I’m here to share a love for eating plants with as many people across the globe as I can. In a world that is increasingly turning to food forms that lack nutrients, I want to instill the healthy habit of 1 green smoothie a day into as many people as I possibly can. Yet, there is more than 1 way to drink your greens, right? That’s why I did a juicer vs blender test; to find out which is better.
Both options give you the freshest produce in an easy-to-drink form, so is one actually better than the other? Well, let’s find out!
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!
Share in the comments below which team you’re on in the juicer vs blender debate. Also, let me know which machine you use!
I drink a whole veggie shake every morning. I only rinse my veggies- never heat or cook them. Each of my smoothies consist of spinach, kale, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, celery, cucumber, apple, bell pepper, 1/2 avocado, carrots and Shaklee “Plant Based” Protein Powder. I split the shake (without the kale) with my Black Lab & he is now 16 years old & still acts like a puppy.
Hooray for a happy healthy you and a happy healthy puppy! It’s so wonderful how we can use food to heal not just us, but also our four-legged family too. If you get a chance – check out our plant-based homemade protein powder. It’s super clean, with just organic hemp, chia and flax seed. We bet your puppy would love it too!
This is so helpful! Thanks for the good knowledge + insight.
So welcome, Erin! Glad it was helpful!
Both are very good because both are having different qualities and functions . But my opinion is happy to all of them.
We couldn’t agree more! 🙂
in my opinion.blender is better investment as it takes major role in using all kind of fruits and vegetables easily and precisely .easy to clean . on other hand juicer is also a good option but it limits juice as all kind of fruits and vegetables are difficult to use with juicer.
Thank you for sharing, Justyn!
Juicing limits you to mainly use fruits. A blender can give you option to use vegetables, which has more nutrients than fruits. Plus, a blender is easier to clean. I still believe blenders are the better investment.
Thanks for sharing Heloise,
We love how you get the entire fruit or veggie as well. You are not wasting anything and getting all that extra fiber that is so important 🙂
I think both have their own qualities and functionalities. I use both for my personal use and I am happy with both of them.
Hey Jennie’s,
That is so great! Juicing and blending are two amazing things for you and such a benefit for your overall health.
Cheers!
Great article! So many people call the Vitamix a “juicer” and it confuses me a lot! I long for the day when I can do both juicing and blending on ONE machine!
Hi Luna,
I love that idea!! I love smoothies, but sometimes a girl just needs a good green juice too + that would make it so easy!
“consuming greens and minimum fruit must be good go you”- Great point
Hi Janet,
Cheers to opening the box + taking your first step! If there’s anything we can do to help you along your health + wellness journey, don’t hesitate to reach out!
Hello Jen,
I really appreciate how honest and balanced this article is. I also love the infographic and pinned it up on our website’s Pinterest account. Early on in my juicing days, I would occasionally have a smoothie, here and there, but I was pretty hard core on sticking with juicing. Now, years later, I love to do both, and I appreciate each of them for the particular health benefits they include. Like you mentioned in the article, one of the benefits with smoothies is that you can add other ingredients, such as, almond milk, etc., that might not go so well with juice. I like to blend in green powdered supplements, now, into my smoothies and spirulina, as well, and, sometimes, I just love the frozen, fruity flavor of a nice fruit-heavy smoothie. When it comes to juicing, I enjoy fruit juices, occasionally, but, usually, I go heavy on the green side. For some reason, I can handle the flavor of a hard-core green juice vs the flavor of a hard-core smoothie. Not sure why; it’s just how I am.
Oh, and amen to the part where you mention that juicer parts take longer to clean than blender parts. Agreed, 100%. I’m looking forward to the day where they figure that out! 🙂
Hi Shawn,
Thank you so much for reaching out! And love that you’re blending and juicing, and reaping the major health benefits! Make sure and keep in touch!
Thank you for sharing, very interesting
You’re so welcome, Adam!
I used kale, frozen blueberries, banana, 1 cup of unsweetened coconut milk, 1 cup of ice water, and a vegan protein powder. I drank twice a day, alternating spinach with the kale. I was never hungry and the weight just fell off of me. I use a Ninja blender. I stopped for a dumb reason and because of hormones for cancer treatment I gained the weight back. I had kept it off for 3 years. Starting again because I felt a lot better.
Hi Craig,
So happy to have you back + blendin’ with us!
The blender by Karmin is my favorite 🙂
Thanks for sharing, Shirley! We love hearing about the different blenders our community are using!
Hi there, I became health conscious person and leafy vegetables is one of the main ingredients…I usually boil leafy veggies to kill bacteria before I blend them, because washing them alone wont remove all germs.. would it be ok?
Hi Sharry,
We prefer to use raw leafy greens + use a homemade produce wash. Check out how we wash our greens here…
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/dirty-dozen-list
Still want to boil your greens? Go for it! Just reach out and let us know how you enjoyed your green smoothie after.
No it’s not a good idea .Boiling the leafy vegetables will reduce 22% to 34% of vitamin C as well as other nutrients in the vegs. Also stick to organic food, there are no
pesticides. Believe me a few bugs on the vegetables won’t kill you, your body can deal with them easily as long as immune system is working properly.
hello I’ve been doing smoothies but I usually buy fresh veggies and fruits in batch then mix them in ziploc for 1 serving per day and freeze it coz the it rotten quick in the fridge is this ok?
mix of 1/2 cup of pineapple,2 small cucumber,2 cups of greens organic from costco(spinach,kale and red collards),1 small fresh turmeric,2 tbsp flaxseed,2tbsp chia seeds. is this good mix
Hi Merry,
That’s more than ok! We love using our freezer to prep green smoothies. It makes blending super easy + keeps good fruits and veggies from going bad. Learn more about our favorite prep tips here…
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/frozen-smoothie-packs
I juice daily and intend to until I expire. I have no experience with blending to compare, however this article and others confirm my theory; nutrients absorbed quicker, less pulp and more veggies. I’ll add blending to my regimen in the near future to increase my vegetable intake.
Hi Keith!
Thanks so much for reaching out! We can’t wait to hear about your experience of blendin’ your produce :). Welcome to the green smoothie lifestyle!
Cheers!