Juicers are a great way to get a quick nutrient boost by drinking your vitamins. And vegetables, especially dark leafy greens, are some of the most antioxidant-rich plants you can use. Since this is such a popular juicing category, it’s important that you choose the best juicer for greens on the market.
In this article, we’ll consider and examine the level of maintenance, ease of use, durability, and value of each juicer in the reviews below. Here is a quick link to each product before we get started, listed in order of lowest to highest price:
- FAMTOP Slow Masticating Juicer
- Homevolts Slow Juicer
- HUROM HP Slow Juicer
- Omega Juicer Extractor and Nutrition Center
- Tribest Greenstar Elite Cold Press Juicer
*If you’re in a hurry, I’d recommend the Omega Juicer Extractor and Nutrition Center as the best one. This machine is masticating, meaning that it will thoroughly “chew” your leafy greens and get a high juice extraction, meaning no waste, and the best quality of juice possible.
What Greens Can I Juice?
With the right machine, most greens, both leafy and hard, make excellent candidates for juicing. Here are some perks of my favorite vegetables:
Broccoli
Broccoli is a cruciferous vegetable and has many health benefits that can be maximized by juicing. It contains large amounts of iron, vitamin K, vitamin A, B6, and vitamin C. Antioxidants found in this plant help protect the body against harmful toxins and helps to boost immunity.
The flavor of raw broccoli is very bitter and may be unpleasant for some. Consider juicing it with sweeter vegetables or a bit of citrus to soften the taste.
Cabbage
Cabbage has all sorts of vitamins that make it ideal for juicing, such as vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin B6, folate, and manganese. These nutrients may help protect the body against inflammation, heart disease, and diabetes.
This juice should be mild enough to drink straight and will mix well with other flavors. Cabbage also contains a high amount of water, meaning you should get a good extraction from the leaves in your juicer.
Carrots
Carrots are a perfect choice for those who prefer a sweeter flavor in their vegetable-based juices. They’re packed full of vitamin A, biotin, potassium, and carotenoids, which are powerful antioxidants.
This vegetable pairs well with beets, ginger, apples, and citrus in the juicer.
Celery
Celery has become a well known vegetable for juicing due to its detoxifying properties. This plant is loaded with vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin C, ferulic acid, kaempferol, and caffeic acid.
These nutrients may support improved blood pressure and cholesterol levels in the body with regular consumption. They may also help reduce chronic inflammatory issues.
Juice your celery on its own, or alongside apples, lemons, ginger, and leafy greens.
Dandelion Greens
Dandelion greens may be an extremely affordable juicing green if you’re lucky enough to have untreated wild ones growing on or near your home. They are great for supporting allergies and leveling out blood sugar levels.
They are rich in B vitamins which can help provide the body with energy. Dandelion will juice nicely with a citrus flavor that can help minimize its natural bitterness.
Kale
Kale is a nutrient dense vegetable that provides vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, beta-carotene, and other important antioxidants. These nutrients may improve cholesterol and heart disease symptoms with regular use.
Kale Juices well with apples, celery, ginger, and lemon.
Spinach
Spinach is a vitamin and mineral-rich plant that contains vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, and several B vitamins. It is alkaline, which means it can help lessen acidity in the body. Many people don’t realize that protein is also a good source of protein and an excellent supplement for those working on gaining strength or muscular growth.
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are a great way to add a slightly sweet and even creamy flavor to your juices. They mix will with most other fruits and vegetables and are very nutritious. They contain abundant amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, folate, and calcium.
They’re known to improve metabolism, digestion, and to strengthen bones. Folate also supports and regulates the body’s hormones, creating a sense of emotional well-being
Wheatgrass
In addition to the vitamins and minerals that are found in most plants, wheatgrass contains a large amount of protein and 17 amino acids. Amino acids are necessary for repair of the body, making this juice very restorative and strengthening.
Wheatgrass is normally consumed as a 2 or 4 ounce shot. However, it can be mixed with citrus, apples, or ginger, to offset its potent bitter flavor.
How To Juice Greens
There is no wrong way to juice greens as long as you have a machine that can get the job done. However, straight green juices may be too bitter or strong for consumption, especially for those who are just starting out. Here is a loose recipe that can help you make a well-balanced juice blend that is low in sugar and high in nutrients:
- Choose a base: Start by juicing a vegetable with high-water content, such as lettuce, celery or cucumber.
- Add your leafy greens: Add some spinach, kale, chard, or dandelions to your juice.
- Herbs: Add basil, cilantro, or parsley to your juice.
- Add some heat and flavor: Add some ginger to the juice, which will add some spice to the blend.
- Add citrus: Add a little lemon or lime to your juice
- Sweeten your juice: Add apple, pear, or any other sweet fruit to your juice. You can omit this step if you would like your juice to be as low-sugar as possible.
Tips for Juicing Leafy Greens
- Roll your greens into tubes to make them more dense, so that they are more easily received by the juicer.
- Feed your juicer with greens as well as hard vegetables at the same time
- Use a cold-press or masticating juicer for your leafy greens. These juicers “chew” the produce to release juice, which is a much more efficient way of extracting liquid from leafy greens.
Which Juicer Is Best For Greens?
Generally, juicers prefer masticating, or cold-pressed juicers for leafy greens. Masticating juicers do not use blades to quickly dice fruits and vegetables. Instead, they crush and grind produce slowly, much like the process of chewing food. This slow process condenses the greens and extracts the maximum amount of juice possible.
