Can someone tell me what has happened to 2020 – because this entire year has felt a bit like the twilight zone. For one thing, I swear I’d already posted this simple DIY for how to make wheatgrass shots at home, but apparently not.. So here goes. If you haven’t already seen it, I posted all about How To Grow Wheatgrass At Home ( with & without soil) late last year. On that post, I talk in detail about the various health benefits of wheatgrass (which is the young grass grown from the wheat plant grains), how to implement it into your diet and, of course, how to grow your own at home so you can save money while boosting your health.
What I didn’t do, however, is give you a quick and simple DIY for wheatgrass shots and juice (I mention both words as they’ll often serve different purposes). These are perfect to start adding to your diet now, to boost the immune system, detox and for a long list of other health benefits. In my post about growing wheatgrass, I go into details about the various benefits – so you can head on over there if you want to read more about that. However, I’ll also quickly summarise for you below too. I even have two different methods for extracting the juice for you.
The Two Methods for Wheatgrass Juice:
Wheatgrass juice can be made one of two ways – with a juicer or with a blender. As someone who owns both, I’ll always use my juicer when I can because I know it extracts as much juice as possible, squeezing out the nutrients, leaving you with less leftover pulp. When using a blender, you have to combine your wheatgrass with water. This dilutes the juice, and it can be less nutritious. However, it may also be slightly more palatable and an excellent way to start drinking wheatgrass juice as a ‘newbie’.
Notes for any wheatgrass newbies:
When you first start consuming wheatgrass juice, it may cause slightly tummy upset or even side effects like headache, fatigue and nausea. It is a powerful detox juice and, if your body isn’t used to it (or needs a good detox), then it may take time to get used to. The best method to combat this when you want to start drinking shots immediately is to start with just a 1/2 shot (30ml) – then slowly increase this. You could also begin by adding the wheatgrass juice to other recipes, so it is ‘diluted’ and smaller amounts. It’s best to drink wheatgrass juice in the morning, on an empty stomach, and wait an hour before eating anything. This will help you to avoid nausea. Wheatgrass juice can be added to juice blends with other fruits and vegetables, within smoothies, as part of salad dressings and more! You can also use the juice for non-ingested means including as a bath to soothe skin and reduce scarring, soothe bites and scratches and more. You can buy wheatgrass powder. However, I always prefer to use fresh when I can, as nutritional values can be different.
Wheatgrass Juice Health Benefits:
As I said above, I’ve gone into details about the various wheat grass benefits in my ‘growing wheatgrass’ post. However, for the sake of being more useful for you, I’ll mention a few here too. First of all, it has to be said that wheatgrass is very nutrient-dense and packed with high levels of vitamins and minerals (including Vitamin A, C and E plus iron, calcium and more). It also contains the eight essential amino acids (which our bodies can’t produce – so must be ingested). The juice is packed with a whole variety of benefits including being antibacterial, antiseptic and improving respiratory function. It also contains antioxidants which prevent cell damage and fight off cancer cells and is one of the best sources for living chlorophyll which reduces inflammation, detoxes, and can aid weight loss. Wheatgrass juice may even help control blood sugar levels and to soothe a sore throat.
How To Juice Wheatgrass:
Needed: Fresh wheatgrass – check out my Homegrown wheatgrass DIY ( with & without soil) or you can buy it. Note* Around 300 gr wheatgrass would yield about 200-250 ml juice. Steps: Cut the wheatgrass as low as possible just before you’re ready to juice it. Rinse the wheatgrass (especially if it’s not homegrown) and discard any leaves that have turned completely yellow.
If using a juicer: Pass small bunches of wheatgrass through the juicer.
It’s possible that the juicer may get jammed once in a while, so remove the pulp manually and then continue. Eventually, you’ll be left with all the juice and the small amount of leftover pulp (see below for how to use this). The Blender Method: If you don’t have a juicer then fear not because you can still make wheatgrass juice, you’ll just need your wheatgrass, a blender, a cup or two of water and either a nut milk mag or cheesecloth (to drain your juice).
Blend the wheatgrass and water until all the wheatgrass is completely pulverized. Note* with this method you’ll be left with a lot more pulp – it won’t completely liquify but will be ground down into a pulp within the water. Pass the juice through a nut milk bag (or cheesecloth) to collect the juice. Take care to squeeze out every last drop and get as many nutrients out of the wheatgrass juice that you can.
How to store the juice
You can then use this to juice immediately to consume, or it can be kept in the fridge for up to a week (although, it will lose nutritional value over time!). I like to keep mine in shot-sized glass vials (60ml) in the fridge.
Alternatively, you can freeze portions of 3-4 tbsp (about 60ml) in a large ice-cube tray. Simply thaw one each morning or, as needed.
What to do with the leftover pulp:
While wheatgrass pulp can be composted, if you want to reduce waste, there are a couple of other options. Wheatgrass contains a lot of fiber, however, it is undigestible to us as we’re unable to break down the cellulose in the grass. I’ve heard of a few people that happily blend this into a smoothie and drink it just fine though. When blended, the grass has apparently been broken down enough to drink. Specifically for the blender option – you may not have been able to get all the nutrients out of the wheatgrass the first time. With this in mind, you could try to dehydrate/ dry out the pulp and then crush this into a powder to add to other dishes.
If other juice recipes are what you’re looking for, then you might like this green juice recipe with celery or even these Ginger Turmeric Immune-Boosting Energy Shots (juicer recipe). You might also like this Beetroot Ginger Juice andLemon Ginger Immunity Shots.
