Can You Make A Smoothie with a Juicer?

The bulk of this article is going to cover a rather strange question: Can you make a smoothie with a juicer?

It’s not something that you’re probably used to hearing. And I’ll be honest, it was something I hadn’t thought of before. But then a friend of mine asked me point blank if they could use their juicer to make a smoothie.

Hmmm?

So, it made me wonder. First, I laughed and said it would be better to just borrow a blender of mine or come over for one if they wanted a smoothie! But seriously, they wanted to use their juicer. And so, being someone who is really into smoothies and blenders, they figured they’d ask me.

What did I do? Well, I went home and tried it out.

That’s right I went ahead and tried making a smoothie with my juicer. (that’s right, I also juice it’s just not my first go to!).

What I found out was kinda of interesting and shocking. So can you? Let’s dive in.

Can You Make A Smoothie without A Blender?

Kinda of. It’s a bit of a trick question. I wouldn’t call what I made a smoothie. More of a “hack”. It’s not something i would do if I were to have a blender handy.

And honestly, even if I didn’t have a blender around, and if I only had a juicer, then I would go ahead and skip making this improvised smoothie.

You can make what amounts to a smoothie, but it’s not technically a smoothie. If anything, it would be a juice reconstituted. Which can approach what a smoothie is supposed to be.

The process is a bit tricky, and messy, so let’s review.

First, you’re going to use a masticating juicer. If you don’t own a masticating juicer then I’d advise just skipping this process all together.

Next, you will want to keep a clean container for the pulp. In most cases you’re going to be discarding the pulp after you finish juicing. But when you are making a smoothie with a juicer, that’s not the case.

You will need to take the pulp and combine it with the juice. That’s the reason why I like masticating juicers. They make it very easy to take the pulp and spoon it back into the juice.

Why Try and Make A Smoothie with A Juicer?

Honestly, I don’t have a good answer for this. I don’t think you should try making a smoothie with a juicer. And I’m not alone. Even people who are die hard juice fans don’t think it’s a good idea.

This blog, which covers juicing, even has a similar opinion found here: can you make smoothies with a juicer.

But what are my thoughts? Well, I’d say to skip it entirely. You are going to basically make reconstituted full pulp juice. That’s as close to a smoothie as you can make with a juicer.

I took my juicer out and went through the process of trying to make a smoothie, which I’ll detail below. Suffice to say I was not a fan and I don’t recommend it to anyone.

Some people might say that it’s worth trying to make a smoothie with a juicer if you only have a juicer and don’t have a blender. I don’t agree. I think that you should just either stick to buying smoothies (I’ve got a great list of places in different cities such as the best smoothie places in NYC you can check out).

Or else you should just buy a blender.

Can You Make A Smoothie with a Juicer?

You can make something that resembles a smoothie with a juicer, but like I’ve said, it’s not something I would advise.

First, it’s going to be messy. And that in and of itself is enough for me to suggest that you steer clear of using a juicer to make a smoothie.

The amount of clean up you will have to do with a juicer anytime you plan on making a smoothie is just daunting.

Second, it’s not going to be much like a smoothie in texture. It’s going to be more similar to a reconstituted juice.

The process is not going to get you a “real” smoothie. What it will do is turn fruits (I would not try doing this with vegetables) into liquid form and then you can combine the pulp to create a faux smoothie.

 

How To Make A “Smoothie” With a Juicer?

First, you need to use a good juicer. And when I say a good juicer, I mean you need to use a masticating juicer.

Masticating juicers are juicers that chew or press instead of dice.

If you brought a juicer from the store, odds are it’s a dicer style. These won’t work.

But if you happen to have an auger juicer, then you can attempt a juicer smoothie.

The process is sort of simple, if not clean.

First, you’ll juice your fruits.

Next, you will take the pulp and the juice and mix them together.

What you’re going to get is something that’s as close to a smoothie as you can make with a juicer.

It’s not a smoothie! But it’s the best you can do with a juicer.

 

What Types of Fruits Can You Juice to Make A Smoothie?

You will notice that I don’t mention vegetables. I’ve basically skipped completely over vegetables.

That’s simply because I don’t think that juicers and vegetables combine very well to make a smoothie.

If you must use your juicer to try and make a smoothie, then go ahead and try and make something using fruits.

Now, what fruits would I consider a good option? Well, soft fruits are ideal.

Normally juicers are not great at making juice from fruits such as berries or mango’s or bananas. But if you’re going to use them to make a mushy drink that you’re using as a smoothie substitute, then this is a good choice.

It’s because the juicer will breakdown the soft pulp and this softness makes for a much better faux smoothie.

I have an entire article covering the best frozen fruits to make a smoothie with. And these are the same fruits that I would suggest that you use.

What I would suggest you do differently when you are making a smoothie with a juicer is to thaw out the frozen fruits. I am not a big fan of juicing frozen fruit. It can create too much of a slush puree. You want to only juice thawed out fruit.

If you run frozen fruit through the juicer, then what will happen is that you’re going to get a big pile of slushy pulp.

So, my suggestion is to take the frozen fruit and let it thaw in a container. Then, collect the liquid (that’s juice that you will want to incorporate into the smoothie) and then juice the remaining frozen fruit and mix it all together.

Some fun ideas for frozen fruit smoothies made with a juicer include cherries and blueberries and tropical fruits such as mango’s. (as an interesting aside, mango’s have a lot of studied health benefits and they are hard if not impossible to juice , so making a mango smoothie is a great idea).

Is a Smoothie Made with a Juicer Really a Smoothie?

This is sort of a trick question and it depends on who you ask.

I define anything that approximates a blended fruit or veggie shake as a smoothie. If you don’t have a blender are need to do it on your own using a juicer, then sure…call it a smoothie.

The problem isn’t with what it is called. The bigger issue is that it’s going to be such a chore to make.

And I don’t think there is a problem making a faux smoothie once with your juicer, but if you want to make smoothies even once a week, then you should just go out and buy a good blender.

I’d choose an entry level blender meant for beginners if you’re completely new to blending.