Make fresh blueberry juice at home with a blender, ripe berries, and a squeeze of lemon. It’s a sweet-tart healthy drink that comes together in 5 minutes.
Here’s a way I love to pack more fruits and veggies into my life: this tasty blueberry juice! Simply blend up blueberries with a little water, lemon juice and sweetener and it makes a sweet tart and delicious healthy drink.
This is a fun way to infuse all of those antioxidants from blueberries into a big dose, ideal alongside a lunch or snack. I love the fresh flavor of this berry drink, and there are so many variations on the theme, too!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s fast. Five minutes: no juicer required!
- It uses up extra berries. It’s a nice way to use up slightly-past-prime blueberries.
- It’s delicious. The sweet tart flavor is so refreshing.
- It’s packed with antioxidants. Blueberries are one of the most antioxidant-rich fruits you can buy!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Blueberry juice is easy to make with either a blender or a juicer! We had a load of blueberries to use up from blueberry picking, so it was a perfect way to use them (outside of blueberry desserts, of course!). It’s also a great way to use blueberries that are almost past their prime to cute down on food waste. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Blueberries
- Water
- Lemon juice
- Sugar, honey or maple syrup (or 1 apple)
A Quick Note on Sweetener
You can make blueberry juice with just blueberries and a little sweetener, or you can add another fruit for more natural sweetness! Here’s what to know:
- A hint of sugar, maple syrup of honey is like salt for sweet food: it helps to bring out the flavor. Because this is a healthy drink, we didn’t want to add too much sugar. You can add more than specified in the recipe below to make the flavor pop.
- You can also make this juice with 1 apple. Leave the skin on and chop it up. It adds a nice texture to the juice (see below) and acts as a natural sweetener. You may still want to add a hint of sweetener: and keep in mind, the berry flavor becomes more neutral when adding apple.
- The texture of this juice can be fairly thick because of the pectin in the berries. You don’t want to add too much water, or it will water down the flavor too much. So the apple is helpful for the texture as well as acting as a natural sweetener.
How to Make Blueberry Juice
Blueberry juice is similar to a smoothie, but you simply blend the berries with water and a little flavoring. If you have a juicer, you can also make this recipe: simply pass all the ingredients in the recipe below through your juicer and skip the straining (consider a double batch if possible). Here’s what to do:
- Step 1: Blend all ingredients on high until pureed and smooth. It will look like a thick smoothie at this point.
- Step 2: Strain the juice through a fine mesh sieve to remove any large chunks.
- Step 3: Add lemon juice and a hint of sweetener to add just the right brightness to the flavor at the end.
Flavor Variations
Outside of adding apple to this blueberry juice, there are lots of other flavor variations. Here are a few other ideas to liven up your juice:
- Pineapple: Add 1 cup chopped fresh or canned pineapple. (You’ll get a larger yield with this addition).
- Mango: Add 1 cup diced fresh mango.
- Pear: Add 1 chopped pear.
- Cinnamon: Add a pinch or two of cinnamon to bring out the berry flavor.
Is Blueberry Juice Good for You?
Blueberries are very high in antioxidants, and they bring vitamin C, manganese, and other minerals along the way. All of that lands in your glass when you blend them up.
However, keep this in mind: straining does remove some of the fiber you’d get from eating whole berries, so juice is a more concentrated form of natural sugar than a handful of fresh blueberries. I drink blueberry juice only on occasion: and I more often make this blueberry smoothie which keeps the whole berries!
Storage Instructions
Store homemade blueberry juice refrigerator for 1 to 2 days. Stir before serving, because it can become very thick after refrigeration. Add a splash of lemon juice or water if it is very thick.
Dietary Notes
This blueberry juice recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, gluten-free and dairy-free.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can enjoy a small glass regularly as part of a balanced diet, but I’d suggest mixing it up with other drinks and blueberry smoothies to get more fiber.
It keeps many of the antioxidants and vitamins, but straining removes most of the fiber. Whole blueberries give you that fiber, while the juice is a more concentrated, drinkable form of the fruit.
Absolutely. Frozen blueberries are often frozen at peak ripeness, so they blend up just as well as fresh. No need to thaw first.
Blueberry Juice
Pin RecipeMake fresh blueberry juice at home with a blender, ripe berries, and a squeeze of lemon. It’s a sweet-tart healthy drink that comes together in 5 minutes.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 ½ cups juice 1x
- Category: Drink
- Method: Blended
- Cuisine: Juice
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- ½ cup water
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice, or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon sugar (or honey or maple syrup) or 1 apple, chopped
Instructions
- Place the blueberries, water, lemon juice, and sugar (or apple) in a blender and blend until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a glass. Taste and if desired add additional sugar or lemon juice to taste. Alternatively if you have a juicer, you can simply pass all ingredients through a juicer.
- Serve immediately or store in a covered jar for 1 to 2 days. Stir before serving (and add a splash of lemon juice or water if it is very thick).
More Juice Recipes To Try
Love making healthy juices? Here are a few more ideas for tasty juicing recipes:
- Go for vegetable juices like Carrot Juice, Celery Juice or Cucumber Juice
- Opt for a tasty blend of Green Juice
- Try sweet Peach Juice
- Go for citrusy Grapefruit Juice
from A Couple Cooks https://ift.tt/rfdjIbt
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