Celery Juice Recipe: How to Make It With a Juicer or Blender

To make celery juice, wash one large bunch of celery, about 1.75 pounds (800 g), and run the stalks through a juicer; that typically gives about 16 ounces (475 ml), one large glass, though yield varies with the celery and the machine. No juicer? Chop the celery, blend it with 1/4 cup (60 ml) of cold water until smooth, and squeeze it through a nut milk bag or a cheesecloth-lined sieve. Either way it takes about 10 minutes, uses one ingredient and tastes best fresh.

The recipe card has the exact amounts and scales to more servings. Below it you will find the details that decide whether your juice tastes clean or bitter: how to pick celery, which machines work best, how to fix foam and separation, and tested ratios for celery with cucumber, apple, lemon, ginger, carrot, pineapple and beet. For what the drink does and does not do for your health, see the celery juice guide.

Ingredients and Yield

Plain celery juice is just celery. The only question is how much to buy. Celery is about 95% water, but no home machine gets all of it out; as a rough guide, a little over half the weight of the stalks ends up in the glass. That figure comes from a test published by juicer maker Kuvings, in which 0.95 pound of celery produced a little over 1 cup of juice in a slow juicer. It is one test on one machine, so treat the table below as typical ranges scaled from it, not exact amounts; freshness, variety and juicer type all change the result. The stalk counts use the USDA weight for a large stalk, 64 grams.

Celery (untrimmed)	Roughly	Typical juice from a slow juicer (varies)
1 lb (450 g)	1 small bunch, 7–8 large stalks	8–10 fl oz (240–300 ml)
1.75 lb (800 g)	1 large bunch, 12 or so large stalks	About 16 fl oz (475 ml)
3.5 lb (1.6 kg)	2 large bunches	About 32 fl oz (950 ml)

Bunches vary a lot from store to store, so weigh yours the first time. A bunch sold as "celery hearts" is smaller and yields less. Centrifugal juicers and blenders leave more liquid in the pulp; add a few extra stalks if you want a full pint.

Optional additions, all of which keep it close to plain: the juice of 1/2 lemon or lime, a 1-inch (2.5 cm) piece of fresh ginger, or a handful of ice.

Choosing and Prepping Celery

• Buy firm, heavy bunches. Stalks should snap, not bend. Limp celery has already lost water and gives less juice. Pale inner stalks are sweeter; dark green outer stalks are stronger and saltier.
• Decide on the leaves. They are edible and nutritious but bitter. Leave them on for a sharper, more herbal juice; trim them for a milder one.
• Keep the base trimmed, not the stalks peeled. Cut about 1/2 inch (1 cm) off the root end and any brown tips. No peeling is needed.
• Wash under running water. The FDA advises rinsing all produce under running water before juicing and drying it with a clean towel, and recommends against soap or commercial produce washes. Rub the inside of each stalk near the bottom where grit collects.
• Chill it first. Cold celery makes cold juice, which tastes less grassy. An hour in the refrigerator after shopping is enough.
• Organic or conventional both work. Celery sits mid-table (30th of 47) in the Environmental Working Group's 2026 produce pesticide ranking. Wash it either way.

Method 1: How to Make Celery Juice With a Juicer

1. Set up. Assemble the juicer with a pitcher under the spout and a container for pulp. Wash your hands for 20 seconds.
2. Cut if your machine needs it. For vertical slow juicers, cut stalks into 1- to 2-inch (2.5–5 cm) pieces so the long strings do not wrap around the auger and clog the pulp outlet. Horizontal slow juicers and centrifugal juicers take whole stalks.
3. Feed steadily. Push stalks in one or two at a time, leaf end first. Do not force them; let the auger pull.
4. Run the pulp through again if it comes out wet. A second pass can squeeze out a little more.
5. Strain if you like. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve to catch foam and stray fibers.
6. Drink or store. Serve immediately, or pour into a glass jar, fill to the brim, seal and refrigerate.
7. Rinse the juicer now. Celery fiber dries like glue on the screen. Thirty seconds under the tap right away saves ten minutes of scrubbing later.

Method 2: How to Make Celery Juice in a Blender

A blender plus a strainer makes juice that is nearly indistinguishable from the juicer version. Any model works; high-speed blenders are just faster.

