Pomegranate juice is sweet, tart, and refreshing. As with most things in life, fresh, homemade pomegranate juice is far tastier than shop-bought, pre-packaged juice. But how easy is it to make pomegranate juice?
You can make pomegranate juice at home, whether you have a juicer or not. The process is slightly more complicated than making other types of juice, but the end result makes it worth your time.
In this guide, you’ll learn the benefits of pomegranate juice, how to prepare a pomegranate for juicing, and how to make pomegranate juice using three different methods: by manual crushing, in a blender, and in a juicer.
🩺 Health Benefits of Pomegranate Juice
Pomegranate juice isn’t only a tasty drink from a delicious fruit. There are a number of benefits of drinking pomegranate juice, including:
A Good Source of Antioxidants
Pomegranate seeds, which are used to make pomegranate juice, contain a type of antioxidant known as polyphenols. Pomegranate juice has three times the number of antioxidants than green tea and red wine, and contains more antioxidants than most other fruit juices.
Contains Vitamin C
Most of us associate vitamin C with citrus fruits. But there are other fruits that contain high amounts of vitamin C, including pomegranate seeds. A single pomegranate yields enough juice to supply 40% of your daily vitamin C requirements. Fresh juice made from the inner seeds of pomegranate contains the highest amount of vitamin C.
May Prevent Cancer
A recent study has found that pomegranate may reduce the risk of cancer cell growth, and reduce existing cancer growth. The results of this study are promising, but still preliminary, and more research is needed for us to understand the cancer-preventing health benefits of pomegranate seeds.
Improves Digestion
Pomegranate juice is anti-inflammatory and can reduce gut inflammation, supporting healthy digestion. There’s conflicting research on the effects of pomegranate seeds for diarrhea, but pomegranate juice may be beneficial for people with inflammatory bowel disease like Chron’s.
May Protect the Heart
As one of the most heart-healthy juices, pomegranate juice can lower systolic blood pressure, improve blood flow, and prevent thickening of the arteries, according to some studies. Pomegranate juice may even slow the growth of cholesterol.
🍹 How to Prepare a Pomegranate for Juicing: Step by Step
Before you learn how to make pomegranate juice, you need to know how to prepare pomegranates for your fresh pomegranate juice recipe. You can’t technically juice the whole fruit. Only the seeds of the pomegranate are edible.
Here, you’ll find a step-by-step guide for preparing pomegranates from start to finish.
- Gather your materials. You’ll need a cutting board, a pomegranate, a sharp knife, a wooden spoon, and a large bowl of water. Pomegranate can stain, so choose a cutting board that won’t absorb the juice of the fruit.
- Cut into the pomegranate. Pomegranate juice technically isn’t made from the pomegranate fruit – it’s made from the tiny pinkish-red seeds and arils found inside the fruit. To begin, place the fruit on your chopping board and use a knife to cut off the top 1/3 of the skin, making a circular incision. You only want to pierce the skin, so don’t cut too deeply. From the circular incision, make a number of incisions down toward the bottom of the fruit, as if you’re cutting flower petals.
- De-seed the pomegranate. Remove the top of the pomegranate to reveal the seeds. Pull down on each of the “petals” you cut, opening the fruit like a flower. Flip the pomegranate so that the seeds are facing the cutting board, then bash the back of the fruit with a wooden spoon to knock the seeds out. Remove any excess seeds with your fingers.
- Collect the seeds. After seeding pomegranates, pour the seeds into a large bowl of water and wait for the seeds to sink. Any white flesh from the fruit will float at the top of the water. Collect this flesh with the wooden spoon.
- Store the seeds. Drain the water from the bowl. If you don’t plan to use your seeds straight away, store the seeds in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week. Alternatively, store the seeds in the freezer for 2-3 months.
- Repeat the process. One large pomegranate should yield just over one cup of pomegranate juice. If you want to double or triple your fresh pomegranate juice recipe, repeat the process of deseeding one or two more pomegranates.
