sharing.

  33. This is something I have been giving a lot of thought to recently. I am down in South America where one pays a really hefty premium for “juicers” but blenders are dirt cheap. In my mind, I always wanted pulp anyway; however, as someone else alluded to in the comments, that with green vegetables the processing through a blender or most juicers can actually prevent one from getting the full benefit of the nutrients through oxidation. Supposedly, for green vegetables one of the most expensive juicers that literally presses the juices out is better; while a blender or juicer is fine for fruit juices etc. Of course my being about to find an affordable high end juicer down here, well . . .

  34. I just recently bought a juicer and I am so glad I did, the whole family has started using it and everyone has experimented creating their own concoctions. I will definitely be trying this recipe soon!

  35. I got a Vitamix for Christmas and picked up some cheesecloth about a month ago, but still hadn’t gotten around to making juice. This post inspired me and it was so quick and easy! I made a carrot, apple, ginger juice and drank it with breakfast this morning. Thanks for the post!

    • Yes, try it with the cheesecloth first. If you don’t mind the taste of the veggies then gradually stop using the cloth. You are missing out on all the fiber from the pulp. You will get used to it I promise!! I make a Kale, spinach, blueberry, mango and carrot drink and it’s delicious!! It looks horrid because of the blueberry/kale mix (think poop brown lol) but it’s yummy!

  36. Since I don’t have a juicer, this is how I juice every single day. (No Vitamix either but a cheap food processor-kinda-thing actually.) I don’t actually add water to the veggies when blending and it works just find. I really don’t understand why every website suggests adding water with this technique, it works without it and then there is no debate on weather or not it is pure juice or juicy from the water.

  37. Love this idea! Perfect timing for my life as well, I need something super quick but also have been dreading getting out all the parts to my juicer. I forgot about the trusty Vitamix for green juices. Thanks for sharing Gena 🙂

    Happy juicing 😉

  38. That’s awesome! I’ve had (and used) my Vitamix for almost 4 years, and I love it. I also have a Kempo pro juicer and I love it too, but cleaning it…not so much. It’s not even the hardest of juicers to clean, but many times I won’t make a juice simply because I don’t have the time to clean it as required.

    I’ve made many nut milks in my Vitamix, and I don’t know why doing the same with juice vegs didn’t occur to me, lol! Thanks for pointing out the “obvious” to us, and I will for sure give this a try.

    CheerS!
    d.Lo

  39. I have a Vitamix and it is worth every penny. I had a Nutri-Bullet but it did not do as well or hold up as long. Quality usually costs more with most things I have found.

  40. Hi Gena,
    Do you have some peer-reviewed research on juicing (or juicing vs. smoothies)? I haven’t seen people cite science on this topic before, it mostly seems like logic or personal experience, and you seem like the person who would know where to go for empirical evidence in this debate.

  41. Hi
    I have been using my blender (about $30) from Walmart and it blends everything. I have been thinking about getting a Vitamix, or the Montell Williams blender, but for now those of us who can’t afford the high price, high power machine, get the Black and Decker blender from Walmart.

  42. Honestly, you should get a Nutri-Bullet. I can;t afford a Vitamix blender and I used to own a juicer. I absolutely love my Nutri bullet. Throw everything in the jar Put the lid on, turn it over and lock it into the motor part and turn. You can even drink it out of the jar. Rinse the jar and you have cleaned up. you get all of the fiber as well as the enzymes. I make a smoothie with apples, almond milk, frozen kale, parsley, pineapple, blueberries etc and it’s delicious. The Nutri-bullet rocks~

  43. I am the quintessential “lazy raw foodist,” so I tend to fill the blender (cucumber, apple, leafy greens, ginger) then add a bit of water or herbal tea to get it going. Not more than a third to a half a cup. But then I use a whole cucumber … I have (when one of my friends told me adding water “oxidizes” the juice) made it without water though. All you need to do is blend the cucumber by itself, then add everything else. I don’t bother to strain first – I squeeze everything into a bowl, add lemon juice, and then pour from the bowl into whatever I’m drinking from.

