10 Reasons Why Your Juicing Pulp Shouldn’t Go Into The Trash

There are so many reasons why juicing pulp (the “other” stuff that comes out of your juicer) generally get’s thrown out. For being such a healthy lifestyle choice, juicing waste can be overwhelming, messy and a pain in the arse – but it’s silly to throw it out. Think about it…organic vegetables aren’t cheap you might as well use the entire thing and get your money’s worth.

It’s bad enough you have to wash, prep and juice all the ingredients in the first place. Then, after it’s all said and done, you have to deal with the staggering amount of messy waste.

Fret no more. Here are 10 of my favorite reasons why your juicing pulp shouldn’t go into the trash.

#1. You’re throwing money away.

Organic fruits and vegetables are expensive – there’s no two ways around it. Even if you’re buying them at a farmer’s market, you’ll pay up to $2 for one pound of carrots. By weight, the liquid juice you are extracting is heavier than the pulp, but if you do the math almost one third of that original pound is going into the trash – which is about $0.67 per pound of carrots.

That may not seem like much, but if you extrapolate those numbers across all the vegetables and fruits used to make your juice once or twice a week, that can be a pretty substantial amount of money you’re just throwing into the trash.

By my calculations, that can be almost $70 per year…up to you.

#2. It’s art. And you don’t throw away art.

We all know there’s a fine line between great art and garbage. And I’m sure we can all agree, there’s a lot of art that’s complete garbage.

I’m not suggesting that there are any “Juicing Pulp Galleries” you can go and visit to see the latest juice pulp art. Though, that is an interesting proposition…we could call it the “Pulp Art Movement” or add a little spoken word and call it “Pulp Diction”. I hope you chuckled a bit at that one.

Anyway, it’s been my experience that juicing is like making an abstract art piece…like this one I made in my kitchen.

I’m no contempo artist but the subtlety of the juice vs the pulp is lovely, no?

I challenge you to make some art and post it somewhere on social media with the hashtag #pulpart and show the world your inner Pollock. But, if you’re not into making art with your leftover pulp luckily, you can just compost it.

#3. You can make dog food with it.

I love adding my leftover juicing pulp to my dog’s homemade food. Personally, I make all my dog’s food because there are so many fillers and by-products in commercial dog food. Here’s something I found online about some commercial dog food productions…

“Dead pets collected from shelters are frequently thrown into the grinder with their flea collars still attached. Insecticide-laced patches found on the skin of slaughtered cattle are also carelessly added to the mix.” – from Dogfoodadvisor.com.

Truth is, commercial dog food can be made from dead, diseased and disabled dogs and other animals. I had no idea either. As soon as my dog started showing signs of sudden unexplained health issues, I took her off commercial food…for good. In the picture I used my kale juice pulp and grated in some carrots and celery and other doggie food ingredients. It’s just what I had that day. But as long as you’re not juicing onions, grapes or chocolate add your juicing pulp to a batch of homemade dog food.

#4. Sprinkle it on your salad.

Use the pulp from juicing bitter veggies like kale, cabbage, and root vegetables like beets, carrots, turmeric and ginger and sprinkled atop your plain ol’ salad greens. Not only will it add a pop of color but it will add the fiber you’re not going to get if you throw out your pulp.

While making some savory smoothies, I got creative and decided to reuse the turmeric pulp. I tossed it in with chopped cabbage, fresh herbs, salt and pepper, olive oil and some lemon juice, and voilá! Turmeric pulp is strong (like ginger) so a little goes a long way…and it WILL stain your counter so be careful.

#5. Dehydrate it and save it for later.

Distribute your leftover juicing pulp onto a dehydrator tray and let it go for a few hours until it’s bone dry. Once it’s dry, place it into a dry blender and break it down into a powder. You may have to filter out stems but it’s no big deal.

A few years ago I made a video showing the process – not with juicing pulp but with fresh kale from my “victory garden”. Same technique. Check it out.

#6. Blend it up.

Juicing is great, but it isn’t for everyone. Truth is, you’re missing out on all the fiber that is the pulp. Fiber (a super important part of good digestion), is essential and helps “move” things along.

Throw a handful of your juicing pulp into the blender with your favorite frozen fruit and blend. You may actually want to have a little liquid or juice in there too, and blend on high until smooth. I’ll spare you the visuals here. I think you know what to do.

#7. Throw it into some soup…or make broth.

If you’ve got some leftover veggies you can make yourself a tasty soup with your leftover juicing pulp. Heat up your soup base and add your “aromatics” (garlic, onion, etc.) and let them warm up. Just about when the soup begins to steam add in your pulp, turn off the heat, season to taste and enjoy.

Alternatively, you can make a really delicious vegetable broth from your juicing pulp. Throw all your juicing waste into a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Allow the pulp to cook uncovered on high for about 10 minutes and strain into storage containers. Use immediately or freeze into ice cubes to use later.

#8. Make a veggie burger.

Most veggie burgers start with some kind of base “meat substitute” like TVP soy, legumes or mushrooms. Whatever you use as your veggie burger base ingredient, juicing pulp will help bind your burger ingredients together and give it some texture.

Veggie burgers in general aren’t rocket science. You can make cooked or raw veggie burgers and I’m sure you can find a recipe online somewhere for making them from juicing pulp. I haven’t done this because I’m not a big fan of veggie burgers to begin with, but if you like them try it and let me know how it works out.

#9. Let something else eat it.

Juicing pulp makes great food for other essential creatures like worms. Three or four years ago I tried keeping a few pounds of composting worms and they loved my leftover juicing pulp.

After several months they would transform it into some amazing, nutrient rich soil that I used in my victory garden. Sadly my unnecessarily agitated neighbor didn’t care too much for them and I suspect, tried poisoning them several times. Poor things. I don’t know what’s wrong with some people.

Bottom line, if you won’t eat it something will. Worms, and I suspect also rabbits, guinea pigs and other herbivores, will love it.

#10. Throw it into your baked goods.

If you like baking as much as I do then this is a no brainer. Though juicing pulp isn’t quite right for cookies per se, it is perfect for muffins, breads, crepes and even a savory pie crust…or cookie muffins!

Depending on the kind of pulp you have you can create something sweet or savory. For example, if you’re juicing apples or citrus your pulp would be great in muffins or scones. For something savory and unique, try adding some pulp to a savory pie crust, pizza crust or scone. You not only know this will be delicious and healthy, but it will be beautiful too.

BONUS: Use your pulp to make your lunch.

Whenever you have left over carrot pulp you can use it to make your lunch. I did this for the first time in December of 1991 when I did my very first 9-day juice and 100% raw food cleanse. Since then, I have enjoyed making this “mock tuna” with hemp aioli. Serve on toast of your choice or wrap up in large lettuce leaves.

This is a great way to upcycle the pulp, get a good second run out of it and eat the fiber you’re missing out on. It’s easy to make, low in fat and quite delicious. Give this recipe your own twist or get my full recipe by clicking the image.

So there you have it…

You don’t have to throw your juicing pulp into the trash like I did. I’m human too. After a week of juicing, I just didn’t need any more pulp so I gave into #8 and let something else enjoy it besides my dog.

It’s even beautiful in there…but there are better, more efficient ways to use this waste. Have fun, be creative and when and if you try any of these ideas post them and leave a comment below!

Need more fun recipe ideas?