The Best Juicers For Leafy Greens of 2024 Ultimate Guide & Reviews
The best juicer for greens are the ones that can cold press juice out of a handful of spinach leaves. Or any tiny skinny little leafy thing under the sun that is edible and that you’re interested in making an extract out of.
Unlike carrots or apples, those paperlike leaves are actually very difficult to juice!
You need a strong masticator - a juicer that can press on the thinnest things and make enzymes and vitamin-loaded juices without waking the whole neighborhood up.
Since those are not exactly the cheapest machines, let’s take a thorough look at the whole green juicer thingy and see if it’s actually worth the investment of your time and money!
Best Juicers For Greens: Centrifuges Are Not The Answer
Most juicing aficionados start with fruit or root juices on a centrifugal juicer.
Those fast juicers, they’re so efficient on carrots, celery, beetroots, and firm fruits. Fast, affordable, and requiring very little prepping with their big feeding chute, they’re your best companions when you start taking on juicing.
But when you’ve moved on from the crave for sweet drinks and want to take a step further into healthy juicing by taking up green juices, a problem arises: The same juicer that can make you super tasty and refreshing carrot juice within seconds can’t handle thin, not-so-watery leaves.
The spinning blade disc barely tears the leaves before shooting them into the pulp collector, hardly making a spoonful of juice out of a big bowl of spinach. And even when you apply the technique of bunching them together into a ball, there’s still not so much more juice made.
Fast juicers are simply not designed for the job.
You need a masticating juicer, single gear or twin gear, to make leafy green juices.
How Masticators Process Leafy Vegetables
Masticating juicers, aka cold press juicers, work by using a screw auger (or two in the case of the twin gear machine) to crush and squeeze the produce to get the juice. This happens at a very low speed, about 80 to 120 revolutions per minutes (rpm), as opposed to centrifuges which work at 6000 - 14000 rpm.
With its slow but powerful squeeze, the masticator is able to extract juice out of not only the toughest roots but also the thinnest leaves. A decent machine can handle everything, from ginger and turmeric to spinach, dandelion, and arugula.
The unhurried operation also allows a masticator to preserve the juice better, giving it less exposure to the air, and protecting it from oxidation. Juices made from a masticator is thus usually thicker, less frothy, and can be stored for a longer time without separation compared to those made with a centrifuge.
That is why despite their higher prices, masticating juicers are still the preferred choice by health-conscious juice lovers.
The Best Masticating Juicers for Greens
Out of an initial list of about a dozen brands and models, we picked the three masticators that make the best green juices without costing you a fortune.
Here’s our picks for the Best Juicers for Greens.
Top-rated Juicers for Greens Comparison Chart
Product | Our Pick As | Speed (revolutions per minute) |
|---|---|---|
Omega NC900HDC(Editor's Choice) | Best Juicer for Greens in 2018 | 80 rpm |
Omega J8006 | Best Budget Choice | 80 rpm |
Tribest GSE5000 | Best Twin-gear Juicer For Greens | 110 rpm |
1. Best Overall: Omega Juicers NC900HDC Juicer Extractor
Among the single-gear masticators, it’s hard to find one better designed for leafy greens than the Omega Nutrition Center NC900HDC.
- High juice yield
- 5 settings for hard and soft veggies
- 15 years warranty
- Quiet on operation
- Also makes nut butter, nut milk, pasta
- Fragile screen
- High price
At first sight, the machine is drop-dead gorgeous with a slim design and a sleek chrome finish. It has a slightly bigger feeding chute than the J8006, which translates to a 20% reduction in prepping time. While it is still nowhere as time-saving as a centrifuge, this is a very much appreciated improvement.
When it comes to the actual job, the juicer is indeed a pro.
It juices from hard roots like ginger and cucumber to things like wheatgrass, spinach, and arugula, never discriminating on the materials.
What makes it stand out from other masticators is that it comes with 5 different settings for materials of different density. For example, setting 5 is ideal for hard things like carrots, while settings 1 – 3 are perfect for soft produce like the citrus family.
Most users agree it makes the most juice from thin leaves on setting 5 – the pulp comes out as dry as dust. The juice is also really thick and has a vibrant color – you know every single drop of nutrients from the veg is in there to give your body an immediate health boost.
When you’re in the mood for some fibrous drinks though, you can also make a sorbet with the Omega. Run some frozen banana or strawberry through it, and there you go, a chilled, refreshing cup of delicious vitamins and fiber to snack on. Want some healthy fat in your drink? Use the machine to make nut butter. If you’re a fan of soy and nut milk, there’s no need to buy a separate machine for it. The NC900HDC does the job perfectly.
Its versatility doesn’t end there: the package comes with 6 nozzles to make pasta. Seriously, while the machine does belong to a higher spectrum of price, it can be made use of in so many ways you’ll realize it’s actually a much better deal than it first appears to.