    I’m sure, Gena, in your short time juicing with a blender, you’ve tried zillions more combinations. I am a creature of habit. I am curious how the Vitamix would handle carrot-beet juice … or if it could.

    • I made carrot-apple juice in my Vitamix last night and it worked really well. Since beets are root vegetables, I assume they would blend as well as the carrots.

  44. I could do that! I agree that it is a bit of chore to get the juicer clean and often does not seem worth it! Thanks!

  45. Can’t you just drink the juice without straining it?Am I missing something here?Thanks.

    • Hi Mary,

      In the post, I give a quick note of why juices may benefit some people. They can be very easy to digest, and they can provide a huge volume of concentrated nutrients — more so than a smoothie. That said, it’s totally fine not to strain, and drink a blended smoothie instead.

      G

  46. I like how you present both sides of the juicer vs. blender debate; your arguments are always so well balanced! Also, thanks for the great tutorial!

  47. I’ve started freezing my juice, 16 ounce wide mouth Ball jars with a plastic lid. Much better to clean my Breville once or twice a week than every day. Just put
    a frozen jar in the fridge at night and it’s ready to drink the next day. Make sure to leave head room in the jar to prevent breaking when the juice freezes. I’ve never been able to get that “juice taste” that I love with a blender.

  48. Gena, I hear you on busyness-induced juicer neglecting! I used to juice every day – sometimes twice – but right now I’m lucky if I break it out weekly. I would be so much more apt to keep it up if cleanup was this easy. Thank you!!

  49. Great idea. This idea occurred to me a while back but I forgot about it until I saw your post. I have a vitamix and a champion juicer but the champion is not great with fine leafy greens such as parsley so I tend to use it more for carrot/apple/beet/celery type juices. I can’t wait to get home and make a green juice in my vitamix tonight!!!
    Cheers!

  50. yes I’ve done it in a regular ole $30 blender. I suggest not squeezing it directly into the jar, doing it into a bowl so it’s less messy, then pour from the bowl into a glass.

  51. Yessssss!! I am SO trying this! I want to juice every once in awhile, but good juicers are expensive and then it’s another item to store and clean. If I could just use my VitaMix…ohhhh, yeah, baby!

  52. Great post. I have done the same with my blender, but instead of using a nut milk bag, i just use a fine mesh sieve. That way, I have mostly clear juice, but I don’t mind if a few fibres get through. Easy to clean to by just popping it in the dish washer!

  53. Interesting experiment, though I recently declared once and for all, that juicing invariably spikes my hunger and never satisfies me the way a green smoothie (with its fiber + healthy fats) does. Even in my snacks, I need something denser and more satiating to feel my best. In any event, I’ve always believed that the fiber in these veggies contains many nutrients, so removing them has never made any sense to me. And, speaking of waste – juicing (b/c I don’t use the pulp) feels like a crime in that regard. And, then there’s the cleaning deterrent…

    • Karen,

      I think in a super top of the line juicer–an Omega or better still, a Norwalk–that the idea is that almost no nutrient value remains in the fiber. This isn’t quite as true in a Breville, which is the juicer I use, so the thing I liked least about this process was not being able to use the pulp!

      G

  54. So timely! I was just getting readdicted to green juices while in NYC and thinking maybe I should give in and get a juicer so I could have juices and not just smoothies. How did it not occur to me to just strain the mixture from the Vitamix?! Thank you! 🙂

  55. I eventually chose to by an Omega juicer instead of a Vitamix because I wanted to be able to easily make juice more often than smoothies. The cleanup is the thing most people have an issue with I think. My tip for easier cleanup is to keep all the “parts” in one big baking dish. Pull the dish out instead of rummaging around for each individual item in a drawer or cupboard. Once my juice is done I put the parts directly into a sink of water to soak while I enjoy my drink and I get to them when I have time to clean. Once I do clean and dry them they go back in the dish and into the cupboard.

