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In a world that is increasingly turning to food forms that lack nutrients, I want to instill the healthy habit of green smoothies and green juice each day to as many people as I possibly can. I’m often asked, which is better. That’s why I did a juicer vs blender test; to find out which is better.
Table of Contents
Why Use a Juicer or Blender?
Whether you choose to blend or juice, you are gifting your body improved health by using these nutrient packed drinks. Regularly drinking smoothies or fresh, veggie-based juice will:
- Increase your veggie intake dramatically
- Make it easier as well as quicker for your body to absorb nutrients. Blending and juicing allows the food to become somewhat “pre-digested”
- Curb appetite + reduce cravings for sugar and processed foods because you’re nourishing your cells with micronutrients. Your body no longer craves the “carbs” or macronutrients
Now, let’s put the juicer vs blender debate to the test!
Blending Smoothies
Spoiler Alert! Blending is obviously my preferred method of drinking plants, yet have you ever asked, why? In the juicer vs blender debate, here’s the blending side:
Pros for blending smoothies
- Blend more than just veggies – add fruits, diff types of milk, ice, nuts, seeds, nut butters, oils, protein powders, supplements – you name it
- Fiber helps fill you up – When blending the whole veggie and fruit, the fiber from peels and flesh help fill up space
- Cost of the blender is minimal – most people already have a blender in their kitchen
- Smoothies are much more kid-friendly – In my experience, kids love smoothies more than veggie-based juice because you can thicken them up to look and taste like a frozen dessert.
Cons of blending
- Less quantity of nutrients per serving than juicing – Because the fiber remains, you need to drink more smoothies than juice to get the same amount of vitamins, minerals and phytotnutrients per glass
- Some produce is not good for blending – Root veggies like carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips and beets are packed full of nutrition, but don’t taste so good in smoothies. They often come off chalky as well as bitter. They are more suitable for juicing.
But that’s not all… juicers have a lot of great features too. So let’s talk about the flip side of the juicer vs blender debate.
Juicing fruits and vegetables
While the blender is my go-to kitchen appliance, a fresh-squeezed juice from a juicer is fun. It feels like a luxurious drink that can be equally delicious. So what are the benefits and drawbacks of juicing?
Pros of juicing
- More veggies per serving – Since the fiber is removed, more veggie juice fits in the glass versus a smoothie
- Easier to digest nutrients – Unlike blending, juicing extracts nutrients + water from veggies and fruits leaving behind plant fibers. This allows the body to absorb the nutrients quicker without having to expend energy to digest the fiber too.
- Quicker energy boost – Juice has a higher concentration of veggies (and therefore nutrients) per glass versus a smoothie, and is in an even more pre-digested format than smoothies for quicker nutrient absorption.
- Less heat damage – Blades run at high speed on blenders that can slightly heat the smoothie which could kill off some of the beneficial enzymes.
Cons of using a juicer vs blender
- Juicing machines are sometimes more difficult to clean – Juicers usually have more parts to clean and take a little longer to clean than blenders
- More refrigerator space required – Juicing requires more veggies and fruits per serving than blending, so you need to have more refrigerator space to store them
- Veggie costs are more than blending – because you are using more veggies per serving, you need to buy more
- Whole leafy greens are more beneficial to health—juicing removes the skin + insoluble fiber of fruits and veggies, making them less nutritious.
As you can see, both juicers and blenders have some great positives. No matter which appliance you’re in the market for, I’ve got my personal recommendations to share.
Best Juicers
Lots of people shy away from juicers because of the price. They can def be expensive, yet the one I recommend the most to people is actually a lower price point! The Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus Centrifugal Juicer is one of the top rated juicers on the market, and recommended for juicing leafy greens.
My second juicer recommendation is the Omega Vertical Slow Speed Juicer, 150-Watt. The Omega brand is known for its long-lasting machines, plus this juicer has fewer parts to clean #bonus.
Best Blenders
One of the top questions I get is what kind of blender is the best blender for smoothies? If you’ve decided smoothies win in the juicer vs blender debate, then check out my handy Blender Guide.
While I’m constantly on the lookout for new, great blenders to try, Vitamix is my go-to for the best blender out there. Whether its the trusty Vitamix 7500 that I started out on, or my current A3500, you can’t go wrong with this brand.
Guess what, though?! You don’t need a high-end blender to get started with green smoothies. Our community uses blenders of every shape and size to make their daily creations. If you’re looking for a blender on a budget, then definitely check out Nutribullet. They have a great range of blenders at a variety of price points. Lots of smoothie lovers swear by Nutribullet, and I love them too!
Thanks so much for this article. My husband is an appliance freak and has purchased us a Ninja Blender, a Nutribullet and just last week a juicer. After reading about the benefits of both, I have decided that I will juice in the morning and have that with breakfast. For lunch, I will have a smoothie with some protein as a meal replacement. I hope this helps me slim down some in combination with exercise.
Oops it was .. I wrote the URL wrong..
Sam K
A very interesting article, Im interested to know how a masticating slow juicer like the one from Zweissen ( ) would compare to any of the electrical designs above, and how its juice would compare to the juicer and blenders that you have compared above.
thanks!
Sam K
I started juicing just after Easter 2014. I have fresh juice from my BREVILLE every morning. As of this date, I’m down 46 pounds! Cleaning is a breeze since I started using a battery operated toothbrush to clean the mesh screen. 20 mins max from start to finish. Some days I will put the juice in my Ninja and add half an avocado for a thicker smoothie juice. Just a thought.
