Give Your Celery Juice a Flavor Boost with These Delicious Fruit Combinations
Celery juice has become a major health trend due to its touted health benefits. However, many find celery juice unpalatable due to its naturally bitter, pungent flavor when juiced. Luckily there are fruit goes that go well with celery juice to help improve its taste.
Citrus fruits like oranges, berries, pineapple, apples, mango, and kiwi pair best with celery juice. Blending celery juice with these sweeter fruits masks bitterness and adds complementary flavors. The fruit balances out the harsh taste while still allowing you to get the nutrients from the celery.
In this article, we'll discuss the best fruits to mix with celery juice for better taste, creative celery juice recipes, and how to adapt to straight celery juice. Read on to learn how to make celery juice enjoyable!
Key Takeaways
Blending celery juice with sweeter fruits like oranges, berries, pineapple, mango, apple, and kiwi improves the taste significantly.
Citrus fruits add refreshing sweetness and acidity. Berries provide texture and gentle flavor. Pineapple and mango lend tropical notes.
Aim for roughly a 1:1 ratio of fruit to celery for optimal balance of flavors. Adjust to your personal taste.
Get creative combining celery juice with your favorite fruits and add fresh herbs or spices too.
For some, celery juice will always need added fruits. But you can try gradually decreasing the fruit ratio over time to adapt to straight celery juice.
What Fruit Goes Well with Celery Juice?
Certain fruits add just the right sweetness, flavors, and texture to mask celery's bitterness. While celery still retains its earthy essence, these fruits balance the juice for an enjoyable sip.
Here are some of the best fruits to mix with celery juice for a better-tasting juice:
1. Oranges
Fresh orange juice is likely the most popular and well-known mixer with celery juice. The natural sugars in oranges balance out celery's bitter compounds. Orange juice contains glucose, fructose, and sucrose that temper the harsher flavors.
Citrus fruits also have high vitamin C, antioxidants, potassium, and plant compounds that pair perfectly with celery's nutrients. The sweet, tangy acidity of oranges complements celery’s earthy herbal notes.
Navel oranges work particularly well to offset celery juice’s bitterness. Aim for equal parts fresh orange juice to celery juice. The orange sweetness covers up the potent taste but the celery still comes through.
Orange Celery Juice
3 celery stalks
1-2 large oranges, peeled
1⁄2 lemon (squeezed into the juicing jug)
1⁄2 inch ginger (optional)
2. Lemons and Limes
A squeeze of lemon or lime juice right before drinking brings a refreshingly bright acidity that lifts the heaviness of straight celery juice. The citric and ascorbic acids in lemons and limes balance the bitterness and clear your palate.
You can also juice a whole lemon or lime together with the celery for a more even distribution of the sour flavors. Citrus fruits contain vitamin C, antioxidants, and potassium that pair with celery’s nutrients.
Citrus Celery Tonic
4 celery stalks
1/2 lemon (squeezed into the juicing jug)
1/2 lime, (squeezed into the juicing jug)
Dash of honey (adapt to taste)
3. Strawberries
Adding strawberries to celery juice not only provides vitamin C, manganese, and antioxidants but also imparts delicious sweetness to balance the bitterness. The seeds add texture as well.
As a fruit, strawberries contain simple sugars like glucose and fructose that naturally temper the harsher compounds found in celery juice. The red pigments also lend beautiful color.
Strawberry Celery Reviver
3 celery stalks
1 large cup strawberries
Tip: Best results when using a cold-pressed juicer
4. Pineapple
Pineapple is a tropical fruit with an impressive enzyme and vitamin profile. It contains bromelain, vitamin C, manganese plus antioxidants. Pineapple’s natural sugars do wonders to mask celery juice’s more bitter, pungent compounds.
The juiciness of pineapple also provides a nice contrast to the dryness of celery juice. It adds hydration and a pleasant texture. The bright, fruity flavors pair beautifully with herbal, green notes.
Green Pineapple Juice
4 stalks of celery, leaves removed
1 cup pineapple chunks
1 cucumber
1/2 lime, (squeezed into the juicing jug)
Related articles:
5. Apples
Apples bring a mild sweetness and freshness that blends nicely with celery juice without overpowering it. They contain pectin fiber, vitamin C, quercetin and other antioxidants that match well with celery’s nutrients. Apples also add hydration.
Red and green apples have a gentle apple aroma that mixes perfectly with the earthier parsley tones of celery juice. Their simplicity balances but doesn’t conceal the herbal flavors.
Green Apple Celery Juice
4 celery stalks
1 green apple, chopped
1⁄2 lemon (squeezed into the juicing jug)
1⁄2 inch ginger
6. Kiwis
Kiwis offer a more mellow sweetness and texture than other fruits that infuse celery juice beautifully. They provide vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium and antioxidants without strong flavors.
