Fermented vegetable juice is a living, healthy and delicious drink, and is very easy to do at home. Here’s a simple recipe to get you started!
Fresh vegetables will provide a savoury juice, full of nutrients that are easy to assimilate and packed with good probiotics created by lactic acid fermentation.
There is nothing like a lacto-fermented vegetable juice to give yourself a boost in the morning or to complement your diet or meals. Its surprising taste lies somewhere between a V8 vegetable juice and a sugar-free kombucha.
Sparkling and tangy, this frankly delicious living drink is often used in raw food diet and other vegetable-based diets.
Fermented Vegetable Juice Recipe
Equipment
- Juice extractor or juicer
- 1 L glass jar
Ingredients
- 1 kg carrots (or other vegetables of your choice)
- ¼ yellow onion
- 100 g cabbage
- 1 lactic acid bacteria culture (or 2 tablespoons of sauerkraut juice)
- 10 g salt
Steps
- Peel the carrots. This step is optional, but it will probably improve the taste of the juice.
- Place the carrots, onion, and cabbage in the juice extractor or juicer. Save the pulp for some other use (muffins, etc.).
- Pour the juice into a glass jar and add the starter culture.
- Add salt at a ratio of % of the weight (i.e., 2 tsp/litre) and mix well.
- Close the jar and place the airlock. Otherwise, close tightly, but let the pressure out once a day for the first 3 days: unscrew the sealing ring slightly for a few seconds, then close tightly (never open completely).
- Leave to ferment for 3 to 7 days, according to taste (if you do not use an airlock, shake the jar morning and evening to avoid the formation of mould).
There you go! Homemade fermented vegetable juice! Consume before dawn and even before you brush your teeth or use it as a worthy tomato juice substitute in a Bloody Caesar.
Keep indefinitely (yes, yes) in the fridge, in the jar, or airtight bottles.
Recipe from the book “Fermentation Revolution“.
Variations
Experiment with your favourite vegetables! Carrots, celery, beets, fennel, kale, onions, hot peppers (!), tomatoes, and cucumbers give excellent results.
You can also add herbs such as parsley, cilantro, ginger, turmeric, etc.
Can’t get enough of fermented juice? Check out our Homemade Gut Shot Recipe!
Express Method
Don’t want to wait a week? Put lacto-fermented vegetables (kimchi, carrots with orange, etc.) in the juicer and consume like a shooter or in your favourite drinks.
No time to make homemade vegetable juice? Buy a litre of cold-pressed vegetable juice without additives and start at step 3.