This method can be quite messy, and an alternative option is to remove the seeds in a bowl of water. While this works well, you’ll need to use the seeds straight away, as they’ll go bad at faster.
You’ll now be ready to juice pomegranates.
📝 How to Juice a Pomegranate (Without a Juicer)
If you don’t have a juicer, you can still make fresh juice from pomegranate seeds, either by manually crushing the seeds or blitzing the seeds in your blender.
Here’s how to make pomegranate juice without a juicer.
Manual Crushing
Follow these instructions to make pomegranate juice by hand:
- Place the pomegranate seeds in a large bowl.
- Use the back of a fork or a potato masher to mash the pomegranate arils and seeds into a pulpy consistency.
- Add the seeds to a fine mesh strainer and press the seeds with the back of a spoon to squeeze the juice through the strainer, back into the large bowl.
- When all the juice has been pressed into the bowl, transfer the juice into a glass or pitcher for drinking immediately.
- Alternatively, store the juice in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours.
In a Blender
Here’s a step-by-step for making pomegranate juice in a blender:
- After removing the seeds from the cut pomegranate, place the seeds into your blender (a food processor would also work).
- Pulse the blender to break the seeds apart, releasing the juice. Don’t blend for too long, as this will cause the seeds to become crushed, resulting in a cloudy juice.
- Place the blended seeds in a fine mesh strainer and place the strainer over a bowl or container.
- Press the pomegranate pulp with the back of a spoon to squeeze the juice through the fine mesh strainer, into the container.
- Continue to press the pulp until all the juice had been released.
- Chill the juice in the refrigerator, or drink immediately before oxidation can occur.
💭 Can you Put Pomegranate Seeds in a Juicer?
Yes, you can put pomegranate seeds in a juicer. But not all juicers will yield the same results.
If you put pomegranate seeds in a regular juicer, the seeds will clog the juicer screen and filter, potentially damaging the juicer.
The best type of juicer for pomegranate juice is a citrus juicer. Pomegranates are soft, juicy fruits with hard skins, making them tougher to juice in centrifugal and masticating juicer models.
It’s best to hand-juice pomegranate using a manual citrus juicer. This gives you more control over the juicing process and allows you to get as much juice from the fruit as possible. However, electric citrus reamers work too.
📔 How to Make Pomegranate Juice in a Citrus Reamer
Keen to learn how to make pomegranate juice using a citrus reamer? Read on to learn the best way to juice a pomegranate using the citrus juicing method:
Using a Manual Citrus Reamer
- Cut the pomegranate in half, as you would with an orange or a lemon.
- Use a citrus reamer that comes with a strainer and a bowl. Gently push the pomegranate against the reamer to squeeze the juice from the seeds.
- The juice will be squeezed through the reamer, while the white flesh surrounding the seeds will be caught in the cup, preventing the juice from becoming bitter.
- Continue pressing and twisting the fruit to extract as much liquid as possible from all the seeds.
- You should be left with a clear juice. Remove the lid from the citrus reamer and serve the collected juice immediately.
You can follow the same process with a manual citrus press. Simply use the machine to press down on the pomegranate, rather than your hand.
Using an Electric Citrus Reamer
An electric citrus reamer produces more juice, but also produces more spray action. Remember that pomegranate juice stains, so this can be a messy job.
- Cut the pomegranate in half.
- Switch on the electric juicer. Press the pomegranate against the reamer and twist to allow all the seeds to be juiced.
- The juice will flow out of the juice spout, while the pulp and flesh will be caught in the cup.
- Continue juicing until no more juice remains in the fruit.
- Drink the collected juice immediately.
🤔 Which Fruits and Vegetables Pair Well with Pomegranate?
