23 Best Vegetables for Juicing for Nutrition and Health

Vegetable juicing is quickly becoming a popular way to add more nutrition to your diet.

Vegetable Juice Benefits

There are many benefits to vegetable juicing, such as improving your immune system and helping you get the vitamins and minerals your body needs.

But, not every vegetable is good for making juice. Some are too bitter and others don’t have the right texture. Here is the most comprehensive list out there on the Best Vegetables to Juice.

I’ve also included information on the worst vegetables to juice so you can avoid making a juice that isn’t good.

Fortunately, there are lots of nutritious vegetables that are just made for juicing!

Here are the best ones to try, along with some ideas and recipes for using them.

Kale juice sometimes gets a bad rap, with a reputation for being unpleasantly bitter. But there are a few ways to tame that flavor – and lots of reasons why you should! 

Kale contains a whole spectrum of vitamins, along with carotenoids, fiber, and folate. Considered one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet, it can help lower cholesterol and protect against cancer.

If you struggle to enjoy raw kale, you can try reducing its bitterness before juicing it. Rubbing it with your hands until it looks wilted is an easy way to do this (strange but true!).

Alternatively, you can blend it with a sweet fruit like apple or pineapple, or balance the flavor by adding lemon juice. Rather than making the bitterness worse, the acidity of citrus juice actually neutralizes the bitterness in kale.

You can juice any type of variety of kale including Lacinato, Dinosaur, or baby kale.

See my favorite Kale Juice recipe and learn more about the benefits of juicing kale.

If you’ve always assumed that cucumber is too watery to offer much in the way of nutrition, then you’d be mistaken.

From the same family as melons, cucumbers can help regulate your blood pressure, assist with digestion, and protect against cancer.

Some people like to remove the skin before juicing cucumbers. I recommend leaving it on – mainly because it is so rich in vitamins and minerals but also because it gives the juice a lovely green color! Straight cucumber juice is very hydrating and refreshing if a little bland in flavor. 

Try pairing it with apple, pineapple, watermelon, or a combination of lemon and mint. Ginger goes nicely with cucumber too, as do basil and thyme.

You can juice virtually any type of cucumber including English cucumbers or Persian cucumbers.

Or, make straight cucumber juice; see my Cucumber Juice recipe. For a sweeter juice, try this Pineapple Cucumber Juice recipe.

Belonging to the cabbage family, the smooth, flat leaves of collard greens contain lots of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.

Although scientific research into collard greens is limited, they are considered just as beneficial as other cruciferous vegetables, offering protection against serious diseases like cancer and supporting heart health.

Use tender, young leaves for juicing as older leaves can be quite bitter. But even the young leaves can produce a juice that’s a little too bitter for some!

To make it more palatable, mix it with apple and beet juice, or try mango juice for a tropical twist.

If you’ve never tried them, you might be surprised to find that those long leaves that grow all around dandelion flowers are both tasty and loaded with nutrients!

Studies have shown that they can be useful in controlling inflammation and may even lower cholesterol levels.

Because dandelion leaves are somewhat similar to endive or radicchio in flavor – and therefore quite bitter – they haven’t yet become popular for juicing.

But it’s a shame to miss out on all those nutrients, particularly when the bitterness is so easy to disguise!

Try mixing the dandelion juice with any combination of apple, cucumber, ginger, or lemon juice. Fresh pineapple works well too.

While iceberg lettuce appears on my list of the worst vegetables to juice, Romaine lettuce more than deserves its title as one of the best.

The most nutrient-rich of all lettuce varieties, Romaine contains a wide variety of vitamins and minerals. It also has folate levels comparable to those found in leafy greens like spinach and kale.

Romaine juice is refreshing, hydrating, and very mild in flavor. This means you can mix it with other juices without really affecting the way they taste.

Mix it with celery or cucumber juices for a savory green juice, or with apple or orange juice for a sweeter treat.

The health benefits of consuming fresh mint are pretty impressive! These little green leaves have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, while offering protection against cancer and supporting heart health.

Mint is also great for your digestion (see my recipe for how to make mint tea from fresh mint leaves).

In terms of juicing, mint works best when combined with other ingredients.

Try juicing it with leafy green vegetables, cucumber, or apples. It also tastes surprisingly good with fresh pineapple.

More than just a pretty garnish, parsley is a herb with a lot to offer when it comes to your health!

Shown to be useful in preventing cardiovascular disease, it is rich in antioxidants and packed with vitamin K, a nutrient that supports bone health.

Both the feathery leaves of parsley and the stems can be juiced. It tastes great when paired with spinach, kale, or carrots. For a sweeter flavor, try combining parsley with apples.

Try my favorite Parsley Juice recipe that includes apple, cucumber, and lemon.

Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that cilantro makes a healthy addition to your juicing repertoire! 

Not only do the leaves contain a range of vitamins and minerals, but they have also been shown to help improve memory, potentially making them useful in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.

Juicing cilantro is a good way to get more of this healthy herb into your diet. If you are one of those people who find its flavor a little soapy, try juicing it with cucumber, ginger, and lime juice. 

You can juice both the leaves and the stems of cilantro. Be sure to wash it thoroughly first.

There are few foods quite as nutritious as broccoli!

All parts – including the florets, leaves, and stems – have powerful antioxidant properties and offer protection against cancer.

An excellent source of vitamin C, broccoli can also reduce inflammation in the body, help control the levels of sugar in the blood, and promote gut health.

Straight broccoli juice can be very strong in flavor. It can also be tough for your body to digest.

For that reason, I recommend mixing it with other healthy but sweeter ingredients like apple or carrots. You may also want to throw in some ginger, which should help minimize any digestive upsets.

You can juice both the florets and the stems of a head of broccoli.

Also known as pak choi, this Chinese cabbage is a staple ingredient in Asian dishes.

It has numerous health benefits, being rich in minerals and vitamins and also containing some fiber.

Studies have demonstrated that eating bok choy can reduce the risk of cancer and help prevent thyroid disease.

Bok choy lends itself well to juicing as it has a mild flavor that you can enjoy straight, or mix easily with other juices.

A mixture of apples and bok choy tastes fantastic and it’s also good with a combination of pear and ginger. For a more savory angle, mix it with cucumber, zucchini, and a squeeze of lime.

It may not have superfood status, but zucchini is definitely a vegetable worth including in your juices!

Also known as summer squash, it is rich in antioxidants and a good source of vitamin C, especially when raw. It contains beta-carotene – an essential nutrient for eye health – and it may also stabilize thyroid hormone levels.

Relatively mild and neutral in flavor, zucchini works well in both savory and sweet juice recipes. Try it mixed with ginger and lemon, or – for an interesting and unique flavor – juiced with apples and mint.

I also like to freeze zucchini and use it in my Strawberry Zucchini Smoothie.