The other juicer alternative is the centrifugal model. Centrifugal juicers are a common and affordable machine. They work similarly to a food processor or blender by using blades to break up your fruits and vegetables. This releases the juices in the plant, which moves through a filter that separates the liquid from the pulp. This model is less efficient when used with leafy greens, and can also reduce the nutrient content of your juice, since the motor and blade get quite hot. This can slightly “cook” your raw juice.
Health Benefits of Juicing
Juicing is a great way to extract all of a plant’s nutrients, excluding its fiber. In short, it makes it easier to enjoy vitamins, enzymes, and minerals.
Juicing can save time, especially if you can prepare your juice the day before and grab as needed. It makes it easy to add variety to your diet. One of the easiest ways to maintain a healthy diet is by consuming a variety of plants. Juicers make it easy to try different fruits and vegetables without being limited by the grocery store’s selection.
It’s a great way to get kids to eat their veggies. Parents or caretakers can easily “mask” the flavor of vegetables by making clever tasty juice blends.
Juicing may lead to high sugar intake and also lessens the amount of fiber in your diet if you’re replacing whole plants with juice. Make sure to limit your sugar intake and make sure you’re getting a good source of fiber for digestion.
FAMTOP Slow Masticating Juicer
The FAMTOP Slow Masticating Juicer is an excellent value and great choice for a personal juicing machine. This juicer extracts juice at a speed of 80RPM and minimizes heat, foam, and oxidation in your beverage. This means that your juice will be completely cold pressed, well filtered, and can be stored for up to 72 hours in the fridge.
This juicer is easy to clean, assemble, and take apart. It’s also relatively sturdy for its price, and also comes with four stable feet that help make sure it stays put on your counter. It is BPA-free as well. All parts are dishwasher safe, excluding the motor. A convenient manual will instruct you on specific care.
It’s perfect for both soft and hard ingredients which is important if you want to make vegetable and fruit juices of all kinds. Just make sure to cut your produce into very small pieces if they are hard to avoid a clog. Speaking of clogging, there is a “reverse” feature on the machine that allows you to safely unclog it if it ever gets stuck.
Homevolts Slow Juicer
This juicer is an excellent value. It is a simple system with 5 pieces total and a vertical shape that is perfect for smaller kitchens or a permanent setup that takes up minimal space. It is also a masticating juicer, which means it can produce cold pressed juice that will stay fresh for up to 3 days after extraction.
Usually extra features are reserved for higher-end machines. However, this juicer comes with a couple of additional components that will allow you to experiment with making more than just juice. It comes with a small mesh juice strainer, a large mesh strainer that can be used for making fresh jam, and a sorbet strainer that can be used with frozen fruit.
It also includes a small cleaning brush that is custom-designed to reach into hard to get areas for easy fast cleaning. It’s feeding chute is rather narrow but can easily fit in thin produce such as stalks of celery.
HUROM HP Slow Juicer
While the HUROM HP Slow Juicer may be a smaller model, it makes up for its size in its strength. This makes this the longest lasting cold press juicer for one or two household members. It is also incredibly stylish and comes in several different colors. The vertical design of this machine also helps it to take up less counter space.
This machine breaks down fruits and vegetables in a unique way. It has a built-in cooling system and does not include blades. Instead, the system squeezes the juice out, which mimics hand juicing and minimizes damage to any of the nutrients in your plants.
The machine has a quiet motor, rotating at just 43 RPM. This means the machine is one-third quieter than a standard dishwasher! The company stands behind its product by providing a 10-year motor warranty.
Omega Juicer Extractor and Nutrition Center
The Omega Juicer is an industry standard cold press juicer. In addition to juicing, you can use this machine to grind coffee, mince herbs and vegetables, make soft serve out of frozen fruit, make nut butters, shape dough, and even puree homemade baby food. Since this is a larger and heftier model, it’s helpful that it is multifunctional.
Because of the complexity of this system, it may take a little time to learn how to assemble yoru machine and use it for all of the functions it’s built for.
This powerful juicer uses a dual extraction process that completely extracts juice from your fruits and vegetables. Customers have noted how dry the pulp has been after the process. Some say that this machine produces up to 30% more juice with celery and wheatgrass than it’s main competitors.
Although this machine is on the higher end price-wise for juicers, you’ll be making a long term investment. You can rest assured knowing that your entire machine is covered for parts and performance for 15 years after your purchase.
Tribest Greenstar Elite Cold Press Juicer
The Tribest Green Start Elite Juicer is the best personal juicer available. This machine doubles as a highly efficient food processor, which makes it perfect for all sorts of labor-heavy kitchen-prep. Tribest has even sponsored independent lab tests that indicate that their system is able to extract up to 50%-200% more nutrients than a standard cold-press juicer. This is important for delicate leafy greens that may be hard to fully extract from.
If you’re interested in accessories, Tribest offers attachments for pasta-making and soft fruit juicing (which is often hard to do with an average juicer). You can also change the mesh filter on your machine to control the amount of pulp you would like in your juice.
Summary
Here are some key takeaways:
- Most greens are quite easy to juice, Make sure to test blending vegetables with each other, as well as with fruit, to find the right fit for you.
- Juice greens by using a masticating (cold press) juicer that will extract most of the liquid and won’t damage any nutrients with motor heat.
- Juicers come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and prices, making it easy for you to find the best one for your needs.
These simple tips will help you to find the best juicer available for your needs. Good luck, and let me know what you think the best juicer for greens is in the comments below.
