Can You Make Green Juice in a NutriBullet?

Green juice is typically made from a combination of leafy greens, fruits, vegetables, and herbs and has many significant health benefits. Most health food stores sell a variety of pre-made green juices, and it is also available where you can buy fresh smoothies. But what about making it at home?

Yes, you can make green juice in a NutriBullet blender. Start by blending your desired ingredients, such as fruits, vegetables, and leafy greens, to create a green smoothie. Once smooth, strain the liquid to remove pulp or fiber. This can be done using a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth.

This article will explore how to make green juice in a NutriBullet blender, the differences between a green juice and green smoothies, and include some tried-and-true tested recipes for green juice.

But if you want easy green juice then check out my reviews of these awesome juicers

How to Make Green Juice in a NutriBullet

Green juice is nutrient-dense, delicious, and can include ingredients that help reduce inflammation, support digestive health, and increase your daily nutrient intake. As the name suggests, it has a thinner consistency than a typical smoothie.

While NutriBullet is known for their blenders, they do make a Juicer (and Juicer Pro). However, if you have a NutriBullet Blender, you can still make green juice at home. Blending greens, fruits, and vegetables will create a smoothie that includes the liquid and the pulp or fiber together. Straining out the pulp will turn a green smoothie into green juice.

There are a few ways to strain the pulp from a green smoothie, but the most effective method is pouring it through a fine-mesh strainer or passing it through a cheesecloth.

Follow these simple steps to make green juice in a Nutribullet blender:

1. Prepare your ingredients: Wash and dry fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Remove stems from leafy greens, and discard any other part you don’t want to eat, like apple cores.
2. Place fruits, vegetables, herbs, or greens into the blender according to the recipe (or follow your own recipe). Some herbs should only be added towards the end to help maintain their flavor.
3. Blend your smoothie ingredients until smooth. Getting a smooth consistency will likely include using the blender’s highest setting, but start small and work your way up in speed until you see a smooth consistency. You may need to add more liquid to the smoothie to get a smooth texture.
4. Strain the pulp or fiber from the juice by pouring it through a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth. This is best done over a large bowl or glass. Allow the liquid to strain naturally, pouring slowly so as not to overfill the strainer.
5. Enjoy! Green juice can be made up to 24 hours in advance. Always store in an airtight container in the fridge.

NutriBullet Green Juice Recipes

When it comes to making green juice, the possibilities are endless. You can use lots of different leafy greens in green juice like kale, spinach, swiss chard, romaine, and even greens from carrots or beets. Combine those greens with fruit and milk or water, and you’ve got a delicious snack.

Check out a few recipes below for green juice to get you started:

Blood Orange Green Smoothie

Try this recipe for a blood orange green smoothie from Minimalist Baker.

Ingredients

• 2 big handfuls of greens (kale, spinach, etc.)
• 1 small frozen banana, cut into chunks
• ¾ cup frozen pineapple, cut into chunks
• ½ cup blood orange juice (approximately 2 blood oranges)
• ¾ light coconut milk or other milk product
• 1-3 tablespoons lime juice

Instructions

1. Wash and prepare your ingredients. Remove skin and seeds where necessary.
2. Add your ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth. Adjust the amount of liquid to your liking.
3. Pour the contents of the blender through a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth. When working with cheesecloth, use a rubber band or twine to secure the top around the lip of your container.

Green Juice in a Blender

Try this recipe for green juice in a blender from Just a Taste.

Ingredients

• 1½ cups (355 ml) water
• 2 cups kale (stems removed)
• ½ cup parsley
• 1 medium cucumber, cut into chunks
• 1 celery stalks, cut into chunks
• 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

1. Wash and prepare your ingredients. Some herb stalks can be left on as they hold just as much flavor as the leaves.
2. Add your ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth. Add the water in increments as the cucumber will release a lot of liquid.
3. Pour the contents of the blender through a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth. When using a fine-mesh strainer, you may need to pass the liquid twice.

What’s the Difference Between Green Juice and a Green Smoothie?

The main difference between a green juice and a green smoothie is fiber or pulp. Juicers extract juice from fruits, vegetables, greens, and herbs, separating it from the pulp, which leads to a thinner and easily drinkable end product. A green smoothie is the juice of fruits, vegetables, greens, and herbs blended along with the pulp or fiber, leaving a thicker consistency, more like a milkshake.

Pros and Cons of Green Juice and Green Smoothies

While smoothies and juices can both be delicious, there are some advantages and disadvantages to each. For example, though both offer a straightforward approach to increasing your daily intake of fruits and vegetables, their liquid consistency makes them faster to digest, leaving you hungry sooner.

Pros of Green Smoothies

Green smoothies are an easy way to include healthy leafy greens into your diet and can be an excellent source of vitamins and minerals that support bone and digestive health. They have also been linked to boosting your natural immune system. Smoothies also have the advantage of containing more fiber than juice, which can reduce digestive issues like constipation, bloating, and diarrhea and help you feel fuller.

Cons of Green Smoothies

Smoothie add-ons like nut butter, fruits, sweeteners, or milk can add delicious flavor, but some have unwanted effects. Increased sugar or fat intake with some of these add-ons could lead to weight gain or blood sugar issues.

It’s also important to note that consuming high levels of Vitamin K (which is often found in leafy greens) can interfere with anticoagulant drugs. If you are taking blood thinners, you will need to be cautious and should talk to your doctor about how much Vitamin K you should consume.

Pros of Green Juice

Green juice can be another easy way to add nutrients to your diet that support digestive health, your immune system and reduce inflammation. Like green smoothies, green juices can be a great source of vitamins and minerals like Vitamins A, B, and K. When incorporated into a balanced diet, green juice can help to boost energy levels and even help with weight loss.

Cons of Green Juice

Unlike green smoothies, green juice lacks fiber. Fiber is part of a healthy, balanced diet and consuming fruits and vegetables in juice form, without that healthy fiber, should not replace whole fruits and vegetables from your diet.

Because green juice doesn’t include protein or fiber, it could increase your blood sugar, which is especially true for green juices that include fruits. If you have blood sugar control issues or a medical condition like diabetes, green smoothies may not be a safe option for you.

Too much green juice may also lead to kidney problems. Green leafy vegetables are known to have a lot of oxalic acid or oxalate. Oxalate is an anti-nutrient, and it binds itself to minerals in your food to stop your digestive tract from absorbing them.

When you consume oxalate from whole vegetables as part of a balanced diet, oxalates are not harmful. But too many oxalates can lead to kidney problems like kidney stones or even kidney failure, so relying on green juice to replace meals could mean ingesting too many oxalates.

Finding Balance

While green juice can positively affect your health, it’s vital that you consume green juice as a part of a balanced diet. If you add green juice into your diet, make sure you are eating healthy balanced meals in addition, instead of using green juice as a meal replacement.

Be mindful of the fruit and other sugary items you add to your juice to keep from consuming too much sugar. To prevent green juice from increasing your blood sugar, try pairing it with a snack that contains both protein and fiber, like oatmeal.

Conclusion

Making green juice in your NutriBullet can be a great addition to your healthy, balanced diet. While there are both pros and cons to green juice versus green smoothies, using a NutriBullet gives you the option to make either.

It’s important to remember that even though green juice can have significant benefits, it’s essential to keep track of your sugar intake and think about other health concerns. You should always consult a doctor if you are making significant changes to your diet or if you have concerns about your health.

Sources

• The Huffington Post: Juicer Types: The Difference Between Cold Press Juicers vs. Centrifugal Juice Extractors
• Healthline: Green Juice: Benefits, Downsides, and More
• WebMD: Green Smoothies: Are They Good for You?