How To Make Turmeric Juice

Let’s make fresh turmeric juice! This recipe takes about 15- 20 minutes to come together and only requires a handful of ingredients. Easy, peasy turmeric squeezy!

To make turmeric juice you can use a high powered blender, a juicer, or even a bullet blender. When we make a single batch of this, we usually toss everything in our bullet blender. But for larger batches, we rely on our trusty Vitamix.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• about 3– 4″ pieces of turmeric ~ 75 grams unpeeled
• 2″ of fresh ginger or 1 tablespoon ground
• juice of 1/2 a lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1 small orange or 3-4 mandarins/clementines
• 1 1/4 cup water
• Optional 2 tablespoons honey or other sweetener
• Optional fresh cracked black pepper

We’ll peel the turmeric & ginger prior to blending into juice– we have taste tested this both ways (peeled and unpeeled) and haven’t noticed a difference. However, as both turmeric and ginger grow underground they can have a significant amount of dirt residue on the skin.

If you choose not to peel them to save time be sure to wash and scrub them thoroughly to remove any dirt and debris.

We think the easiest way to peel fresh ginger and turmeric is the following:

• Cut all the small nubs and knots off to have semi-straight, smooth pieces.
• Cut the woody base off the root off.
• Use a spoon to remove the thin, papery skin by scraping the spoon back and forth across the pieces.

NOTE: Turmeric will stain you hands, nails, counter, cutting boards, and utensils!! Use gloves if you have somewhere to be!!

After you have the turmeric and ginger peeled, simply add that with the remaining ingredients to your blender or juicer!

If using a juicer to make this recipe: Prepare and juice your ingredients then stir honey and black pepper into the 1 cup water and add to your finished juice.

If using a blender or Nutri-bullet to make this recipe: Add all ingredients to your blender, including honey and black pepper, and blend until smooth. Pour through a nut milk bag or fine grain cheesecloth to strain and separate the solid pulp.

How To Make Turmeric Shots

The process to make turmeric shots is the same as making turmeric juice- we’ll simply reduce the amount of water we use to concentrate the goodness. Also, we don’t add a sweetener for the turmeric wellness shots but that is your preference.

Follow the same steps listed above to prepare the turmeric and ginger then process in your juicer or blender. To make turmeric shots, use 3/4 cup water instead of 1 1/4 cups water!

Note: For turmeric shots, a bullet blender works best as there is a small amount of liquid. To make turmeric shots in your blender, double the recipe to achieve the minimum capacity required for smooth blending.

Bazinga! Your turmeric wellness shots are ready! You can take these straight, as a shot, in a shot glass. Or you can add them to smoothies or tea in the morning

Can You Use Ground Turmeric?

Fresh turmeric isn’t widely available across the globe so we tested a version of this recipe using ground turmeric powder as well. The mouthfeel of turmeric juice made using fresh turmeric is superior to using ground turmeric BUT ground turmeric will work.

If you are using ground turmeric to make turmeric juice or turmeric shots, use 1/4 cup ground turmeric (and 1 tablespoon ground ginger) and steep this in hot water for 5-10 minutes, then strain to remove the powder.

I found a coffee filter a very easy way to separate the ground turmeric and ginger from the water. This leaves you with a silky smooth ‘turmeric tea’ that doesn’t have any gritty or chalky residue.

ALSO NOTE: Turmeric juice or shots made with ground turmeric lack body compared to juice made with fresh turmeric. It’s a thinner viscosity– it’s light, like water compared to a fruit juice. To combat this, I found using half coconut milk and half water helps to give ground turmeric juice more body.

Why Drink Turmeric Wellness Shots?

Turmeric is all the rage in the health and wellness community right now– its suggested health benefits probably are probably how you landed on this recipe!

Turmeric may be helpful with a variety of skin conditions- from psoriasis to eczema- and may help maintain homeostasis (things like blood sugar and cholesterol levels) and is considered a powerful anti-inflammatory, which can help with a variety of functions in the body.

It’s the anti-inflammatory assistance we’re after which comes from a compound in turmeric called curcumin.

Pairing turmeric with fresh black pepper and a dose of healthy fat is touted as the perfect trifecta- here’s why: black pepper helps our bodies pull more of the beneficial curcuminoids from turmeric and fat may help our bodies maximize the absorption of curcumin.

Add Carrot, Pineapple, OR Orange To Your Turmeric Juice!

We love to make turmeric shots with oranges or clementines as we usually have them on hand and they add a mild natural sweetness that gives turmeric juice a well-balanced quality.

However, adding carrot or pineapple to your turmeric juice also keeps the color an ulta-radiant, gorgeous hue and maintains a health boost. If you prefer carrots or pineapple in place of, or in addition to oranges- feel free to make the substitution!

FAQS About Turmeric Juice & Turmeric Shots

1. How long do turmeric shots (or juice) last in the fridge? This usually lasts us 4-5 days in the fridge. It may last up to 7 days in the fridge but we recommend using it within 5 days.
2. How much turmeric juice to drink? That depends! Before starting any new health regimen, speak to your doctor as we can’t provide medical advice. However, this isn’t concentrated– water and other ingredients are added to the turmeric juice. We usually drink a turmeric shot once a day or an 8-ounce glass of the juice as we feel like it. Consult your doctor or healthcare provider!
3. Where can you buy fresh turmeric? We buy fresh turmeric at health food stores in our area pretty much year-round. I’ve heard of people having success ordering fresh turmeric online through Amazon, but haven’t tried it myself.
4. Can you make this in a food processor? We haven’t tried making turmeric shots in a food processor– a blender, juicer, or bullet blender will work best.
5. Turmeric stains my blender- how do you clean it? Hot water and a soapy scrub-down are a great first step, but even in doing so, our blenders become stained. This works spectacularly: Take your washed, dried blender and place it in a sunny window for 4-6 hours. The turmeric stains will all fade away!