Pomegranate juice tastes great on its own, but the juice blends nicely with other fruit and vegetable juices. The best fruits and vegetables to juice alongside pomegranate juice are:
- Cherries
- Limes
- Oranges
- Pears
- Lemons
- Celery
- Apples
- Pineapples
- Mangoes
- Carrots
- Beets
- Ginger
- Spinach
- Grapefruit
- Sweet potato
- Blueberries
💯 Best Homemade Pomegranate Juice Recipes
If you’re interested to make your own pomegranate juice, there are plenty of healthy recipes to enjoy. I’ve shared three of my favorite recipes below.
Apple Pomegranate Juice
A nice and easy recipe for anyone who doesn’t have the time to prepare a handful of ingredients is this apple pomegranate juice recipe. You don’t have to be a fancy recipe developer to pull this one off – but you will need an electric juicer for the apple.
This recipe just requires two ingredients: two red apples and one pomegranate.
Pomegranate Mint Lime Juice
There’s no rule to say when you should drink pomegranate juice, but I think this recipe would taste best in the summer. With refreshing hints of mint and lime, this juice will kid you into believing you’re somewhere more exotic than your backyard.
For this recipe, you’ll need mint, pomegranate seeds, lime juice, ice cubes, a bit of honey or rose water, and a pinch of rock salt.
Pomegranate Orange Spritzer Mocktail
Okay, I can’t promise that this is a healthy recipe. But if you’re throwing a party or you just want to drink something a little more exciting when the warm weather comes around, this pomegranate orange spritzer mocktail recipe is just what you need.
Grab half a cup of pomegranate seeds, a tablespoon of lemon juice, plus club soda, orange juice, and a tablespoon of sugar. If mocktails are too tame for you, add a shot of your favorite spirit.
💡 FAQs
When is the best time to buy pomegranates?
Pomegranate is harvested in late summer/fall, and the best time to buy pomegranate is between October and January.
How do you know when pomegranates are ripe?
Juice from a ripe pomegranate is much sweeter and juicier than from an unripe fruit. If you buy pomegranates from a store, these fruits will have been picked when they were ripe, so you can enjoy them as soon as you buy them.
You’ll know that a pomegranate is ripe because it’ll be full of juice, which will give it a bulging appearance with a firm skin. The color of pomegranates should be deep red, and the fruit should feel heavy. If the surface of the skin has abrasions, that’s fine – it won’t affect the quality of the fruit inside.
What’s the best way to store pomegranates before juicing?
Ideally, you should store your pomegranates in the refrigerator in a plastic bag. Here, the fruit will last up to three months before use, but the sooner you can use it, the better. If you leave the fruit in room temperature, it will have a shorter shelf life of up to a week.
You can refrigerate pomegranate seeds, once removed from the fruit, for up to three days. Freeze the seeds for up to 6 months in an airtight container.
Can you juice pomegranate skin?
No. Pomegranate skin is tough, thick, and inedible. Only the seeds of a pomegranate and the juices surrounding them are the edible part of the fruit. You wouldn’t get much juice out of pomegranate skin anyway, and the skin will clog up a juicer.
Can pomegranate juice be stored?
Yes, but it’s best to drink the juice straight away before oxidation (the introduction of oxygen into the juice, causing a loss of nutrients) can occur.
However, if you can’t drink your juice immediately, or you have leftover juice, you can store it in an airtight jar or container in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, or in the freezer for up to three months. Remember that liquid expands as it freezes, so you should only fill containers that you plan to freeze 3/4 of the way full.
What does pomegranate juice taste like?
Pomegranate juice has a sweet, tart flavor, similar to cranberries. Like citrus fruit, pomegranate arils and seeds have a bold, refreshing taste in juice form.
Can you heat pomegranate juice?
Yes. You can add pomegranate juice to hot sauces and soups, which will give a deliciously sweet flavor to your sweet and savory dishes. However, the heat will spoil the color of the juice, and will cause oxidation and nutrient loss.
What can you do with pomegranate juice?
Aside from drinking the juice directly, you can use the juice to refine sauces, make pomegranate smoothies and cocktails, add it to salad dressings, make pomegranate jelly, mix it into your porridge or muesli, and add it to soups.