1. Chop. Cut the washed celery into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces. Short pieces keep the strings from tangling around the blade.
2. Load liquid first. Pour 1/4 cup (60 ml) of cold water into the jar, then add the celery. The water gives the blades something to grab; the celery releases its own liquid within seconds.
3. Blend. Start on low, move to high, and blend 60 to 90 seconds until there are no visible pieces. Use the tamper if you have one. With a personal blender such as a NutriBullet, work in two batches with 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of water each.
4. Strain. Set a nut milk bag, or a fine sieve lined with two layers of cheesecloth or a clean thin dish towel, over a large bowl. Pour in the puree.
5. Squeeze. Gather the bag and twist firmly with clean hands until the pulp feels almost dry.
6. Serve. Pour into a glass. The added water makes blender juice very slightly milder; expect roughly a pint, depending on how hard you squeeze.

If you skip the straining you have a celery smoothie rather than juice: thicker, stringier, and with all the fiber. That is a fine choice nutritionally. Most people prefer it with half a cucumber, a green apple and a squeeze of lemon blended in.

Juicer or Blender: Which Is Better for Celery?

Machine	How it works	For celery	Downsides
Slow (masticating) juicer	An auger crushes and presses at low speed	Highest yield, driest pulp, least foam	Slower; vertical models need stalks cut short
Twin-gear juicer	Two interlocking gears grind and press	Excellent yield on fibrous greens	Expensive, more parts to clean
Centrifugal juicer	A fast spinning blade and mesh basket	Quick, takes whole stalks	Wetter pulp, more foam, juice separates sooner
Blender + strainer	Purees, then you press by hand	No new appliance; good yield if you squeeze hard	More hands-on; a bag to wash

If you plan to juice celery most mornings, a slow juicer earns its counter space because celery is exactly the kind of stringy, low-density produce that centrifugal machines handle worst. If you are trying the habit for a week or two, use the blender you already own. Do not buy a juicer on the strength of health promises; the evidence for celery juice benefits is thinner than the marketing.

Celery Juice Recipes: 9 Combinations That Work

Straight celery juice tastes salty, vegetal and a little bitter. Blends fix that. Each ratio below makes about one 14- to 18-ounce glass; juice everything together, or blend with 1/4 cup (60 ml) of water and strain. Sweetness is the main thing that changes: plain celery juice has about 6 grams of sugar per pint, while, by USDA figures for the whole fruit, a medium apple adds 16 to 19 grams depending on variety (a Granny Smith is at the low end) and a cup of pineapple chunks about 16.

Blend	What goes in	Taste
Celery cucumber juice	1 lb (450 g) celery + 1 large cucumber (about 10 oz / 300 g)	Mild, cool, least salty; the best starter blend
Celery apple juice	1.25 lb (570 g) celery + 1 medium green apple, cored	Lightly sweet and tart
Celery, cucumber and apple juice	6 large stalks (12 oz / 340 g) celery + 1 medium cucumber + 1 green apple	Balanced; the classic "green juice" base
Celery lemon ginger juice	1.75 lb (800 g) celery + 1/2 lemon, peeled + 1-inch (2.5 cm) piece ginger	Bright, spicy, still very low in sugar
Celery carrot juice	1 lb (450 g) celery + 4 medium carrots (about 9 oz / 250 g)	Earthy and sweet, orange-brown color
Carrot, apple and celery juice	6 large stalks celery + 3 medium carrots + 1 apple	Sweet; popular with kids
Celery pineapple juice	1 lb (450 g) celery + 1 1/2 cups (250 g) pineapple chunks	Tropical, sweet-salty, frothy
Celery beet juice	1 lb (450 g) celery + 1 small beet, scrubbed + 1 apple	Deep red, earthy
Green celery juice	6 large stalks celery + 1 medium cucumber + 2 packed cups (60 g) spinach or kale + small handful parsley + 1/2 lemon, peeled + 1 green apple	Herbal and fresh

A few practical notes on blends:

• Alternate soft and hard produce in the juicer. Follow leafy greens or pineapple with a stalk of celery or a carrot to push them through.
• Peel citrus but leave some white pith; the outer rind is bitter and hard on slow juicers. Apples and cucumbers do not need peeling. Remove apple cores.
• Ginger is strong. Start with a piece the size of the top joint of your thumb.
• Spinach, kale, parsley and beets are high in oxalate. If you have had calcium oxalate kidney stones, keep those to small amounts and ask your doctor; see side effects.
• Orange, watermelon and tomato also pair well: equal parts celery juice and fresh orange or watermelon juice for a sweeter drink, or celery with ripe tomatoes, lemon and a pinch of black pepper for a fresh take on a savory tomato juice.

