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12.16.19

Fine mesh strainer placed over a bowl and a black rubber spatula pressing down on the green smoothieMason jar with green juice and a blue straw
  • Split photo with a blender full of ingredients on the left and a blender filled with a green smoothie on the right
  • Split photo with a fine mesh strainer placed over a bowl and smoothie pouring out of the blender on the left, and the strainer filled with the blended drink on the right
  • Fine mesh strainer placed over a bowl and a black rubber spatula pressing down on the green smoothieMason jar with green juice and a blue straw
  • Aerial view of green juice in a glass

Making juice without a juicer is not impossible. Whether you are a student who can’t afford a juicer, don’t want to give up that precious counter space or are traveling and craving those greens, learning how to juice without a juicer is easier than you think. We love this solution from the Minimalist Baker…

If you’ve ever felt like a broke college student for not owning a juicer, join the club. While a juicer could be justified in my budget, I don’t want it to be. It’s yet another piece of equipment taking up space in our small kitchen and requiring loads of clean-up time. As with everything I prefer to keep things simple and affordable.

How To Juice Without A Juicer

My solution? Juicing without a juicer. All you need is a blender, a bowl and a fine mesh strainer, and you’re well on your way to having fresh, custom-made juice in your fridge at a fraction of the cost.how to juice without a juicer

The main thing to remember when choosing a flavor is to keep a balance of savory and sweet. Otherwise, dream away and start soaking up the benefits and savings of juicing at home without a juicer.

A few juicing tips…
+ If you add kale, balance it out with pineapple to keep it from becoming too bitter.
+ If you add beets and carrots, throw in an apple as well to keep it light, refreshing and sweet.
+ You can make your juice ahead of time and store in mason jars in the fridge, but it’s always best when fresh.

No Juicer Required:
Pineapple Apple + Kale Juice with Lemon

Serves 1
Total time: 15 minutes

SUPPLIES

Blender
Fine mesh strainer
Large mixing bowl

INGREDIENTS

1/2 ripe pineapple, cut into chunks
1/2 green apple, seeds and stem removed
3 cups kale, stems removed
1 small cucumber, quartered
juice from half a large lemon

DIRECTIONS

Place pineapple, apple, kale, cucumber, and the juice from half a lemon into a blender and blend until smooth, adding a splash of filtered water to help it along if it gets stuck.

Place a fine mesh strainer over a large mixing bowl and pour juice over. Press down with a rubber spatula to speed things along. Reserve pulp for adding back into smoothies, or even baked goods, such as muffins and cakes.

Pour juice into a serving glass and enjoy immediately, or cover and chill. Cheer!

Get more juice tips and recipes here. 

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Comments


  1. Does filtering the fiber out make the juice more potent somehow? Is the fiber a problem? What’s the thinking behind filtering? Is it just that the fiber makes the drink thick? Or, is there a nutritional factor?

    JANJAMM | 09.16.2013 | Reply
    • Hi Janjamm, great question! Filtering out the fiber gives your digestive system a rest and therefore makes the nutrients more readily available to your bloodstream, building the immune system and helping to repair your body on a deeply cellular level!

      The Chalkboard | 09.16.2013 | Reply
      • Thanks!

        JANJAMM | 09.16.2013 | Reply
      • Do you have a citation for your claim: “nutrients more readily available to your bloodstream, building the immune system and helping to repair your body on a deeply cellular level”?
        I’ve read claims to the contrary saying that making these sugars available so easily is detrimental.

        E Thomas | 09.30.2013 | Reply
        • JANJAMM,

          If you put too much fruit into the mixture that statement would be true but this mixture has a good mixture of greens and fruit in it, I don’t think it’ll be much of an issue. You can always cut down the fruit in the mixture if you have high glucose level.

          Garrick | 02.03.2014
        • To my knowledge, which is by no means gospel, the claims made in these comments regarding the removal of fibre seem to have little basis in science. Removing the fibre may well “give your digestive system a rest” but this is in no way a good thing. High fibre decreases your risk of bowel related disease such as cancer, maintains a healthy regular system and helps to make you feel full. By removing the fibre in fruit, you only leave the calorific content, such as fructose. High levels of fructose lead to fatty liver disease and other complications. By drinking juice you do not tell your body that you are full, because of how quickly the juice moves through your system. Which likely means that you would ingest juice over and above your daily calorific intake anyway, leading to overeating which increases risk of diabetes and other illnesses. The only claim that might have a (small) bit of credibility is that it makes vitamins more readily available to you, in that by liquidating the ingredients you create a maximum surface area of the juice. Unfortunately, as the majority of vitamins are found in the skins and fibrous material of fruit, again this would be of little benefit.

