Juicing is a popular trend in the world of health and fitness right now. What most people may not realize is that juicing often leaves plenty of leftover pulp. What can you do with all that leftover pulp? We’re going to discuss what to do with juice pulp, including composting options, recipes for using up your leftovers, and more!
What is juicing?
Juicing is the process of extracting juice from different fruit or vegetables by using a juicer. Drinking fresh juice provides anopportunity to boost your daily intake of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, fiber and enzymes. Drinking fresh juice offers more health benefits than drinking juices that have been sitting on the shelf for days.
Find out our favorite juicers that our chefs have loved for juicing.
What are the best fruits and vegetables for juicing?
The best vegetables to juice are cucumbers, celery, zucchini, kale and spinach.
The best fruits to juice are oranges, grapefruit, apple and lemon.
Fruits with a high water content make for the best juices and should be used in moderation as they tend to produce more waste pulp (peels/seeds) than other types of fruit.
What is juice pulp and is it nutritious?
Juice pulp is the leftover fiber, skins and seeds of fruits or vegetables after you have extracted juice from them. This juice pulp has lots of nutrition. Its got fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. In fact, all of the nutrients that are in whole pieces of fruit or vegetables exist as juice pulp too!
You can juice almost any fruit or vegetable. The only fruits you cannot use are citrus because the acid in them will damage your juicer’s blades and motor, so it is best to buy a separate machine for these items if you want to make fresh orange juice.
How can I store juice pulp?
Juice pulp can be stored at room temperature for up to three days or frozen for up to six months. It is very nutritious and has lots of fiber and antioxidants, which you can add back into your diet after a juice cleanse or just use in various recipes.
What can you do with leftover juice pulp?
There are many things you can do with the leftover pulp of fruits and veggies after juicing them:
- Compost Waste Pulp – If your compost pile is large enough, put it in there!
- Feed Chickens Waste Pulp– Chickens love fruit and vegetable waste pulp; and minerals. You could make this easy treat for them by putting fruit and vegetable waste pulp in a blender with water, ice cubes, or eggshell halves.
- Make Ice Cubes– Freeze juice pulp into cubes to add to your favorite drink instead of regular ice that is often made from tap water.
- Add it Smoothies – Juice pulp adds fiber, texture, and nutrients to smoothies.
- Make Fruit Leather – Spread fruit pulp onto a baking sheet and dehydrate it to make your own healthy, all-natural fruit leather! Add cinnamon for extra flavor.
- Bone broth – Add juice pulp to your bone broth for an extra nutrient boost.
- Make Vegetable Stock – After boiling veggies in water or stock, add the boiled vegetables and their juices into a blender with plenty of organic veggie scraps (onions, carrots), and blend until smooth. Dehydrate this mixture in a low oven overnight and you have vegetable stock!
Still want more ideas on what to do with juice pulp? Keep reading
- Bake it – Juice pulp can be baked into granola bars or energy bites for a healthy snack option. Just add it to your favourite recipe. You could also bake juice pulp into raw fruit and vegetable crackers with spices such as cayenne pepper, basil and oregano to give them an extra kick of flavor.
- Scrambled eggs– Mix pulp with scrambled eggs for extra flavor and nutrients.
- Fritters – You can make fritters with pulp and add whatever spices you like to them (garlic, onion powder).
- Juice Pulp Cake – Add juice pulp into a cake batter for an extra nutrient boost! Check out this recipe
- Make Juice Popsicles– Blend up leftover fruit or vegetable waste and pour it in popsicle molds. Freeze the popsicles for a delicious alternative to store-bought, expensive popsicles.
Juice pulp is so versatile and nutritious that you can use it in almost any recipe! These are just some of the many things you can do with juice pulp; there are probably hundreds of more ideas out there that haven’t even been discovered yet!
Frequently asked questions:
– What to do with carrot pulp?
Carrot pulp is great for adding to carrot muffins, breads, and cookies. You can also add it to soups or stews once the carrots have been cooked.
– What to do with leftover apple pulp?
Apple pulp is great for making applesauce, crumbles and pies. It can even be added to other baked goods like muffins and cakes for extra flavor and texture!
– What to do with celery pulp?
Celery pulp is great for adding to soups, stews, and sauce. It can be added to pasta sauces as well. You can also use it as a base for dips and spreads.
– Can juice pulp be used to grow plants?
No. Juice pulp does not have enough nutritional value to nourish a plant, so it is recommended that you find another way to grow the plant instead of using juice pulp.
– Will my dog eat leftover juice pulp?
Yes! If you juice vegetables, your dog would love any leftover pulp, because the juice helps digest the pulp more easily for them. Dogs are omnivores and can eat basically anything.
– What is the best way to store leftover apple peelings/fruit scraps for juicing?
Use them to make apple sauce, apple pie filling, or chutneys. You can also dehydrate them and blend them into a fine powder for baking.
– How long will juice pulp last in the freezer?
Up to six months.
– How will I know when my juice pulp is bad?
If you suspect it’s gone bad, smell and taste it to be sure. If the smell and taste is sour in any way, discard it.
– What can I do with old/bad juice pulp?
Throw it out! It’s not worth the risk of trying to salvage something that could potentially be bad for you. If your compost pile is big enough, you could always add it there.
– How much juice pulp should I expect to get after juicing?
It depends on the size and type of fruit or vegetable you juice. For example, one average-sized cucumber yields about a cup of pulp; four apples yield about one cup of pulp; four celery stalks produce about half a cup.
– How will leftover fruit peels keep fresh over time?
Store them in a bowl covered with water. Change out the water every couple of days to keep it fresh for longer.
– How long will juice pulp keep in the fridge?
Up to three weeks.
– Can I freeze my own juice pulp instead of buying a store-bought one?
Yes. Store the pulp in freezer bags or containers that are air-tight instead of store-bought juice pulp pouches because they will not be as fresh.
– Can I add juice pulp to my compost pile?
Yes, but it is recommended that you only add the fruit and vegetable pulp together with other compost ingredients to give it a balanced nutritional content.
