My history with blenders:
- I stole my mom’s when I moved to Dallas because I’m pretty sure she never touched it.
- It broke.
- I was blenderless, hoping that when I moved home I’d find that my mom had bought a new fancy blender.
- She didn’t.
- I tried to use the $10 Fisher Price looking blender for a few weeks and it made me chunky smoothies.
- I bought a Ninja.
This Ninja was a compromise for me. It’s not my dream Vitamix (saving that for a wedding registry) but it’s still top-of-the-line and supposed to be pretty powerful. I didn’t love spending $80 on a blender (had a coupon!) but I knew it’d be worthless to spend $30 on one that would frustrate me every time I used it.
I also really want a juicer, but that’s just another big appliance expense I can’t justify making right now. I think I’d go through juicing phases, too, and most of the time a nice juicer would end up getting dusty in the cabinet.
I had heard you could make juices in the Ninja by blending then straining, so I decided to give it a go myself. This definitely works best because of how powerful the Ninja is, but any good quality blender should work.
My first juice was made of:
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- ~1 inch ginger root, peeled
- 1 large granny smith apple, peel on, chopped
- 2 stalks kale (no stems)
- juice of one lemon
I roughly chopped all of the above, threw it in the Ninja, and started to pulse.
The bottom was chopping, but I did have to add some water and scrape down the sides before blending again. I did this a few times, and added a total of 1/2 cup of water. (Depending on what veggies you need you may need more or less. My second juice didn’t require as much water or scraping.)
After a few minutes it was completely mixed in a sort of veggie mush that does not look at all appetizing.
I got out a sieve and placed it over a large bowl. You could use a cheese cloth or nut milk bag too, which would likely be easier to squeeze the juice out of.
Immediately the juice because to pour out, but I did help it out by pressing with a spatula. I probably pressed for a minute and a half before all the juice was out of the pulp.
This only made about a 1/2 -2/3 cup of juice but it tasted awesome! It tasted just like I would get at a juice store and extra gingery.
It was a littttle gritty at the end probably just because some got through a sieve. A cheese cloth or nutmilk bag would prevent this.
I put the pulp in tupperware and used a little in a veggie salad the next day. It actually tastes really sweet and I’m hoping to make some crackers with it, or even add it to soup or guacamole for some extra veggie goodness.
The second juice I made processed much quicker and was even better than the first! It contained:
- 2 leaves kale
- 1/2 cucumber, peeled
- 2 stalks celery
- juice of one lime
- ~1/2 inch ginger
So yes, you can juice with a Ninja blender, but it’s not quite as straightforward as with a juice extractor. You don’t have to clean a juicer (the Ninja is really easy to clean!) which is a benefit, but you do have to take the time to strain the juice.
- Are you into Veggie Juices?
- Do you have a juicer or do you usually just buy yours?
I have a vita, and do the blending and then use a nut milk bag! It works like a charm, but it stains the bag a gross green colour, which is a little gross to look at hah. But I love it.
Wow, I am so SO happy you posted this! I was sad about not having a juicer but also not willing to fork over the moolah to a good, quality one for myself. I have a pretty great blender that I got for Christmas (thanks, M&D!) and wondered whether it would make juice. You’ve answered all my questions! I’m most definitely trying this out
Have you tried the ninja for just green smoothies yet? like spinach, frozen fruit, nut butter, nut milk/water at all yet?
I haven’t!! I know it’ll be amazing, I just haven’t really craved a smoothie recently!
ok good! i was thinking of getting a ninja and that is primarily what i will use it for – but i’ve read negative reviews saying that it doesn’t leave them as smooth as one would want!
Did I miss an engagement announcement?! Seems like you’ve mentioned this wedding registry a few times lately.
hahah oh no no no. I’m just saying that in the future, when (if!) i get married, i will put a vitamix on my registry!
I have been juicing for about a month now and I feel great. I have a Breville juicer that was about $130 several years ago. Its definitely an expense I wouldn’t want right now either. And yes, cleaning a juicer is PAINFUL! I would say that I spend as much time cleaning it as you did sieving it. So it’s a toss up. Seems to be time consuming either way! Definitely worth the extra time though.
that time comparison is helpful – I guess it really is a tossup! And yes I’m loving my little cup of juice in the morning, but I don’t know how long I’ll have the time/patience to keep it up!
What a great idea! I definitely don’t want to shell out big bucks for a juicer, but I would be willing to pay more for a nice blender. Knowing that I could make smoothies AND juice would make the investment worth it. Plus, it eliminates the need for a unitasker (Alton Brown fan over here.)
how come people don’t drink the pulp? i do! itz just added nutrients, right?
You couldn’t really drink it…it’s more like a thick sludgy soup..which isn’t juice! You can certainly use/eat the pulp, it’s just not really the juice if you keep the pulp in!
Thank you so much for posting this! I was just looking at juicers at the store yesterday, but they’re just so big! We live in an apartment with zero counter space as it is, so I’m glad that it’s possible to juice with my blender!
OK you’re going to think I”m weird but I use panty hose to strain my juice from my Vitamix and it works like a charm! LOL!
Hahaha you use pantyhose for everything!!!
LOLOLOLOLOLOL
How does the Ninja work as a blender, for smoothies and such? I am working on my wedding registry right now and would love your thoughts on it!
I haven’t used it for a smoothie yet but judging but how well it chops up carrots and apples and ginger, I’d say it would blend things amazingly well!
Good call on the celery, it definitely produces a lot of juice! One of my favorites to juice is carrots with green grapes (70% carrots).
oooh interesting! i think we actually have grapes!
You should try drinking the whole thing. With the vita I add a few grapes and an orange/pineapple to help everything be more consistant. No straining needed.
oooh not sure how I would feel about that texture, but maybe I will be brave!
Hi Clare – your green juice looks amazing! One question, I have a juicer and juice 2-3x the ingrediants, and my juice still looks so much smaller than yours. Do you have any tips, or does it just look like theres a lot in the glass? Maybe I’m doing something wrong! Any tips would be appreciated
That’s a pretty small glass, so that might be it. I just blend and then press with a spatula until ALL the liquid is out! I bet it’s just the glass size that’s getting you. It’s like half a regular sized glass.
I have the same blender, and bought it for the exact same reason. Someday i will have my very own Vitamix, but for now the Ninja hasn’t let me down.
I actually found a good juicer for pretty cheap so haven’t tried juices in the blender, but it does wonders for my smoothies.
there’s a really good hamilton beach juicer that only costs 60 dollars, it gets many good reviews. it’s not top of the line, so if you need all the bells and whistles and a non-centrifuge juice, you’ll be paying a lot more, but i think this is a great affordable juicer for the average person or someone like me who is just getting into juicing for the first time after watching “hungry for change”.
when my juicer arrives, i will definitely try your recipes from this entry!
I bought a refurbished Vitamix a few months back and have been using it for juicing ever since.
Vitamix sells a nut-milk bag that can also be used to filter out the pulp from juicing if you don’t want all the extra fiber, but I personally like to keep some of it in, it’s so much healthier!