Green juices are considered the healthiest juices of all, and everyone from A-list celebrities to nutritional experts swear by them for keeping them in shape, reducing their cravings, fueling their bodies with the right nutrients, and much more.
While green juices are available pretty much everywhere nowadays, making your own juices out of leafy greens is the better option, no doubt about it. Not only do you get the freedom to decide exactly what goes into – and what stays out of – your green juices, you can also avoid the not-so-healthy artificial flavorings and preservatives that are added to most shop-bought juices.
In this guide, I’ll share short reviews of the best juicers for leafy greens currently available in the US. If you’re a complete newbie to making green juice, my buyer’s guide section will be particularly helpful to you. I discuss the types of juicers available for juicing greens and help you come to the conclusion about which is best for you.
Best Juicers for Leafy Greens
- Tribest GSE-5050 Greenstar Elite
- Omega NC900HDC Juicer Extractor
- Kuvings Whole Slow Juicer B6000S
- Breville Big Squeeze
- Tribest SW-2020 Slowstar
- Aicok Slow Masticating Juicer
Juicer | Details | |
---|---|---|
Tribest GSE-5050 Greenstar Elite | Type: Horizontal masticating Speed: 110 RPMs Warranty: 10 years Dimensions: 18.6 x 6.8 x 12.4 inches | |
Omega NC900HDC Juicer Extractor | Type: Horizontal Speed: 80 RPMs Warranty: 15 years Dimensions: 14.5 x 6.5 x 15.5 inches | |
Kuvings Whole Slow Juicer B6000S | Type: Vertical masticating Speed: 60 RPM Warranty: 10 years Dimensions: 9 x 8 x 17.5 inches | Read our review |
Breville Big Squeeze | Type: Masticating Speed: 80 RPM Warranty: 10 years Dimensions: 390.6 x 16.9 x 390.6 | |
Tribest SW-2020 Slowstar | Type: Vertical Speed: 47 RPM Warranty: 10 years Dimensions: 7.5 x 7.5 x 17.75 inches | |
Aicok Slow Masticating Juicer | Type: Horizontal masticating Speed: 80 RPM Warranty: 3 years Dimensions: 16.1 x 7.9 x 11.6 inches |
Best Juicer for Leafy Greens Reviews 2023
Tribest GSE-5050 Greenstar Elite
If you’re after a powerful machine that’s cut out for juicing greens, the Tribest GE-5050 is a solid option. This juicer is incredibly popular amongst juicing enthusiasts, and for good reason. With its unique masticating design, this twin gear juicer mimics the grinding of human mastication, ensuring that even the most sinewy of vegetables benefit from the highest level of juice extraction
Not only does the Tribest Greenstar Elite boast three complete mastication stages, but also included is a mixing stage, which mixes juices before allowing them to pass into the juice cup. If you’re planning to make juices from multiple types of leafy greens, or add other fruits and vegetables into the mix, this juicer will ensure you get a well-rounded flavor from your entire juice. You can store juices made with this machine for up to 72 hours without the loss of too many nutrients.
You don’t only have to use this machine for making juices. The Greenstar Elite is equipped to make frozen sorbets and nut butters, as well as milks, sauces and pate, so it definitely won’t hold your creativity back.
When you’re using the Greenstar Elite, you can set the pressure to a specific level to best suit the produce you’re juicing. This is a particularly useful feature when it comes to processing leafy greens, which require a different juicing pressure than most other veggies and fruits.
It’s relatively easy to clean the Greenstar Elite, though some customers mentioned that the screen can be fairly tricky to unclog. Leafy greens produce quite a lot of foam in this machine, which may also affect your cleaning time.
