Whether you’ve just bought a juicer or you’ve been juicing for a while, it isn’t always obvious exactly how – and what – you should be juicing.
For instance, when juicing beets, should you also juice the beet greens and stems? Or do these ingredients need to be separated from your beets before juicing?
The short answer is yes, you can juice beet leaves and stems – and you should. The leaves and stems of beets can add additional nutritional value to your juice. In fact, the greens and stems of beets contain the most vitamins and minerals in the entire plant.
One of the biggest benefits of adding beet greens to your beet juice is that you won’t end up wasting your greens. If you’re trying to minimize food waste and be as environmentally conscious as possible, you should definitely include beet greens in your beet juice.
Read on to learn about the health benefits of beet stems and greens, and how to juice these ingredients.
👨⚕️ Health Benefits of Juicing Beet Stems and Greens
Being a fantastic source of a range of vitamins and minerals, the greens of beetroots boast a range of benefits. These vegetable greens are packed with iron, vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin D, calcium, and other nutrients.
Some of the notable benefits of eating and juicing beet greens include:
Boost your Immunity
Beet greens are high in vitamin C, which supports immune function.
A study found that vitamin C can enhance microbial killing, protecting your body from illness. This vitamin also protects the body’s tissues from damage and can protect against oxidation.
Lower your Blood Pressure
Like beetroot, beet greens contain high levels of nitrate that are converted to nitric oxide in the body, helping to lower blood pressure and improve blood health.
A study found that supplementing with nitrates can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and increase energy.
Improve your Eye Health
Beet greens are a rich source of vitamin A and lutein, which are both essential for healthy eye. Juicing a single cup of beet greens will provide you with more than 100% vitamin A than is recommended per day.
Vitamin A can improve eye health by maintaining a clear cornea and protecting against eye afflictions. Lutein has been found to prevent cataracts and filter harmful blue light.
Maintain Strong Bones
As a plant-based calcium source, beet greens can help strengthen bones and prevent brittle bone diseases like osteoporosis. One report found that increasing calcium intake from dietary sources increased mineral density in the hip, spine, and neck bones.
For people who don’t eat much dairy, juicing beet greens is a good way to obtain calcium without resorting to supplements.
Support Healthy Teeth
Beet greens are rich in vitamin D, calcium, and magnesium, which all contribute towards strong, healthy teeth.
Calcium and magnesium keep the tooth enamel strong, reducing your risk of cavities. Vitamin D is needed to help your body absorb calcium. Adding beet greens to your beet juices will help you to maintain healthy teeth and gums.
🧃 How To Juice Beet Greens & Stalks
To juice beet greens and stalks, follow the instructions below:
- Clean the stalks and greens under cold running water, removing any visible dirt. Place the greens between two paper towels and rub to get rid of any remaining dirt.
- Chop the stalks into smaller pieces if your juice extractor can’t handle large items. Remove any damaged parts of the stalks. Skip this step if your stalks have no damage and your juicer can handle whole stalks.
- Set up your juice extractor as you usually would, ready for juicing.
- Turn on the juicer. If you’re juicing beets at the same time as beet greens and stalks, I recommend feeding a combination of the two into your juicer at once, which will reduce the potential for blockages.
- You can get even more benefits from your beet juice if you include other ingredients, like ginger, kale, cucumber, carrot, and chard. Add these along with your beets.
- Drink your juice immediately while it retains its highest nutritional value. You should store any leftover juice in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
🙋 Which Type Of Juicer Is Best For Beet Greens?
Beet greens are stringy, tough, and difficult to extract liquid from. The best type of juicer to juice beet greens is a masticating juicer with a strong, powerful motor.
There’s no point in using a centrifugal juicer to process beet greens. This type of juicer is okay for making beetroot juice, but its high-speed operation means that it won’t spend enough time squeezing the liquid from your beet greens before spitting the greens into the pulp cup.
It’s important that your masticating juicing machine is powerful enough to handle beet greens and other leafy greens without clogging or blockages. Look for a machine that has a powerful motor of around 1-2 horsepower.
Some manual juicers may also be suitable for juicing beet greens, but you may struggle to juice beet greens with these machines.
📔 3 of My Favorite Beet Greens Recipes
If drinking beet juice is already a part of your daily routine, it’s time to add beet greens to your recipes. Note that you’ll need a juicer, not a blender, if you’re specifically looking to make a juice, not a smoothie, from your beet greens.
Here are my three favorite beet green juice recipes to try today:
1. Apple Beet Green Juice
Apple beet green juice is a sweet, nutritious juice that will set you off well on a weekday morning. You’ll just need:
- 1 apple
- 2 celery stalks
- A 1-inch piece of fresh ginger root
- 1 golden beet (including the leaves)
- 2 large kale leaves
- A handful of spinach
This is more of a green juice than a beet juice, but you’ll still get a good combination of fruits and vegetables in this recipes. Golden beets are less earthy than normal beets, giving an overall sweeter flavor.
2. Beet Pineapple Lime/Lemon Juice
For an exotic take on beetroot juice, try this summery beet pineapple lime juice. You will need:
- 1 green apple
- 3 small beets (greens included)
- 4 stalks celery
- 1 lime or lemon
- 1 cup pineapple
This recipe is ideal for you if you want to combine several healthy ingredients in your juice, but you’re not a huge fan of vegetables. The greens will add a slightly earthy, bitter taste to your recipe, but the fresh fruits will balance it out with a sweeter flavor.
3. Pomegranate, Beets, and Hidden Greens Smoothie
The ingredients in this smoothie recipe are intended to be processed in a blender, but they work just as well in a juicing machine. It’s your choice whether you prefer a thicker smoothie blend or an easier-to-digest juice. You’ll need:
- 1/2 cup 100% pomegranate juice
- 1/2 cup chopped apple
- 1 beet (including leaves and root stem)
- 1 big handful spinach
- 4 large mint leaves
You won’t taste the vegetables in this fresh juice recipe, so it’s ideal for any non-vegetable lovers in your family. You can add a squeeze of lemon if you enjoy a burst of citrus in your leafy juice concoctions.