Cleanup is easy peasy. Put every removable parts into warm soapy water right after use, and it will take less than 5 minutes to wash them. There’s no need to wipe them dry: they’re made of plastic and can dry by themselves without the risk of getting rusted.
Note: The NC900HDC is a quiet machine, and it stays sturdy during operation. However, the thing will tip forward a bit if you push the plunger too hard to force the produce in. Be gentle with it!
Price at time of publish: $379.72
Key Specs
- Type: Masticator, single gear
- Power: 150 Watts
- Speed: 80 RPM
- BPA-free: N/A
- Dishwasher safe: Removable parts (top shelf only)
- Warranty: 15 years
- Reverse function: N/A
2. Best Budget: Omega J8006 Nutrition Center Juicer
The J8006 is a veteran in the cold press juicing world. It has been on the market longer than the NC900HDC, and doesn’t have all the nice features (large feeding chute, multiple settings) that the new model possesses. Apparently, that is no deal breaker to most juice lovers, as you can tell from the customer reviews; it’s a lot more affordable after all!
- Dual stage juicing system, saves nutrients
- Produces high quality juice, residual dry pulp
- Juice can be stored for 72 hours
- Juices soft and hard fruits as well as leafy greens
- Grinds nuts, coffee beans
- Chops and minces spices and food
- Can’t handle large pieces
- Plastic screen
The beast juices just about anything. Apples, pears, carrots, ginger, and all the greens. Unlike centrifugal juicers which mostly work with hard and soft fruits, you can use this masticating juicer for leafy greens like kale, celery, and even leaves as fibrous as wheatgrass.
The juice this magic machine extracts is thick with nutrients and soluble fiber to help nourish your body. On the other hand, it creates almost no froth or foam. This is thanks to its low speed juicing motor (80 RPMs), which produces little heat (hence the name of cold-pressed juicer) and thus minimizes the oxidation of the nutrients in the juice.
If you have ever used a mediocre juicer, I believe you have at least once in your lifetime, looked at the wet pulp that comes out and felt like you could have made another glass of juice out of it. That won’t be the case with the J8006. After going through a grinder and an auger, the pulp comes out from this Omega juicer incredibly dry. You can then be confident you have made the most of the pricey organic fruits, never wasting any precious vitamins or other nutrients.
But this machine is so much more than a simple juicer. It comes with a food processor attachment to chop and mince, saving you time when preparing meals for your elderly parents or four-toothed baby. Also included in the package is a pasta nozzle for your perfect homemade spaghetti. The juicer can even grind nuts and make you coffee powder!
Multifunctional and versatile, the Omega masticating juicer is also one of the easiest to assemble and disassemble, and to clean up. With the help of a brush, it takes about five minutes to wash it - a reasonable amount of time for a busy bee.
The good thing is, you don’t even have to juice and wash the machine every day. Prepare your fruits and veggies, juice once, and you can store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. The machine produces thick, fine juices that can stay intact for 72 hours after it is made.
The only possible downside you may find about this item is that its chute is fairly small. A big carrot won’t go pass the tube, and it can get clogged if you try to push in big batches of fruits at once. The solution is simple: have the large pieces chopped before you juice it.
If clogging ever happens,, there is a “reverse” function. In this setting, the auger spins in the opposite direction, setting free the fruit or veggies.
Price at time of publish: $264.03
Key Specs
- Type: Masticator, single gear
- Power: 150 Watts
- Speed: 80 RPM
- BPA-free: N/A
- Dishwasher safe: Removable parts (top shelf only)
- Warranty: 15 years
- Reverse function: N/A
3. Best Twin-gear: Tribest GSE5000 Greenstar Elite Cold Press
Twin gear juicers are not as popular as single-gear masticating juicers. And that’s mostly for one reason: they’re a bit too expensive for casual juicing work.
- Strong twin gear
- Complete 3-stage mastication
- Cutting points, no need to precut hard veggies
- Juice has more nutrients, stays fresh longer
- Different screens to allow no or more pulp
- Works as grinder and food processor
- 12 years warranty
- Moderate chute, needs to pre-chop big items
- Heavy, large, takes up space
Most hardcore green juice lovers, however, don’t even think twice about making the investment. And of all the twin gear juicers on the market, the Tribest Green Star Elite 5000 stands out as the most well-loved: for under half a grand, it exhibits excellent features
The Tribest 5000 has a jumbo twin gear with various parts that make up a complete three-stage juicing system.
As the fruits or vegetables are fed through the chute, the pocket recesses slice them up. The cutting points then start working to cut any hard pieces of the veggies (you don’t have to cut your celery or kale into super short pieces anymore - the fibers won’t clog up like in casual juicers). The strong gear teeth then crush them, squeezing the juice out.
As the materials go through the stages of mastication, they will also be mixed. This helps the nutrients interact and activate, thus boosting up their nutritional values.