π What I Like
- Top-performance twin gear juicer
- Pressure adjustment is a useful feature
- Comes with a 12-year warranty
π What I Don’t Like
- One of the costlier juicers on this list
- Some parts are harder to clean
- Can’t run the machine for any longer than 15 minutes
Omega NC900HDC Juicer Extractor
The Omega NC900HDC is a slow juicer that presses and grinds produce to squeeze out the maximum juice quantity. The corkscrew auger design ensures the most efficient performance, boring into vegetables and fruits and extracting up to 76.8 percent of juice. The powerful 150-watt motor and processing speed of 80 RPM make this juicer ideal for slowly but surely processing tougher items like greens.
You can switch between 5 settings with the Omega NC900HDC, and you’re not limited to making juice – you can also make nut butter, extrude pasta, and process fresh baby food. The large feeding chute means you can spend less time chopping, and the quiet operation of this machine makes it ideal for early-morning or late-night use.
While assembling the Omega NC900HDC for the first time may take some concentration, you should be able to easily follow the included instructions to slot the parts together. This machine does have a slightly more complex assembly, with a total of 10 parts to account for, but it’s simple enough to pick up with practice.
The Omega shines at processing thick, hard produce, but it’s also fantastic at processing greens – when you use the best technique. Owners of this machine recommend juicing hard fruits alongside your greens to prevent clogging, which is common when juicing greens alone as a result of the system’s horizontal design.
It’s easy to clean the outside of the Omega, thanks to its stainless steel design. There’s a cleaning tool for scrubbing the removable components, but it’s advised to soak the parts in soapy water if you’re dealing with particularly stubborn stains.
π What I Like
- 80 RPM processing speed is impressive
- Yields a high quantity of juice
- 15-year warranty
π What I Don’t Like
- Produces quite a lot of foam, which may need straining
- Processing greens alone may cause blockages
- Plastic components are less durable
Kuvings Whole Slow Juicer B6000S
As a durable, heavy-duty juicer for greens, the Kuvings offers a slow, thorough juicing process at a speed of 60 RPM (rotations per minute). It’s one of my top picks for leafy greens because it produces an exceptionally high juice yield, even with veggies that are difficult to extract juice from.
The Kuvings juicer has a lot going for it. With a BPA-free, stainless steel design, it’s built to last, and it comes with an impressive 10-year warranty, so you can rest assured that you’re covered if you buy this juicer. It’s versatile, too, and you can use it to make nut butter and baby food as well as your typical juices.
Thanks to its 3-inch feeding tube, the Kuvings is easy to use, and there’s no need to chop your leafy greens up small to fit them in. This machine is also the best juicer for greens in terms of foaming, with very little foam produced, even with foam-prone greens, so you can be sure to get a dry pulp when making green juices.
Aside from the features you’d expect from a good quality juicer, the Kuvings also comes with a few features that aren’t so expected, but are certainly useful. There’s a smart cap that you can use to prevent juice from leaving the machine, which is ideal if you want to mix your green juice with the flavored juices from other veggies and fruits. There’s also a useful cleaning brush that makes it easy to clean the juicer’s strainer.
π What I Like
- Great value for money
- Easy to use
- 10-year warranty
π What I Don’t Like
- Not dishwasher-safe
- Assembly takes some getting used to
Breville Big Squeeze
As a vertical slow juicer, the Breville Big Squeeze isn’t just space-saving – it’s also designed for the most efficient juicing processes for all produce – especially difficult-to-juice veggies like greens. This masticating juicer is easy to use, and does the hard work for you. You simply add your greens to the machine, and it’ll slowly process it, minimizing heat build-up while ensuring the highest amount of juice is extracted.
Though the Big Squeeze comes with a reverse function in case of blockages, it’s unlikely that you’ll have to use it much when processing greens. The only gripe you may have with this juicer for greens is that pulp can build quite easily in the extraction chute, but it only takes a second to clean out.
It’s simple to use the Breville Big Squeeze, and it’s easy to clean, too. With a stainless steel design, you can wipe down the outside of this juicer without having to scrub hard. Another huge bonus of the Big Squeeze is that you can fill it with water after making a batch of juice, which will prevent vegetable and fruit pulp from sticking to the screen and auger, saving you time when it comes to manual cleaning. The cleaning brush included with this juicer is called a scraper wiper, and makes it easier to remove caked-on stains.
