12 Ways to Use Leftover Juice Pulp (so it doesn’t go to waste)

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 juice pulp

I absolutely hate waste!

But, I do love making fresh fruit and veggie juice. It’s delicious and provides so many vitamins and minerals to myself and my family! Making enough juice for all of us once a day, or even once every couple of days, produces a lot of fruit and veggie pulp. I’ve been simply throwing it out, which makes me a little sad. I can’t wait until we can get our own house out here on the west coast, so I can start composting for my future garden. So, I’ve decided to find out different ways to use leftover juice pulp. Below is what I have found while researching the topic.

delicious fresh juice

1.  Add to a Smoothie

Adding the pulp to a smoothie had passed through my mind, even before researching what to do with all the leftover pulp from juicing. But, I guess I never thought enough of it to try it. I even thought it may be a little weird. Apparently, other people are doing it, so it must not be that bad. Plus, it’ll add fiber to the smoothie; almost everyone should be trying to get more fiber in their diet!

2. Make a Popsicle

I honestly do not recommend this repurpose option, especially if you put carrots in your juice. If you made just fruit juice and had only pulp from fruit then it may actually taste decent. But my 5 year old daughter and myself tried this the other day and it was horrible. It included pulp from spinach, strawberries, pineapple, cantaloupe, and carrots; the juice was good, but the pulpsicles were gross. My daughter literally spit out the piece she had bit off because it was so gross; I think she bit off a piece with carrot.

I’ve made popsicles with the fresh juice itself before, and even with leftover smoothies. That turned out wonderful! My daughter wanted me to make her more, and I do so on occasion now. It’s easier to get her to eat a fresh juice popsicle than to eat as many fruits and veggies that goes into it. It also helps with not buying popsicles at the store that are full of high fructose corn syrup. Whenever we pass them at the store and she asks for them I tell her I’ll make her one and she gets excited over it. So, it’s a win-win.

3. Add to Soup

This may actually work, especially if your juice is veggie heavy. Or, maybe separate the pulp on whether it’s fruit or a veggie; add the veggie pulp to soup and the fruit pulp to a popsicle mold or blender for a smoothie. I may try this eventually, as I do not ever want to waste juice pulp again. And, one of the other things you can do with the pulp, which is towards the bottom of the list, is to freeze it. What better way to use juice pulp, than to add it to some hot soup.

4. Make Veggie Broth

Ok, to be honest, I have never made my own veggie broth before. I never really officially learned to cook. I mostly rely on the internet and cookbooks to learn, and I have not fully learned this yet. But, I have read a post or two about how to make veggie broth and it did say to use the scraps of veggies to make it. It also talked about how the process was and how long it takes, which made it so I didn’t personally want to make it. We don’t eat a lot of soup in my home at this time in our lives; it’s sometimes hard to get little ones to eat it. But this option will definitely be one I try out if I ever choose to make my own veggie broth!

5. Add to Pasta Sauce or Mac and Cheese

I’m not sure what I think of this method. I may end up trying this, but I may not. If you have tried this before please comment and let me know what you thought of it.

6. Add to Baked Goods

I love baking, whether it’s my own recipe, one that was passed down from my mom, or one I found online. So, this method of using up juice pulp is going to be used. Maybe not today, but hopefully sometime this week. I’m planning on making some healthy cookies later this week, so maybe I’ll make half with juice pulp and half without and then compare. The pulp would probably go very well in bread or muffins, too. We like carrot zucchini muffins here, so maybe my daughter can approve of the pulp in this form.

7. Add to Pancakes

Adding to pancakes will probably have the same outcome as baking the pulp into other foods. When I try this option, I will try to make sure there’s more fruit pulp in these than veggie pulp. Except for maybe spinach, my older daughter and I love spinach, at least in our smoothies and juice!

8. Dehydrate and add to trail mix or use as breadcrumbs

Ok, so I found this option to use up the juice pulp when I was researching ways to not just let the pulp go to waste. But, personally, I don’t see myself dehydrating the pulp or using as breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs, for me, need to come from bread, maybe crackers. But, if you need to eat gluten free, then maybe this would be a good alternative for you.

9. Make Pulp Crackers

Ever since I have found this as an option for all of the juice pulp, I’ve been considering it. But, I want to try other ways to use up the pulp from the juice first, before I try this. Once I find a good recipe for these, that my daughters actually like, I will update this post with it, or add a link.

10. Make DIY skincare

There are so many DIY skincare recipes out there on google and pinterest and other sites as well. I never made any myself; unless you consider using coconut oil as lip balm as DIY. Depending on your situation, and knowledge on making skincare, this may sound interesting to you. At this point in my life, it’s not right for me. If this ever changes I will update this post for you with links on how to do this!

11. Freeze to Use at a later time

This option is probably one of the best, especially for busy moms who don’t have time to make juice and then do something else with the pulp right after. (Like me!!) It takes some time to prepare all of the produce, make the juice, and then clean up. Sometimes we just don’t have the time, or our childrens patience, to do anymore at the same time. Therefore, freezing the pulp can sometimes be ideal. Just put them in the freezer and then add them to whatever you’d like at a later date.

I have these awesome ice cube trays, too. They are fully silicone and easy to get the cubes out of. I used to have partially silicone trays that were advertised as being easy to get the cubes out; the hard plastic broke when I tried getting out the cubes and cut me, making me bleed. The fully silicone ones are much nicer! I’m never going back to partially silicone, or fully plastic ones.

12. Compost it

Composting the pulp was my very first thought after getting the juicer. At this time I do not have a composter, or even a garden to use the compost for. But, as soon as we do, this will be one of my go to solutions for all of the pulp from the juice!

To sum up what I have found, here’s a list of ways to use leftover juice pulp:

  • Add to a smoothie
  • Add to soup
  • Use to make a popsicle
  • Use to make veggie broth
  • Add to pasta sauce or mac and cheese
  • Add to baked goods, like muffins or bread
  • Add to pancakes
  • Dehydrate it and add to trail mix or use as breadcrumbs?
  • Make crackers out of it?
  • Use in DIY skincare recipes?
  • Freeze to use at a later time
  • Compost it

I found more too, but these were the best options out of everything I found. And some even show what to do with specific fruit or veggie pulp; there were some articles and recipes specifically for carrot pulp. Which I guess makes sense; carrot pulp doesn’t always taste the best, as my daughter had found out with her pulpsicle. But even so, now since you have read this, if you juice, then there is no excuse for throwing out and wasting the pulp again.

juice pulp

Let me know in the comments other ways to use leftover juice pulp, if you know anymore!

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