How to Make Celery Juice Taste Better

• Serve it very cold. Over ice, celery's bitterness fades.
• Add acid. A squeeze of lemon or lime is the single most effective fix, and it slows browning.
• Trim the leaves and use the inner stalks when a bunch tastes harsh.
• Cut it with cucumber if the saltiness bothers you.
• Skip added salt and sweeteners. A pint already has several hundred milligrams of sodium, and honey or agave turns a 6-gram-sugar drink into a sweetened one.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Why it happens	Fix
Bitter juice	Lots of leaves, dark outer stalks, or old celery	Trim leaves, add lemon or half an apple
Very salty	Natural sodium varies by bunch and growing conditions	Blend with cucumber; serve over ice
Foam on top	Air whipped in, mostly by centrifugal juicers and blenders	Skim with a spoon or strain
Separates into layers	Fine particles settle; this is normal	Shake or stir
Turns dull or brownish	Oxidation from air exposure	Fill the jar to the top, add lemon, drink it sooner
Juicer clogs	Long strings wrap around the auger	Cut stalks into 1- to 2-inch pieces
Low yield	Limp celery or a fast juicer	Buy fresher bunches; run pulp through twice

Storing and Making Celery Juice Ahead

Fresh juice is raw and unpasteurized, so handle it like any perishable food.

• Refrigerator: drink within 24 to 72 hours, kept at 40°F (4°C) or colder in an airtight glass jar filled to the brim. Flavor and color are best on the first day.
• Freezer: pour into freezer-safe jars with 1 inch (2.5 cm) of headspace, or into silicone ice cube trays, and freeze. Quality holds for about 2 to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator, not on the counter, shake well and drink within 24 to 72 hours of thawing. The flavor is slightly flatter than fresh.
• Counter: no more than 2 hours.
• Shortcut: wash, trim and cut a week's celery on Sunday and keep it in a sealed container lined with a damp paper towel. Juicing then takes three minutes a day.

No federal agency sets a shelf life for homemade juice. The refrigerator and freezer times above are general practice as described by a senior food safety specialist at the National Environmental Health Association in Southern Living; the two-hour counter limit and the 40°F setting are FDA rules for perishable food.

Children, pregnant women, older adults and people with weakened immune systems are more vulnerable to bacteria in untreated juice, the FDA warns. For them, make it fresh with well-washed produce and serve it right away, or buy a pasteurized or high-pressure-treated bottle.

What to Do With the Pulp

The pulp holds most of the celery's fiber, and throwing it out is a waste. Stir it into soups and stews in place of some chopped celery, simmer it in stock, fold it into meatballs or veggie burgers, or mix a few spoonfuls into a smoothie. It disappears into pureed soups such as pumpkin soup. Pulp keeps three days in the refrigerator or three months frozen flat in a zip-top bag. Otherwise, compost it.

Is This the "Medical Medium" Celery Juice Recipe?

The recipe popularized by Anthony William is the plain version on this page: one large bunch of celery, juiced, nothing added, about 16 ounces. His instructions add rules that have no research behind them, such as drinking it on an empty stomach, waiting 15 to 30 minutes before eating and adding nothing to it. From a food standpoint, a squeeze of lemon changes nothing except the taste. The reasoning behind the protocol is examined in our article on the celery juice cleanse.

Nutrition in One Glass

Per USDA FoodData Central, 16 fluid ounces of celery juice has about 80 calories, 16 grams of carbohydrate, 6 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein, up to 458 mg of sodium and 1,251 mg of potassium. Strained juice has little fiber; the unstrained smoothie version keeps roughly 13 grams. The full table is in the main guide.