It won’t take you too long to assemble the Breville if you follow the easy-read user manual. Most customers found that while the machine took a little patience to put together the first few times, they soon got used to the assembly process.
π What I Like
- Able to extract high juice yield
- One of the best value for money juicers
- Suitable for both hard and soft produce
π What I Don’t Like
- Only a 1-year warranty
- BPA-free plastic not used in construction
- Pulp ejection tube can get blocked
Tribest SW-2020 Slowstar
Another of the best-value juice machines for juicing soft and hard produce is the Tribest Slowstar. This machine works at an impressive slow speed of 47 RPM, giving fruits and veggies the longest amount of time in contact with the dual-blade auger. Because it’s a vertical machine, the Tribest Slowstar works more efficiently than its horizontal competitors, making it ideal for making juice from greens with the driest pulp ejection.
It’s easy to wash the dry pulp out of the machine’s dedicated pulp catcher under running water, minimizing cleanup once you’ve finished. The system is one of the few available that has a dual-blade auger, which doubles the cutting action and more thoroughly juices soft and hard produce in the same amount of time as a single-blade auger.
This Tribest Slowstar’s feed chute is pretty average at 2.5 inches. You may need to cut up your larger greens to make them fit, but they should pass into the machine fairly easily thanks to its gravity-favoring vertical design. Users of this machine recommend processing large, hard produce alongside your greens, which will keep things running smoothly.
Assembly and disassembly of the Tribest Slowstar takes some getting used to, because it’s made of multiple parts. But once you get the hang of it, it should only take a couple of minutes to get everything in place, and the included cleaning brush makes it easy to remove tough stains once you’ve made a batch of juice. With its stainless steel build, you’ll only need to wipe down the outside of this juicer to remove juice splatters.
π What I Like
- Effient and space-saving
- Easy to clean
- Durable stainless steel design
π What I Don’t Like
- Feed chute isn’t the widest
- Prone to jamming
Aicok Slow Masticating Juicer
If you’re looking to get the highest juice yield from a variety of greens, the Aicok should provide the results you’re after. This masticating juicer comes with dishwasher-safe parts, minimizing cleanup, and requires a single button press to disassemble. Also included is a cleaning brush for when you need to hand-remove caked-on stains.
As an 80 RPM slow juicer, the Aicok’s low speed produces very little heat, allowing for maximum extraction of the highest-quality juice. With a heavy-duty spiral, the machine can open up every cell in even the firmest, toughest of produce to ensure you get your money’s worth from the items you’re processing.
Greens are often to blame when it comes to clogging, but you can easily free any blockages with the Aicok’s reverse function, which spins the gears in the opposite direction. You can also use this feature when you’ve finished making juice, as it clears the system out and makes it easier to clean.
The Aicok uses only food-grade BPA-free plastic in its design, which is also used in infant and baby products. The spiral’s material is non-toxic and won’t result in your juices taking on a metallic taste. You’ll be able to juice at every hour of the day with this machine, as its low speed ensures quiet operation.
π What I Like
- Produces safe, high quality juices
- 80 RPM slow processing speed
- Less expensive than other machines on this list
π What I Don’t Like
- Feed chute could be wider
- Pulp ejection is fairly wet
- Warranty only lasts 2 years
Buyerβs Guide- Selecting a Juicer for Leafy Greens
Not sure where to start? Use this extensive guide to learn all you need to know before making your purchase.
What Makes a Juicer the Best for Leafy Greens?
Leafy greens are some of the most difficult veggies to juice. This comes down to their makeup – because they’re fibrous and stringy, they can get caught around a juicer’s blades and cause blockages. But whizzing leafy greens through a fast juicer in the hopes that the quick-moving blades will slash through any potential clogging isn’t the answer, either.
