Can You Juice Frozen Vegetables

Can You Juice Frozen Vegetables?

Let’s lead this blog post off right and answer the main question. So, can you juice frozen vegetables?

Simple question and my answer would be, no you shouldn’t juice frozen vegetables.

Yes, of course you can. But I don’t think you should juice frozen vegetables.

The primary reason I don’t think you should juice frozen vegetables is that you are trading health and taste for convenience.

Sure, you can buy frozen vegetables and juice them, but you’re going to have to thaw them, drain them of excess water, and the juice that you end up with isn’t going to be anywhere as healthy or as fresh tasting.

You can’t juice frozen vegetables while they are frozen. So, you are going to have to thaw them out. Frozen vegetables won’t produce enough juice because the liquid is in a solid state.

You need the vegetables to be soft in order to juice them.

Are Frozen Vegetables As Healthy as Fresh?

There is a lot of discussion online regarding the health benefits of frozen vegetables. Most pop health sites will tell you that frozen vegetables are healthy.

And while I don’t think that frozen vegetables are unhealthy, I don’t think that they are as healthy as fresh vegetables.

The reason I don’t think that frozen vegetables are as healthy comes down to: enzymes and deterioration of nutrients.

Modern food science  articles will detail how vegetables are frozen. It’s a process known as flash freezing.

The process of flash freezing is designed to maintain the “freshness” of vegetables, while also making them good to store in the deep freeze for a long time.

There’s significant research that covers the nutrient breakdown of flash frozen vegetables (I’ll link to this at the bottom of the article).

Most experts agree that if you get flash frozen vegetables, then you are still getting some of the benefits of eating a vegetable.

The big issue I have has more to do with the ease of use that these vegetables pose when juicing.

Can You Freeze Fruits and Vegetables for Juicing?

A lot of people are curious about freezing fresh fruits and vegetables and then juicing them. And it makes sense.

Have you ever brought too many apples? Too much celery? Well, like most people who end up with a lot of produce that might spoil, you probably wonder what to do with it.

So, my first option would be to juice it right away or else use it to make something to eat.

I’m not someone who is a big advocate for saving fruits or vegetables period. And I certainly don’t suggest that you freeze them and then use them at a later date. It’s just not a good idea.

However, if you must, then what I suggest you do is freeze them after cutting them into single slices (in the case of carrots, or other hard vegetables) or take them and place them in wax paper and separate them (in the case of kale or spinach).

If you are planning on freezing vegetables or fruits, I would only suggest you do it with those hard fruits and vegetables that are not that “water saturated”. So, cucumbers and tomatoes are out. Carrots? Ok.

And also make sure that you are using a food grade wax paper. I only use an organic non-bleached paper. You don’t want any chemical residue sticking to the fruits or vegetables that will then transfer to the juice that you are making.

Why Are Frozen Vegetables Not Good for Juicing

The main reason I am not an advocate for using frozen vegetables with juicing is because of the quality of the juice.

First, let’s presume that you are fine with thawing out frozen vegetables, and draining them of any excess water (frost). You are also going to have to content with the ice cold temperature of the juice.

But more important, a frozen vegetable won’t have the same flavor as fresh vegetables. While most food scientists (at least the mainstream ones) will argue that the food is relatively similar from a nutrient profile, it does not taste the same.

Frozen foods lose some of their flavor due to the freezing process.

So, when you combine the headache and long time requirements, it’s just not something I advocate for.

Consider making a green juice with frozen greens. Here’s what you will need to do.

1. Thaw out the spinach, kale, or other frozen greens (there are not many frozen green vegetables beyond kale, spinach, broccoli, and pees).
2. Drain the vegetables of any water that leaked out during the thaw. Much of that will be excess frozen liquid that might not be juice
3. Check the vegetables for debris

That’s a longish process and one I would suggest that you juice replace with a fresh vegetable juicing program.

Why Are Some Frozen Fruits Ok for Juicing?

So the final question that I wanted to address has to do with why some frozen fruits are ok for juicing.

I would say that as a rule frozen fruits are only ok for juicing if you are thawing them and using fruits that are otherwise very expensive and not normally something you would juice.

Case in point berries and cherries.

Neither of these fruits are things that I would normally recommend that you juice. They would be better in a smoothie.

However, if you are in the mood to add some cherry juice to your green drink, then frozen cherries might be a great idea.

Whereas most frozen vegetables don’t make good juices, that’s not the case with frozen cherries. In fact, they are actually pretty good to juice.

The number one reason why I like juicing frozen cherries over frozen vegetables is that the cherries are pitted and that eliminates a lot of the time in prep work.

That’s why the only time I actually advocate for using frozen vegetables or fruits is when you’re using cherries. And that’s simply because fresh cherries are both super expensive when compared to frozen organic cherries, and they also require you to do quite a bit of labor in removing the pits.

If you run a cherry with a put in it though a regular juicer or an auger juicer you risk breaking the juicer. Frozen cherries as a rule are pitted.

 

 

Studies and Links to Research

• Frozen Food Nutrition Table
• Berries And Frozen Nutrients