A Visual Guide to Juicing Vegetables: How Many Veggies Go in a Cup?
I love juicing. My juicer has earned its place as a mainstay on my kitchen counter, and we do our tango, as I haphazardly throw a bit of kale and a cucumber down its chute. Maybe a beet. Maybe a head of lettuce. Definitely a lemon and some ginger. I don’t really pay attention to measurements or quantities. We make all sorts of combos. I usually end up drinking it out of a quart-sized mason jar with a straw. It’s not fancy.
But what happens when you do pay attention to measurements? Ever wonder how many veggies it takes to make that expensive green juice you’re picking up at the juice bar? For the first time, I measured several of my favorite juicing veggies and the quantity it would take to equal a cup of their juice. The results were unexpected! Check it out.
First, let’s note that different juicers have the ability to produce more or less juice. I am using this Breville juicer.
I also had to shop for this project before I started, so there was some guesswork. I purchased an intense amount of vegetables. The list goes as follows: four English cucumbers, four bunches of celery, six heads of romaine lettuce, 16 zucchinis, 15 beets, a large bag of carrots, and eight bunches of kale. At the checkout I was asked if I was going on an all-vegetable cleanse. I just politely responded yes, since that seemed more logical than trying to explain that I was about to juice the entire produce section of a Whole Foods … in one sitting.
I got home and got to juicing. Here are the results!
The Vegetables You Need for 1 Cup of Juice
How Many Cucumbers Give You a Cup of Juice?
One English cucumber yields over 1 cup of juice.
What About Celery?
One bunch of celery will make over 1 cup of juice.
How Much Juice Is in a Zucchini?
Three medium-sized zucchini make 1 cup of juice.
How Much Kale Is in a Cup of Juice?
Two-and-a-half bunches of dinosaur kale make 1 cup of juice.
Carrots? How Many Do You Need to Drink?
Nine medium-sized carrots produce 1 cup of juice.
How Many Beets in a Cup?
Four red beets produce 1 cup of juice.
What’s in a Head of Lettuce?
Two heads of romaine lettuce produce 1 cup of juice.
How Do These Compare to Your Juicing?
As you can see, my vegetable guesstimate while shopping was a little bonkers. Even with years of juicing under my belt, I was still convinced it would take me nearly eight bunches of kale to make a single cup of juice. Wrong. Very, very wrong. I mean, 15 beets? Yeah, no.
Needless to say, I’m cooking all things vegetables this week in order to use up the extras.
Now, who wants to come over and help me drink my weight in vegetable juice? I’ve got plenty. Seriously, somebody send help.