You need a juicer that can work at a slow enough speed to properly process leafy greens, but has a strong, persistent enough motor to tug free blockages – and has the features in place to unclog the machine as and when may be needed.
To help you better understand the best juicers for greens, I’ve gone into more depth about the types of juicers available below.
Types of Juicers
Centrifugal Juicers
Centrifugal juicers are the fastest, cheapest juicers on the market. They use a flat cutting blade that quickly chops produce and separates the juice from the pulp, sending them each into their own chamber. A centrifugal juicer is typically best for soft, juicy produce like berries, though it can work fairly well with large produce.
Be aware that centrifugal juicers are a lot louder than other juicer types because they work at high speeds, and they also produce more heat. This can affect the quality of the juice you end up with. You’ll also generally get a smaller juice yield with a masticating juicer because it doesn’t take the time to squeeze every last drop of juice out of produce before discarding it as pulp.
While you can use a centrifugal juicer for extracting juice from your green veggies, this type of machine isn’t considered one of the best juicers for leafy greens.
The problem is that leafy greens require a longer contact time in the juicing chamber, but centrifugal juicers work so quickly that they send greens into the pulp chamber almost immediately before any juice has been extracted from them. This means you’ll either end up feeding your greens into the chute time and time again, or you’ll waste a lot of produce to yield a relatively small amount of juice.
Masticating Juicers
Masticating juicers contain a slow-rotating auger, which grinds and squashes produce in the same way that our human mouths chew food. Working at a slow speed, a masticating juicer produces less heat, as it doesn’t spin like a blender. You might also hear a masticating juicer referred to as a cold-press juicer or a slow juicer.
A masticating juicer typically delivers good results from juicing any type of fruit or vegetable. It’s slower but more efficient, taking the time to squeeze out the maximum amount of juice from even the most difficult of produce (i.e. leafy greens, which definitely don’t seem so juicy at a glance). Slow juicers tend to be more expensive than other juicing options, but you pay for the higher-quality juices you get – and you can guarantee you’ll get the highest juice yield out of this type of juicer.
The only problem you might encounter when juicing greens is blockages, but most masticating juicers have a reverse function option that should sort this right out. Some masticating juicers are twin-gear, but the majority are single-gear.
Manual Juicers
If you’re not afraid to put in the hard work to earn your green juice, manual juicers are an option to consider. This type of juicer is by far the cheapest option, so it’s great for beginners to juicing who don’t know if they’ll take up the daily habit or not.
Most manual juicers can be attached to a counter or tabletop with a clamp. You’ll then need to turn the juicer handle to feed the produce through the juicer, manually extracting the juice from the pulp. Just like other juicer types, manual juicers have a cup for the juice and a cup for the pulp, and usually come with a plunger that you can use to push produce down into the juicing chamber to speed up the process.
Most manual juicers are designed for stringy veggies like leafy greens, and they’re pretty effective at what they do. They’re quiet, too, and won’t produce too much heat – but they do require a lot more hard work than their automatic alternatives.
Which Type is Best for Juicing Leafy Greens?
It’s fairly obvious from this comparison that centrifugal juicers aren’t the best juicers for greens. Manual and masticating juicers are the most effective options – and which one you decide to go for depends on your budget, the effort you’re willing to put in, and perhaps also the considerations I’ve highlighted below.
Things to Consider When Selecting a Juicer for Leafy Green Vegetables
It’s best not to rush into purchasing a juicer for leafy greens. With so much choice available, you’ll benefit from first considering exactly what you’re looking for in a juicer, and using these factors to determine the best option for you.
Size of Feed Chute
The size of a juicer’s feeding chute will determine how quickly you can get the job done. The wider the chute, the faster you can insert your greens. A wide chute will also prevent you from having to chop your greens up small before inserting them into the juicer.
Most juicers for leafy greens have a feed chute that’s at least 3 inches wide, but a feed chute of 3.5 inches is ideal if you’re planning to use a variety of leafy greens, like kale, spinach, watercress and collard greens.
