Summer Refreshment: How To Make Cucumber Juice

We had an abundance of cucumbers starting to pile up in our fridge, so we thought we’d try an experiment: making cucumber juice.

We decided that cucumber juice not only makes a refreshing, slightly sweet beverage for a hot summer afternoon, but it looks darn pretty, too!

Personally, we thought the juice was a bit strong and bitter all on its own. We liked it better when we mixed in some sparkling water and a squeeze of lemon.

We’re also envisioning cucumber cocktails paired with a light gazpacho in our near future. And wouldn’t a few pale green ice cubes look nice floating in a pitcher of water?

As for the pulp leftover from straining the juice, we think we’ll try mixing it with some simple syrup and freezing it to make granita!

What else should we do with our leftover juice and pulp?

Cucumber Juice
makes about 4 cups of juice

6 medium cucumbers

Set a strainer over a large bowl. For a less-pulpy juice, line the strainer with cheesecloth or coffee filters.

Peel the cucumbers, slice off the ends, and chop into several large pieces. Run the cucumbers in a food processor until pulpy–about two minutes.

Pour the cucumber mash into the strainer and use a spatula to gently stir the mash until no more juice is separating out. Store the juice and the pulp separately for up to one week.

Related: DIY Orange Smoothie

(Image: Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)