          After a couple years of evolution, our bodies have become quite good at digesting food regularly, so our digestive system doesn’t really need a “rest”. In fact, quite the reverse is true. Regular meals containing an adequate fibre content would be exponentially better overall. In the same vein, we have also become quite good at extracting nutrients from food- after all, juicers are quite a new addition to our worl, and we did ok up until now…

          Rhys | 12.18.2014
  2. Love this! I love fresh juice but I don’t have time to clean my juicer every morning and can’t afford the vast quantities of produce used to make a little cup of juice!

    jenny | 09.17.2013 | Reply
  3. “If you can’t afford a juicer, use a $500-1200 Vitamix blender instead?” Ummmm…….?

    Lindsey | 09.20.2013 | Reply
    • Hi Lindsey, while the author does own the Ninja blender pictured, these instructions can work with any blender at any price point!

      The Chalkboard | 09.20.2013 | Reply
    • Using what you have is kind of common sense, isn’t it? 🙂 I use a Magic Bullet for small, individual batches, and my Oster blender for larger ones. I would love to have a Breville juicer a la Joe Cross, but my budget won’t allow for even a refurbished one. Enter Team Blender and Sieve, and I get the same results.

  4. Hi, this looks excellent! I’ve just printed it off and will be making it tonight 🙂

    Roland | 11.07.2013 | Reply
  5. This is the almost the exact same recipe I use in my Vitamix (I add the juice of one lime too, plus twice as much kale) and drink (without straining) everyday! Never bothered my digestive system and my body is super sensitive…

    AlfaDog | 12.09.2013 | Reply
  6. This is awesome! My juicer isn’t great and it’s obviously soooo messy. Love the idea of filtering out the fiber. I guess you could also use a nut milk bag?

  7. In winter time even pineapple didn’t help me 🙂 After filtering consistency still was such as in smoothies: thick 🙁 but delicious 🙂 I used apples, pineapple, pear and spinach. Thanks for the idea!

    Oksana Novožilova | 02.05.2014 | Reply
  8. I will have to try this. I favor my Nutribullet over my Breville juicer because its footprint is so much smaller in my small kitchen. Now I know I can still make juice when I’m not in a smoothie mood. Thanks!

    Diane | 02.25.2014 | Reply
  9. What are some good recipes for juices that have the vegetables and protein our body needs, but tastes mainly of fruit? Thanks!

    Krystal | 03.06.2014 | Reply
  10. I’ve been wanting to try this method ever since Dana told me about it! I think it’s time. I owned a juicer for a brief span of time, but it took up way too space. This method is much more practical and, bonus, blenders are easier to clean than juicers!

    Kate | 04.13.2014 | Reply
  11. How can you make juice like this without a blender or juicer? I have neither right now and I don’t see getting one in the foreseeable future but I really want to start juicing.

    Renata | 05.10.2014 | Reply
    • If you have a fin cheese grater, you can grate up your fruits and veggies real fine into a bowl, or failing that, chop them up really really fine with a sharp knife and tben squeeze out the juice using a strainer/cheese cloth. It is much more time consuming, but if you don’t have a blender, it’s the only way.

      cassie | 12.13.2014 | Reply
  12. Hey there, You’ve done an excellent job. I will definitely digg it and personally suggest to my friends.
    I’m confidfent they will be benefited from this web site.

    hulkingadage9910.yolasite.com | 09.22.2014 | Reply
  13. So delicious! I think I might add mint next time but I just made a huge batch (and a huge mess) in my Cuisinart mini prep and love it!!! Would you list a few more flavor combination suggestions? One thing I tried that I think worked well was using a small Pyrex bowl with a flat bottom to push the juice out of the pulp instea of a spatula. Way easier and more effective!

    I saved the pulp but now I have to figure out what to do with it. Maybe a zucchini bread-like substance?

  14. Hi, I was wondering if there are any recipes for using up the leftover pulp? I’d hate to waste it, thanks 🙂

    Lizzie | 04.05.2015 | Reply
  15. The idea of juicing without a juicer is so kind of teaser. Well, using a blender is the trick. Otherwise, I was thinking maybe we are going to juice like stone-age, means crushing the leafy green with stones or beating the fruits with a wood bar. hahaha. Anyways, it’s still kind of a topic that may be useful for many. Yes, blender is used instead of juicer but the name of the product itself defines the purpose. Juicer is equally or may be more useful to get the juice like we purchase from the stores by paying high cash.

    Best Juicer | 10.26.2017 | Reply
  16. AWESOME THIS METHOD WORKED FOR ME! BUT I USED MY HAND INSTEAD! AWESOME!

    MIGUEL TOBIAS | 01.08.2018 | Reply
  17. AWESOME!

    MIGUEL TOBIAS | 01.08.2018 | Reply
  18. Wow really amazing method. I have tried it at my home it was awesome. Thank you so much.

    Black's Juicer Blender | 09.05.2018 | Reply
  19. Using a nut milk straining bag works as well! Just squeeze, rinse and poof ~ You’ve got juice in your cup.

    Kokiri | 04.11.2019 | Reply

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