Reverse Function
Reverse function is an incredibly important feature for any leafy greens juicer, especially masticating juicers. If your greens clog up the juicer’s blades, the last thing you want to do is have to manually unclog the system every time – that’s just annoying (not to mention dangerous).
A juicer with a reverse function option will simply spin the blades in the opposite direction when a blockage or a jam grinds the gears to a halt. This will detangle the source of the clog – most likely a stringy bit of spinach – and get the system up and running again without you having to do anything more than press the button.
Quality of Juice
The quality of your juice will be determined by the type of machine you use. Masticating juicers, or cold press juicers, are some of the best juicers for greens when it comes to quality. Producing no heat with their low-speed operation, they won’t kill off any of the healthy nutrients in your greens. Green juices made from slow juicers will also retain their nutritional value for longer – sometimes up to several days – after juicing.
A high-speed juicer, such as a centrifugal juicer, on the other hand, might be the best value price-wise, but this kind of juicer isn’t designed to produce ultra-high-quality juice. Operating at a fast speed, a centrifugal juicer produces heat and oxidization, both of which can affect the overall mineral content of a green juice.
Amount of Juice Yield
When it comes to juice yield, the speed of juicing will again determine your results. Masticating juicers operate at a low speed, which gives produce a longer contact time with the auger. This is particularly important for leafy greens, which require more effort to squeeze out their juices than softer, more liquid fruits and veggies.
Again, centrifugal juicers aren’t the best option for high juice yield because they work at very fast speeds, which don’t allow for leafy greens to have much contact with the blades at all.
Processing Speed Settings
Some juicers let you control their speed of operation, which you may find handy for juicing leafy greens. The optimal speed for processing leafy veggies is between 60 and 100 RPM (rotations per minute), but you may find that a slightly lower or higher speed works best for one particular green and not as well for another.
Getting to play around with speed settings will help you to find the best speed for each leafy item you send down the feeding chute. Some cold press juicers have different speed settings, but not all of them do, so be sure to check this if it’s important to you.
Safety
Safety comes first no matter what you’re juicing. Extracting the juice from leafy greens might not sound like the most dangerous job in the world, but it’s important that your juicer of choice comes equipped with the basic safety features to prevent a trip to the ER.
Check that the machine you’re interested in comes with a safety locking arm, which will prevent the juicer from switching on until it’s properly locked in place. Some juicers also shut off when they reach a certain temperature, preventing overheating and fires.
Cleaning
Finding a juicer that’s easy to clean will save you a lot of time if you plan to juice on a daily basis. Unfortunately, no-one has invented the self-cleaning juicer just yet, so there’s always some work you’ll have to put into cleanup. But many juicers are designed with fewer parts, so there’s less to wash up – and some even have dishwasher-safe parts that near-eliminate your cleanup job entirely.
Noise
The general rule when it comes to noise is that the faster the juicer operates, the noisier it’ll be. Luckily, cold press juicers – which are best for greens anyway – are some of the quietest on the market, so you won’t wake your neighbors with your early-morning or late-night juicing. Most masticating juicers operate at about 60 dB (decibels). To put that into context, the average household noise comes in at about 40 dB.
Accessories
Nowadays, when you buy a juicer, it comes with a few free accessories included in the purchase. Common accessories include a frozen attachment to make frozen yogurts and sorbets, as well as an attachment for making sauces, nut butters, milks and baby food. Who said you only had to use your juicer to make juice?
You can also separately purchase accessories that may come in handy if you plan to do more than just juice greens. A citrus attachment, for example, will allow you to more easily extract juice from citrus fruits – handy if you fancy a splash of lemon or lime in your juice.
Durability
The typical lifespan of a juicer is between 5 and 15 years. It’s vague, yes, but it largely depends on the quality of the materials used in a particular machine’s design. Look for a machine with mostly stainless steel parts, which will last longer than plastic, if you’re keen to get at least 5 years of use out of it. You can usually get an idea of the durability of a juicer by looking at its warranty (see below).