    I know everyone’s juicer is different, but for me it is the only way I can make time for it. Thanks Gena for figuring out how folks who have a vitamix can make juice too!

  56. I feel the same way about cleaning the juicer..I often head to the juice bar out of sheer convenience. I have been meaning to try this with my Vitamix but was a bit skeptical, but thanks for your demo – you convinced me to give it a whirl, literally.

  57. Great post – I especially like the bit about both smoothies and juices having their advantages.
    I am somewhat sensitive to sugar, so most of my juices are vegetables (+lemon/lime) only – I sometimes chuck in half an apple or carrot, but that’s it. My green smoothies, on the other hand, always have a whole banana and often some other fruit, too, which is fine (for me) because the fiber fills me up and also keeps my blood sugar levels from spiking.

    I’ve been juicing like this ever since I got my Vitamix. I didn’t even have a nut milk bag back then, so I used a pillowcase (a very, very clean one). (Hippie-style, yay.)
    I love green juice, and I don’t mind diluting it a bit – but I find that if I use a whole cucumber, I don’t need to add any water to get it blending.
    If I juice kale, I almost always add water because juices containing kale can be hard to strain otherwise (the fiber tends to “clog up” the openings in the fabric). I once made a kale/blood orange juice, and though it was delicious, it was a PITA to strain it (I also refrigerated some of it overnight and it turned into a green juice jelly! Must have been the pectin from the oranges…).
    A tip for squeezing the nut milk bag – use a big bowl (salad bowl or something) to catch the juice. It’s one more thing to rinse, but it saves time since you don’t need to wipe down your kitchen.

  58. This is so interesting to me because I discovered raw foods via the JuiceFeasting website years ago, and this is how they recommend making juice for the whole day! I’ve always just had my vitamix and since I could make juice too it seemed to be all I’d need. I remember a tip someone mentioned at some point, tie some string around the top of your bag and make a knotted loop at the other end, making it long enough to hang from your kitchen cabinet knob, then let it drain into a bowl. As it drains you can go about your morning business then squeeze the last bit out. Also paint straining bags were recommended rather than formal nut mylk bags, they’re far cheaper and in my experience last just as long as their expensive cousins. They can be purchased in the paint section of any hardware store, and probably online too.

  59. I went to the fabric store and got stiff organza and made my own cheap bag for straining. Works great and cleans well too.

    • I can’t say whether or not it’s “food safe” but I buy paint-straining bags at Home Depot and use them as nut milk bags. 2 come in a pack for less than $3 if I remember correctly. They last a long time if you’re gentle with them!

        • Thanks Gena! And btw, thanks for this post! I was actually contemplating buying a juicer (leaning towards not) and this confirmed my decision not to get one at this time and just make due with my cheap blender. I’m grateful that you share your experience and insight! 🙂

          • You will absolutely love the Vitamix. It is definitely an investment, but it’s totally worth it!

  60. Gena, any advice on cleaning the nut milk bags? I feel like just rinsing it would not be enough, but the bag is probably too delicate to put in the dishwasher. Maybe the washing machine?

    Also, thanks so much for this post. I’ve been wanting to start juicing, but can’t afford a juicer right now. I do have a Vitamix, though, and will be trying this recipe very soon!

    • I think just rinsing is fine. The bag will turn green though … I actually just bought another so I can use one for nut milk and one for juice.

  61. I wish I had a Vitamix….sigh. For now, I’ll have to stick with juicing in my juicer. My crappy old blender won’t blend anything that’s not pretty soft. I’m sure a carrot would kill it.

    • I got my VitaMix from QVC because they have great deals and easy pay. This was the only way I could afford to get one and I would not trade it for anything.