The tiny black seeds add beneficial fiber as well that contrasts nicely with celery juice. The mild sweetness and acidity balance the herbal bitterness.
Kiwi Celery Juice
3 celery stalks
2 kiwis, peeled
1⁄2 lime
Small handful spinach
Related article: 5 Best Juicers For Getting the Most Out of Your Leafy Greens (2024)
7. Mangoes
Mangoes lend a rich, creamy tropical sweetness that contrasts celery's bitter grassy taste nicely. They create an almost dessert-like flavor paired with the herbal celery.
Mangoes contain over 20 vitamins and minerals including vitamin C, vitamin A beta-carotene, potassium, and folate. These support the benefits of celery juice.
Tropical Green Juice
4 stalks celery, leaves removed
1 large mango, peeled and diced
1 cup pineapple chunks
Tip: Best results when using a cold-pressed juicer
8. Pears
Pears offer a mild, delicate sweetness and smooth texture that mixes well with celery juice. They contain antioxidants like vitamin C, copper, and flavonoids that complement celery's nutrients.
The juiciness of pears helps dilute the potency of straight celery juice for a mellower flavor. Bartlett and Asian pears work particularly well in blends.
Pear Celery Juice
4 celery stalks
1-2 ripe pears, chopped
1 tbsp honey
1⁄4 lemon (squeezed into the juicing jug)
9. Grapes
Both red and green grapes lend a gentle sweetness along with hydration that balances celery's earthy herbal notes. Grapes contain vitamin C, K, antioxidants, and polyphenols that match nicely with celery.
Grapes comprise around 80% water, which helps dilute and mellow out the intensity of celery juice's bitter compounds. The sweetness conceals the potent taste.
Green Grape Celery Juice
4 celery stalks
1 large cup of green grapes
1⁄2 lime (squeezed into the juicing jug)
Small handful of basil leaves (chopped and sprinkled into a juicing jug)
Tip: Best results when using a cold-pressed juicer
Related articles:
Helpful Tips for Tastier Celery Juices
Here are some additional helpful tips for making your fruit-infused celery juices as refreshing and delicious as possible:
Always run fruits and/or vegetables through your juicer before the celery. This allows their flavors to fully permeate the celery juice.
Mix up your fruit combinations regularly so you don't get bored drinking the same juice daily.
Add fresh herbs like mint, basil, cilantro or parsley to your juices for flavor twists.
Use coconut water for natural electrolytes and sweetness.
Blend your juice with ice to make a slushy, frosty texture.
Right before drinking, add a squeeze of citrus juice like lemon, lime, or orange to freshen the flavors.
Allow your juice to sit for 5-10 minutes after making to blend flavors and release gases.
Pour your juice into an airtight glass jar and store in the fridge up to 24 hours to allow flavors to develop.
Sip your juice through a reusable glass straw placed toward the back of your tongue to minimize upfront bitterness.
With creativity and these tips, you can look forward to your daily celery juice instead of dreading it!
Adapting Your Tastebuds to Enjoy Straight Celery Juice
For some people, celery juice will always require added fruits or mixers to be palatable. But if you want to work up to drinking pure straight celery juice, here are some suggestions:
Start with as much fruit as needed to make the juice taste good. Then slowly decrease the amount by a 1⁄4 cup or so each week.
After your fruity celery juice, take a small shot of straight celery juice as a chaser to acquaint your tastebuds.
Begin with just 1-2 celery stalks juiced plain instead of a whole bunch. Work up from there.
Mix celery juice half and half with cucumber juice or herbal tea at first for a milder flavor. Then increase the celery ratio.
Add just a squeeze of lemon or lime instead of fruits to help cut the bitterness.
Focus on the powerful nutrients and health benefits you're getting rather than the taste. This mindset shift can help.
With patience and gradual exposure, you may find your tastebuds adapt to the unique flavors of straight celery juice. But blending with fruits is still an excellent way to enjoy the benefits if you just can't acquire the taste.
Related articles:
Conclusion
Thankfully, blending celery juice with sweeter fruits like oranges, pineapples, apples, mangoes, berries and kiwis can dramatically improve the taste.
These fruits add complementary flavors that balance out celery's earthy grassiness and temper its bitterness. Using roughly equal parts fruit to celery results in a palatable juice you look forward to drinking daily.
For some, celery juice may always require a fruit mixer to be enjoyable. But with patience, you could adapt to straight celery juice in order to reap all its touted benefits. Either way, consume celery juice consistently to improve your overall health and vitality! Just be sure to make it delicious.
About the Author:
Gavin is the owner of Tru Foo Juice Bar. He has over 6 years of experience running a juice bar and creating juice and smoothie recipes for the consumer market.
His passion for juicing began in his early 20s as he explored natural ways to boost nutrition and energy. Over the years, Gavin has experimented with countless ingredient combinations to create the perfect blends and bring them to the masses.