Warranty
On average, juicers come with a warranty of 2 to 7 years. Some juicers have a 10-year warranty, and some even have a 15-year warranty. The longer the warranty, the longer you’ll be covered – but read the terms and conditions carefully, because a warranty doesn’t always mean you’ll get a refund or replacement if your juicer breaks or stops working.
How To Make Green Juice
Juicing leafy greens is simple, but if you can’t picture the process, I’ve outlined exactly what you’ll need to do in the step-by-step instructions below.
- Wash your leafy greens and make sure only the leaves and the stalks are left for juicing (remove any root parts). Depending on the size of your juicer’s feed chute, you may need to cut or tear your leafy greens into smaller chunks to fit them. In any case, the smaller the greens, the less likelihood of a blockage.
- Feed the leafy greens into your machine, then either spin the crank (for manual juicers only) or wait for the juice extraction process to complete. Keep an eye on the machine and use reverse function if blockages occur.
- Drink your green juice fresh to get the most nutritional benefits.
Benefits of Drinking Leafy Greens Juice
Drinking juice made from greens on a daily basis can do incredible things for both your mind and your body. According to Healthline, the benefits of drinking juice leafy greens are as follows:
Healthier digestion and weight maintenance
Because juice leafy greens contains probiotics, which support the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut, their juice can encourage healthy digestion, weight maintenance, and better function of the immune system.
Reduced inflammation
Research has found that consuming leafy greens can help to reduce inflammation in the body, preventing inflammatory diseases like arthritis and autoimmune disorders.
Boosted nutrient intake
When you drink a juice made from leafy greens, you can more easily access a high level of vitamins and minerals. Rather than eating through several bags of leafy greens, you can simply drink them in juice form, which is the simplest way to enjoy the nutrients the leafy greens contain.
Reduced risk of heart disease
Research has also linked green juice to a reduced risk of heart disease, thanks to its high vitamin K and nitrate content. These nutrients have been linked to reduced blood pressure and improved arterial function.
Reduced risk of age-related mental decline
A recent study suggests that people who consume leafy greens regularly will benefit from a sharper mind as they age. Leafy greens can slow down brain aging, according to the study – though more research is needed to understand why that is.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I clean my juicer?
After every use is ideal – and the more immediately after juicing, the easier the job will be for you. You want to clean your machine while the pulp is still relatively malleable; when the pulp dries and sticks to the inside of the machine, you’ll have a much more difficult time cleaning it. Of course, if you use a juicer with dishwasher-safe parts, cleaning won’t be such a chore. But for the sake of hygiene, cleaning after every juicing session is essential.
Can I use a juicer on a daily basis?
Yes, any of the juicers on this list are fit for everyday use. Keep in mind, if you’re considering a cheaper option, that it might not be built to withstand such frequent use.
Can I juice other fruits and veggies with my leafy greens?
Of course! You can choose your favorite fruits and vegetables to add to your green juice. Not only will these extra fruits and vegetables introduce new flavors to your juice, but they’ll also give you an even broader spectrum of nutrients to benefit from.
What’s the difference between a twin-gear and a single-gear juicer?
Twin-gear juicers tend to operate at a lower speed of around 80 RPM to 100 RPM. Most masticating juicers have twin gears, which help to prevent air from becoming trapped in juices, therefore preserving their nutritional value for longer. If you’re not sure if a product has twin gears or not, contact the manufacturer, who should be able to tell you straight away.
What are the signs of a good juicer?
A well-known brand is always a boost of confidence, but it doesn’t end there. A good warranty is also a sign that a juicer is built to last, as is a powerful motor. Customer reviews can tell you a lot about how a product works on a day-to-day basis. Reading about real peoples’ experiences with the product you’re interested in will give you a better idea of how it lives up to expectations when used on a regular basis.