All the while, the Greenstar magnetic technology works to maximize the amount of the valuable vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients the water can latch. That assures you will make the most out of what you feed the machine with.
All of this happens as the gears spin at 110 rpm (it’s 11000 rpm on a centrifugal juicer!). At this speed, almost no heat is generated in the process, which means all the enzymes are preserved. The delayed oxidation is also a result of the bioceramic material in the gears.
As different pressures are needed to maximize the yield of carrots and firm veggies vs softer leafy greens, the Greenstar Elite juicer comes with an adjusting knob to increase or decrease the pressure for pulp ejection.
You can also choose between the screens to have pure juice with no pulp, or with more fiber mixed in for various nutritional and digestive effects.
Either way, what you will get is thick, tasty and high quality juices loaded with vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. The manufacturer claims this Green Star juicer produces juices with concentrations of essential minerals 50%-200% higher than other brands!
The icing on the cake is, the machine can also serve as a hard-working versatile food processing assistant in your kitchen. It can prepare onion and herbs, make nut butters, and grinds the black pepper you’re mixing into your salads.
At 6.5 x 19 x 12.5 inches and 24 pounds, the juicer is not too big for a heavy-duty masticating juicer. Be prepared, however, that it is going to require a little space on your countertop. It will produce some normal gear noises, but is pretty quiet given its size and functions.
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Cleaning is a bit more complicated than a single-gear juicer. You see, it has 2 gears. But with a nice brush and some soap, cleaning up shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes.
If you are going to make a lot of high quality juice every day, this is the exact masticating juicer you need.
Price at time of publish: $602.18
Key Specs
- Type: Masticator, twin gear
- Power: 200 Watts
- Speed: 110 RPM
- BPA free: Yes
- Dishwasher safe: No
- Warranty: 12 years limited warranty
- Reverse function: Manual
Green Juices & Why They’re A Fave Among Health Enthusiasts
Everyone seems to be talking about them. Are they fad or actually fab?
1. What’s Green Juice
A green juice is a juice made mostly of vegetables, as opposed to a fruit juice which is the extract of fruits
You can make green juices out of most veggies, but the most popular veggies for juicing are swiss chards, kale, spinach, celery, bitter gourd, dandelion, and wheatgrass, among others.
Those don’t sound so...drinkable, let alone delicious, you must be thinking.
In all honesty, the first few times I drank a celery juice, I had decided it’s not the most exotic beverage I’ve ever tasted. And celery is one of the more “soft-core” veggies for juicing.
Over the years I’ve learned ways to make them tastier, which I’ve shared at the end of this post. I’ve also found some green juices that are super easy on the taste buds, if you want to give it a try.
But still, they’re no top-notch cocktails until you’re used to them. (And actually, once you’ve gotten used to them, you will wonder how you ever found fizzy drinks desirable.)
Anyway, green juices are so popular for a good reason: there are real, proven health benefits to drinking them.
2. Green Juice Benefits - Why They’re Good For You
- They have all the nutrients and phytonutrients
Green juices have all the vitamins and nutrients existing in the vegetables.
For example, a juice from kale is very rich in iron, which is essential in the formation of hemoglobin, and enzymes for cell growth, liver function, and more. It is also loaded with Vitamin K, an important prerequisite for blood coagulation and the formation and maintenance of bone cells.
Spinach juice, meanwhile, is high in vitamins A and C. These are antioxidants responsible for a wide variety of bodily functions. I probably don’t have to mention how important they are in skin cell formation and repair.
Additionally, veggies and veggie juices are amazing sources of phytonutrients. These are chemical compounds that are believed to help you control harmful free radicals and fight against various diseases, including cancers and immunity disorders.
- They are low in fat, sugar, calories, and are cholesterol free
For all the nutrients that they contain, veggies are extremely low in fat and cholesterol. Most vegetables contain less than a gram of fat per serving.
Plus, unlike most fruit juices, they are not loaded with sugar (that is why they’re deemed as “less tasty” in the first place!). As a case in point, 100ml of orange juice contains 9g of sugar, whereas the amount of carbs in 100ml of spinach juice is less than 4g.
That is why they are so highly recommended for juice fasts as well as everyday consumption. They may not burn your fat cells, but they are at least, not enlarging the existing ones!
- Juices are easier to consume than veg
It’s not likely that you will eat a whole bunch of romaine lettuce at one go. In the liquid form though, it takes only seconds and you can get all the nutrients in it. It’s much faster and easier on your digestive system that way.
Besides, it’s easier to vary the types of veggies you consume when you juice them - you don’t have to worry so much about how to prep and cook them in certain ways. Run them all through a juicer, and vòila - your nutritious drink is ready to enjoy.
One thing to note: we’re not advocating juicing vegetables instead of eating them. You need the fiber for normal digestive functions. However, green juices are a great addition to your diet, especially when you’re not already consuming the recommended amount of veggies.