Thank you so much for the idea of cleaning the juicer with an electronic toothbrush! I have to run out and get one asap! Congratulations on your weight loss. Do you do anything in addition to juicing in the morning?
Can you freeze the juices in the 3 day jump start book for the Nutra Ninja?
Hey Kathy. I haven’t checked out that book, so I am not sure. But almost everything is freezable. 🙂
I am very interested in a good system for drinks to go. I love vegetables, soups and want to make both. So many choices it is mind numbing
i was given a juicer for xmas and wasn’t expecting it. It’s a really good one a cold pressed or something. I really need the fibre though and was wondering what to do with all the pulp
Fold into baked goods maybe, Kirsty? 🙂
You can make a healthy meatloaf with some of the pulp/fiber added, especially if you huiced carot and celery. Also a little bit can be added to tuna.This is good even if apple or grapes were juiced.
Thanks for the tip, Beth!
Jadah, What an informative post, thanks!
Cheers! Glad you enjoyed it.
So I’ve been juicing for a few months and really love using carrots in my daily juice. My hubby bought me a Vitamix for Christmas so I’m gonna give smoothies a go. Anyways, my question: since, according to this article, carrots turn chalky and bitter when blended, could I juice a bunch of carrots (and freeze the juice in ice cube trays) and successfully use this juice without the chalky/bitterness?
Hi Nicole.
Thanks for the comment.Yes, you could juice your carrots before hand if you would like. Have you tried roasting them? The caramelize and soften. I love roasting my carrots. 🙂 https://simplegreensmoothies.com/fruit-and-vegetable-smoothie
Hi, I have a question, what if.. I blend the vegies and then strain it? to make it Juice! is just that haha by mistake I froze my vegies!! 🙁 can I make jucie with it? I am newbie at this! hahaha I have a juicer but today I try to do a Juice but with my frozen vegies and i get such a litle juice. maybe I didn’t use enough or maybe because they are frozen
Thanks!
Nice info graphic there!
You covered the pros and cons of both juicing and blending nicely.
In regards to this disadvantage of juicers: “Juicing machines sometimes more difficult to clean – Juicers usually have more parts to clean and take a little longer to clean than blenders”
There is the option to get around this by purchasing an easy to clean juicer such as the breveille compact juicer – ive got one and its a breeze to clean! comes in a few parts and you can blast them in the dishwasher or hand wash with ease!
Al
Thanks for sharing Al, juicers can be harder to clean.
I too have had a Brevelle Juicer, not sure if it was the compact one, but it was not to difficult to clean.
Do you blend as well? Is so, which blender do you use?
I am very new to this whole concept of Juicing/Blending. I am trying to decide to Juice and/or Blend. I try to work out in the morning around 6am…then shower at the gym…so timing is hard. My stomach is super sensitive. I will bloat most often if I eat any salad or pasta. I am a skinny PCOS which is pre-diabetic, but trying to get pregs and in general obtain more energy as well as develop a healthy lifestyle for my husband, myself and hopefully my children one day. Can you recommend what to do? and what machine to buy?
Hi Mandy!
We can’t really prescribe whether juicing or blending will be better for you since we aren’t doctors or nutritionists, but here are a couple of articles that may help you out:
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/smoothie-pregnancy
We are big fans of blending because you are receiving all the fibers from the fruit that are great for your body, and help slow the absorption of the natural sugar in fruit.
Definitely blending all the way. Juicing makes me hungry too quickly.
I had a juicer years ago and didn’t stick with it. The machine and all the left over pulp were way too annoying to clean. I also don’t love the taste. I have been making green smoothies in a nutribullet since June and I just ordered a Vitamix. I would really love to get a juicer to juice beets and carrots and then add that juice to my smoothie.
Thanks for sharing, Jen 🙂 Neat to hear that you went with a Vitamix!
Jen,
I have been using the Vitamix for a year now and it can blend up anything! So you won’t have to juice your beets and carrots separately just add it to your smoothie mix.
I do both. I have a Hurom slow juicer and the Vita Prep blender. If I’m replacing meal, I blend, but if I need a quick vitamin and mineral shot, I juice (with plenty of veggies). The Hurom will also juice nuts, so nut milks are super fast to make. The few parts the Hurom has can go in the dishwasher, and the dry fiber that is left behind goes great in stews, Bolognese, or even thick soups. I love juices, but am totally about not wasting the fibre.
does anyone know the science behind what you lose in terms of nutrients by not drinking either the juice or smoothie right away? i’d like to make the smoothie or juice first thing in the morning and take it with me for lunch. lunch wouldn’t happen for 5 or 6 hours. i don’t want to go through the expense and time of doing this if oxidation has removed a lot of the value of the smoothie or juice. any science people out there?
many thank, c. healey
I blend…God intended for us to eat the fiber
Crissie!
Thanks for this input! It is great to learn more about pros for juicing, especially since we aren’t highly involved with it 🙂
I agree with Jason on this topic, have done both with seperate machines until I realised that the Vitamix blender is good for juicing as well – what I love about this is, that nothing will be wasted, as I can use the pulp later in almost every dish!
I have done both, and like most i love the pros of both but hate the cons of both. I tend to blend more because the fiber makes me feel full longer and i feel more satisfied and the clean up is much easier, BUT juicing to me taste alot better but my old juicer which works great takes a long long time to clean and is pain staking.