Fresh Green Juice Recipe— No Juicer Needed!
You don’t need a juicer to drink like a hippie
I love green juices. I mean, I love vegetables but if I can pour them down my throat instead of chew them, I’ll do it. I know the fiber is a critical part to how you process the nutrients from vegetables— it’s not lost on me— but you can still gain a ton of health benefits from vegetable juice, too.
I’m not a fan of sweet drinks so the earthier or dryer a drink, the more I love it. My daughters insist I love the flavor of dirt. While I can’t say that I’ve actually eaten a handful of dirt, I do tend to choose vegetables with savory, earthy flavors over other types of veggies.
Don’t let my dirt analogy scare you away from this recipe, though. It’s just an honest, no frills way to pull in some fantastic nutrients in liquid form and you don’t need a fancy juicer to do it.
The juice is worth the squeeze
If you want to learn about what makes this green juice so amazing for you, keep reading.
If not, you can print the recipe here.
I love this recipe because it packs a powerful, nutritious punch and it takes about 15-20 minutes to make from beginning to drinking. Though you always want to drink juices as fresh as possible, making a batch of this juice for the week is still a fantastic way to get your veggies in and will still have tons of health benefits.
Let’s get right to it— here’s what you’ll get from this green juice recipe:
Green apple: Vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron
Lemon: Vitamin C— protects you from the damages of free radicals
Celery: Phytochemicals like folic acid and flavonoids that reduce inflammation, vitamin K, potassium, vitamin A and folate
Ginger: Antioxidants like gingerol which reduces inflammation, has antibacterial and antiviral properties
Spinach: Vitamins A, C, E, K, folate (a B vitamin), iron, magnesium, calcium and potassium
Turmeric: Contains curcumin — a strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
Cucumber: Vitamins C, K, magnesium, manganese, potassium, antioxidants, flavonoids and tannins which block free radicals
Black Pepper: Contains peperine which helps the the body absorb the turmeric by up to 2000% more
Equipment & Ingredients Needed to Make Fresh Green Juice
For years I pined after a cold-press juicer. I dreamt of making my own juices for years— corny, I know. I even put one on my Christmas list hoping that if someone else bought it for me, I wouldn’t feel bad about buying a frivolous appliance that I didn't have room for.
Well, wouldn't you know, my trusty Ninja blender finally bit the bullet a week before Christmas so I got a blender, not a juicer. Much to my chagrin, my husband went over the top and got me a Vitamix— something I would’ve never purchased for myself. But, with the amount of cooking I do, it sure is nice to have a blender and food processor with some power behind them.
Determined not to give up on my juice dreams, I found a way to make juice without a juicer— use a blender and a nut milk bag!
If you’ve already been doing this, kudos to you! It never dawned on me that the pulp could be separated from the juice in ways other than a juicer.
Equipment to make green juice without a juicer:
Tip:
Take your green juice on the go!
These glass juice bottles are perfect for making grab-and-go servings.
They’re dishwasher safe and resealable.
Blender: Make sure your blender’s blades are sharp. I received a Vitamix as a gift. It’s a life changer.
Pitcher: This is for straining the juice into
Nut milk bag: Use a fine mesh bag used to make nut milks to filter out the pulp
Glass bottles: Use glass bottles that seal and can be reused. These are my favorite.
Funnel: For filling the bottles
How to Make the Juice (aka the recipe)
Yields: Approximately 36 ounces
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of filtered water
1 green apple
1 lemon, peeled
2 handfuls of spinach
1/2 cucumber
2-3 celery stalks
1 piece of turmeric root
1 piece of ginger root
1 tsp ground black pepper
Directions:
Scrub all the fruit and veggies and rinse thoroughly. Because this juice is raw, you want to make sure there are no pesticides or harmful bacteria that could make you sick. I actually use dish soap!
Chop the cucumber, celery and apples into chunks. Peel the lemon and cut into chunks.
Peel the turmeric and ginger and cut into chunks. You can use ginger from a squeeze bottle if that’s easier!
Pour the water in first followed by the handfuls of spinach
After the spinach is in the blender, add the rest of the fruits, veggies and turmeric, ginger and pepper
Start the blender on low for about 20 seconds and then switch the power to high for about 30 seconds. (If you have a Vitamin blender, simply press the juice button)
Make sure the contents look like a thin green liquid— you don’t want to see any chunks
Hold the nut milk bag over your empty pitcher. Carefully pour the green juice into the nut milk bag until your blender pitcher is empty.
Begin to squeeze the nut milk bag with both of your hands, wringing out the green juice and pressing on the remaining pulp. Continue to do this until you feel you’ve squeezed all of the juice out that you can.
(Optional) If adding pureed ginger and/or black pepper, add the juice back into the blender then add these ingredients. Blend for about 10 seconds. Omit this step if you are not adding either or both of these ingredients.
Place the funnel over a glass bottle and pour the green juice into it, leaving enough room to cap the bottles
Repeat with each glass bottle until all juice has been bottled
Refrigerate the full juice bottles for up to a week or enjoy immediately over ice!
Notes:
You can substitute the freshly chopped and peeled ginger root with ginger paste from the produce section of your grocery store. It comes in a squeeze bottle making it easy to add ginger without the hassle of peeling. Add it after you've strained the juice. Add the juice back into the blender and run it for about 15 seconds to blend the ginger. The same process above applies if you are adding the black pepper.
I use a carrot peeler to peel the ginger and turmeric root. It's ok if some skin is left on since it becomes part of the pulp that gets filtered out.
I typically double the recipe and this will give me about 5-6 full bottles of juice.
Try drinking your green juice cold from the fridge or over ice first thing in the morning on an empty stomach— or at least after coffee but before solid foods. If you begin to incorporate the green juice into your daily food intake, you may notice a general overall improvement in your immunity, energy, skin and mood!