      • That was me, I wanted to try the vitamix and I have used it everyday since I purchased on QVC.
        Love it, came here looking for different recipes

  62. ahh i used to do this before i had a juicer! my only con about using this approach is that the pulp was pulverized by the vita and i couldn’t re-use it to make crackers or a filling for a nori wrap!

    • I actually just made batch of beet crackers from the pulp left in the nutbag after Vitamix-ing the beets with some water. The pulp was indeed a velvety texture, but after I combined it with enough ground chia and flax, it was the perfect consistency for beet crackers.

    • quick question- is pulp from a juicer always usable? like for crackers/nori wrap filling?

  63. This is interesting. Does it extract the fiber as well as a regular juicer? I am currently trying to juice a couple times a day and it is arduous to clean the juicer!

  64. I love my juicer but the thought of cleaning it drives me insane, I tend to only juice on days when I am not working as I don’t have the time to clean it! Nice idea to use the vitamix, and your green juice certainly looks delicious!

    • This was my problem exactly! Just the thought of having to clean my juicer used to keep me from juicing.

  65. I basically abandoned juicing last year because I just couldn’t stand cleaning the damn juicer in my tiny sink. Perhaps this will motivate me!

  66. I have read numerous posts on the debate of juicing versus blending. I don’t know where I fall in it, but i will say drinking it fresh from my Vitamix is super easy.
    On the weekends I could probably strain it, as there is more free time. However my initial thought is, fiber or not, it is better to get the fresh fruits and veggies.

    Is there truth that you should be careful what you mix so as to not disrupt digestion? By that I mean should fruits and veggies be kept separate (except for like lemons and apples which seem to crossover very nicely)?

    Just want to make sure that my concoctions are as nutrient rich as possible.

    • Rachel.

      Do you mean food combining? No indeed–no scientific basis to the separation of food groups. Enjoy fruits and veggies together, if you like them that way!

      G

      • Well I don’t know if I mean food combining. I guess I was just wondering if some things don’t “work” together. I know I’ve read that sometimes different vitamins interact with each other in a negative way, or block absorption…I just wondered if there were any foods that were that way (that you would be putting in to juice).

        • It is my understanding that mixing fruit and vegetables (other than apples and lemons) disrupts the digestive enzymes.

          • I was taught that only neutral fruits, like apple, banana, pear, avocado, and papaya, should be mixed with vegetables, but I don’t know for certain if this is so. Anybody have more info about that?

    • I was wondering the same thing Rachel. I was told that the only fruits you should mix with greens are apple and lemons and berries. Never oranges. Although I am sure the orange makes for a tasty juice I’m not sure about the combining it with greens. This can be kind of confusing. You hear so many different suggestions.

  67. Now here is a question for you! Since you’re blending the juice, and blends tend to keep better in the fridge – could you potentially made a large batch and keep servings in the fridge for 2-3 days, and strain as you go? Would this keep the nutrients in tact better than if you pre-juiced the traditional way?

    • HI Sarah, With blending the nutrients will stay in tact a bit longer because of the fibre that is there to preserve it (so about 2-3 days – I prefer 2). There would still be some nutrient loss but it is still very, very little and worth it. While of course there persists some “debate” the true test is to try it for yourself and see how you’ll. After a few weeks, I’m guessing you’ll feel a noticeable difference. 🙂 Hope this helps,
      Sarah

    • I’m not honestly sure, Sarah! There is a LOT of debate about this, and my understanding is that they do lose some potency after they have been oxidized. But my guess is that a day or two wouldn’t be the end of the world 🙂

    • Hi Sarah S!
      I don’t like keeping my blended greens longer than 1 day, as they tend to become a little sludgy. I prefer to do perhaps a little less in volume and keep it all fresh and that brilliant green (I liked the colour so much I painted a wall in my house that colour!). I pop it in my VitaMix metal flask and drink it from breakfast time all the way until lunchtime.