When It Comes to Juicing, Waste Not

This post comes to us courtesy of Joe Cross, founder of Reboot Your Life.

Juicing has fabulous health benefits. It’s a quick, efficient and delicious way to make sure your body gets all the nutrients it needs, and then some. But what about the pulp? Many people complain that so much of the fruits and vegetables go unused. Well, who says you can’t use the pulp? Waste not, I say.

As a general practice, all good juicers should be good composters unless they intend to use their pulp in other ways in the kitchen. Composting allows you to give back to the earth and enhance the next harvest from our home gardens. It’s one big circle of life, after all.

However, composting isn’t possible or practical for everyone – and it isn’t your only option. The pulp from your adventures in juicing can also be used in a variety of dishes such as vegetable soups, veggie patties, muffins or even to spice up your meatballs (for the carnivores). Using the pulp allows you to add new flavors to your dishes, to add more nutrients (like fiber) into your diet, and to add more moisture into your food. When you’re taking a period of time to consume only juice, and no solid food (or what I call a Reboot), you can always freeze the pulp and use it when you integrate other types of meals back into your diet.

Start experimenting with your pulp and visit Reboot Your Life for recipes. Here’s a simple vegetable broth recipe to get you going.

Simple Vegetable Broth

2 full bags of juicer pulp (from making two 20-ounce juices)

10 to 12 cups water

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

Fresh or dried herbs: chives, thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil, old bay, ginger, parsley — use any herbs you like

1 tsp. olive oil

Place olive oil in pot and heat on medium. Add pulp. Stir and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add water, herbs/spices/seasonings and turn up to high until boiling. Once boiling, turn heat down to simmer at medium. Cook covered, up to 2 1/2 hours. (For a quick version, cook covered 20 to 30 minutes.)

Turn off heat. Using a ladle, strain pulpy broth in batches (removing pulp) into glass a bowl or another pot. Let cool then sip and enjoy! Serves 2.

Transfer remaining broth to a glass jar for storage. Save strained pulp for compost.

About the author: Founder of Reboot Your Life – a health and wellness company that provides tools and information to support diets rich in fruits and vegetables (www.jointhereboot.com).

11 comments about “When It Comes to Juicing, Waste Not”

Sallye Nagley Feb 1 at 9:14 pm

I have been trying to get back into the website for Joe Cross, but I cannot get it to work right, and as a result I cannot ask him my question. I wanted to ask him what his diet was like now.

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The Next Book | Solmaz Hafezi

Me, Redone - What To Do With All That Juice Pulp

Frassy Aug 18 at 9:49 am

I take a little pulp (about a 1/4 to 1/2 a cup) and put in in my vitamix along with the juice to puree some of the fiber before I drink it down.

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politicking Nov 24 at 9:18 pm

Yesterday, while I was at work, my cousin stole my iphone
and tested to see if it can survive a 25 foot drop,
just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad
is now destroyed and she has 83 views. I know this is totally off topic but I had to share it with someone!

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AussiEgal Dec 19 at 8:16 pm

I save the pulp and feed it to my dogs.
As canines are omnivores, it makes sense that they would also need fruit and veg in their diet. My dogs love fruit and vegies, in fact I would go so far as to say, that they crave it. If I dont give them the pulp or other fruit and veg. they start eating the fruit and vegies out of my garden!
They’ll eat the pulp alone but also mixed with raw mince meat for their main meal.
Interestingly, I have found they also like the wheat and spelt grass pulp – they will even compete with each other to get it.

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Sandra Jan 13 at 3:48 pm

Thanks for the recipe. I’m new to juicing and want to use some of the pulp in recipes. I practice composting, but right now the juicing pulp (with the exception of citrus or ginger) goes to our chickens and turkeys on our urban farm! They love it. Another way to keep the “circle of life” going and get fresh, delicious eggs.

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Amy Feb 3 at 3:24 pm

We began juicing ever since we have watched your show “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.” We would like to find another juicer that uses the pulp in the juice. Is there a juicer that does this, and where can I find it?

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