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Whether you’re interested in green juice for weight loss or simply to sip on, this lovable recipe will bring a dose of vibrance to your life. Here’s everything you need to know.
Why we love this recipe
This is one of my favorite green juice recipes. It uses just a handful of clean, fresh, easy-to-source ingredients that are low in sugar and high in nutrients. If you’re interested in green juice for weight loss (as I tend to be from time to time), a delicious, low-sugar juice like this one can be a great part of your plan.
This recipe:
- Tastes simple, fresh, and vibrant
- Has a well-balanced flavor profile that’s easy to love
- Incorporates a touch of sweetness from green apple
- Works well in any type of vegetable juicer
Just to have said it, I’m no doctor and am not making any suggestions or recommendations here — just sharing a delicious recipe.
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe. These are the basics, and I love sticking to them — but see below for suggested additions. If possible, use organic fruits and vegetables for juicing, since you’ll typically include the skins, and you’ll be using a high volume of produce.
- Use flat-leaf parsley (also called Italian parsley). It has a milder flavor than its curly counterpart. You’ll be surprised how much juice it yields when you include the stems. Although we think of parsley as an herb, it basically does the work of a dark leafy green in this juice, contributing plenty of nutrients and fresh flavor.
- A small green apple, such as Granny Smith, provides some well-rounded sweetness and tartness without contributing a ton of sugar. Tart apples have a lower glycemic load than a lot of the starchier vegetables (like carrots and beets), so a small one can help round out the flavor of your juice without spiking your blood sugar.
- Lemon adds another dimension of tanginess and freshness. You’ll use a knife to cut off the peel and white pith and then put the rest of it through the juicer.
- Cucumber is an easy choice for juicing. I like to use unwaxed varieties so I can include the skin. English and Persian cucumbers are good bets, as in anything from the garden or farmers’ market.
- Fennel is one of my favorite vegetables to juice. It contributes a very mild (I promise) and super-nuanced flavor to this recipe, plus a lot of volume. Trim the base off the bulb, but otherwise use the whole thing, including stems and fronds.
- Celery is an absolute workhorse of green juice. It has a mild, pleasant flavor and contributes a ton of volume. Put it through the juicer last to flush out any remaining goodness from the other fruits and veggies.
- Lacinato kale (also called dinosaur or Tuscan kale or cavolo nero) is optional in this recipe. It’s loaded with micronutrients, but truth be told, I often leave it out. Lacinato kale tends to yield more juice than other varieties. Include the stems.
- If you like, you can add a bit of fresh ginger and/or turmeric. They both have strong flavors that you’ll either love or you won’t. If I’m juicing a lot, I’ll sometimes include an inch or so of each to keep things interesting. There’s no need to peel them for juicing.
How to make it
You’ll get to know the ins and outs of your individual juicer and how it processes fruits and veggies simply by using it. But here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make a great batch of green juice for weight loss, regardless of your juicer. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- Cut up fruits and vegetables. Some juicers require quite small pieces, some require hardly any cutting.
- Pass individual ingredients through the juicer little by little. For vegetables like fennel, you’ll juice both the stemmy parts (bulb) and the leafy parts (fronds). You’ll be left with juice and pulp. You can compost/discard the pulp or google ways to use it (from dehydrating into crackers to adding to baked goods). I discard the pulp.
- A watery ingredient like celery should go though the juicer last to flush out all the other ingredients and ensure you make the most of your juicing efforts.
- Strain the juice through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean jar. That’s it!
Expert tips and FAQs
For many years, I’ve used the Kuvings Whole Slow Juicer. It’s a masticating juicer (which I will remind you means CHEWING, you perv), so named to my great chagrin because it kinda chews up your fruits and vegetables before sending the juice through a strainer. This method does a good job preserving nutrients for a longer period of time and minimizing oxidation.
Before that, I used an earlier version of the Breville Juice Fountain, which is an excellent centrifugal juicers. This method wins the award for least terrible name, but it causes more oxidation, so the nutrients in your juice won’t last as long.
Both kinds of juicers are totally great if you’d like to drink your fresh juice right away, but masticating juicers are better at preserving nutrients for up to a few days, in case you like to juice in batches.
As noted above, the nutrient retention in fresh juice has a lot to do with what kind of juicer you’re using. If you have a centrifugal juicer, it’s best to drink your juice fairly soon after you make it. With a masticating juicer, feel free to juice in larger batches. They’ll keep well in an airtight container in the fridge (such as a quart-sized mason jar) for two to three days.
Juice can be frozen for longer storage, but you’ll find that any remaining solid bits fall out of suspension and sink to the bottom after defrosting. I’m not personally a huge fan of the texture of defrosted juice, but if you’re okay with it, freezing can be a good bet.
More green juice resources
Whether you’re new to green juice or want to get next-level, I recommend reading my thorough post on Juicing for Beginners. It has all my best tips, tricks, and resources for your juicing regimen, whatever you’d like it to be.
And here are a few more favorite green juice recipes:
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Green Juice for Weight Loss
Ingredients
- 4 large leaves lacinato kale, optional (see note 2)
- 1 bunch flat-leaf, Italian parsley (about 4 ounces/113 grams), including stems
- 1 large cucumber, about 12 ounces/340 grams, including skin
- 2 medium lemons, peel and pith removed
- 2 small green apples, about 8 ounces/(227 grams) total
- 1 large bulb fennel, about 20 ounces/600 grams, including fronds
- 1 bunch celery, including leaves (about 1 pound/454 grams)
Instructions
- Cut up fruits and vegetables according to the manufacturer's instructions on your juicer. Some juicers require quite small pieces, some require hardly any cutting.
- Feed all ingredients through juicer in the order listed.
- Strain juice through a fine-mesh sieve if you like. (I always do this.)
- Stir and serve.
Notes
- I use the Kuvings Whole Slow Juicer, a masticating juicer that juices pretty efficiently and preserves nutrients for a longer period than centrifugal juicers. You can make this recipe with any juicer.
- I know it seems strange to list an optional ingredient first, but if you're using kale, do put it through the juicer first for maximum yield
- The nutrient retention in fresh juice has a lot to do with what kind of juicer you're using. If you have a centrifugal juicer, it's best to drink your juice fairly soon after you make it. With a masticating juicer, feel free to juice in larger batches. They'll keep well in an airtight container in the fridge (such as a quart-sized mason jar) for two to three days.
- Juice can be frozen for longer storage, but you'll find that any remaining solid bits fall out of suspension and sink to the bottom after defrosting. I'm not personally a huge fan of the texture of defrosted juice, but if you're okay with it, freezing can be a good bet.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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