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This tangy, vibrant green lemonade is one of my favorite green juice recipes. It’s packed with nutrients but has a fresh, not-too-serious vibe.
Why we love this recipe
Green lemonade is, at heart, a beautiful, lower-glycemic green juice. It’s packed with micronutrients and freshness, as any green juice should be. But it’s also got a bit of a fun, laid-back vibe — and I love it for not taking itself too seriously. This recipe has:
- A beautiful, complex tanginess from lemon, lime, and tart green apple
- A mellow backbone of celery
- Plenty of kale, but not in an overwhelming way
I first published a version of this recipe here back in 2018. I’ve since updated the post for clarity and made some changes to the recipe itself.
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe.
- Green curly kale tends to have a fairly mild flavor, and it produces quite a bit of juice. You’ll use two large leaves, including the stems.
- Using a combination of lemon and lime adds a wonderfully complex element of tanginess and freshness. You’ll use a knife to cut off the peel and white pith and then put the flesh through the juicer.
- A tart green apple (such as Granny Smith) is one of my favorite green juice ingredients. It adds a bit of complex sweetness and tartness that complements virtually all juices, while keeping things relatively low-glycemic. You don’t need to peel it. The rest of the prep depends on your juicer — see manufacturer’s instructions for best results.
- 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.
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 glass of green lemonade, 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.
- Feed the kale through the juicer first. You may need to use the plunger to nudge it into the machine.
- Follow with the lemon and lime and then the apple. Finish with the celery, which helps flush the rest of the ingredients through the juicer.
- Strain the juice through a fine-mesh sieve.
- Pour into a glass and serve. 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 juicer. 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 juicing 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 recipes:
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Green Lemonade
Ingredients
- 2 large leaves curly kale, including stems
- 1 large lemon, peel and pith removed
- 1 lime, peel and pith removed
- 1 small green apple, about 6 ounces/(170 grams)
- 2 ribs celery, including leaves
Instructions
- Chop ingredients as necessary for your juicer.
- Feed through the juicer in the order listed.
- Stir and strain through a fine-mesh sieve.
- Pour into a glass and serve.
Notes
- Green curly kale tends to have a fairly mild flavor, and it produces quite a bit of juice. You'll use two large leaves, including the stems.
- Using a combination of lemon and lime adds a wonderfully complex element of tanginess and freshness. You'll use a knife to cut off the peel and white pith and then put the flesh through the juicer.
- A tart green apple (such as Granny Smith) is one of my favorite green juice ingredients. It adds a bit of complex sweetness and tartness that complements virtually all juices, while keeping things relatively low-glycemic. You don't need to peel it. The rest of the prep depends on your juicer — see manufacturer's instructions for best results.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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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