The healthiest drink in the world?
Lemonade stands will never be the same.
I don’t think I ever sold lemonade as a kid. I ran a cookie stand and a hot chocolate stand, and my friend and I once sold flowers we picked from her mom’s garden. (Not a good idea; nobody bought flowers, and her mom yelled at us for ruining the flower beds.)
Sorry to say, I missed out on selling lemonade. But I didn’t miss out on drinking it: my favorite was when lemonade tasted really sour, not the super-sweet pink stuff my sister loved because it was her favorite color. I always wished they’d made blue lemonade.
With its vibrant green hue, this crazy-healthy recipe comes close:
The best part about blender recipes is that, unlike with baked goods, you can keep adding ingredients if you’re not happy with the initial result. I kept playing with this recipe, tasting along the way, and suddenly the flavors just popped. It’s surprisingly delicious!
Green Lemonade
(no added sugar)
Recipe inspired by my drink at Peacefood Cafe
- 1 to 2 very large apples (200-400g)
- 1 to 2 cups kale (or another green, or omit) (40g)
- 1 to 2 stalks celery, broken into a few pieces, and bottoms cut off (80g)
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 3/4 cup water
- optional: a small piece of fresh ginger (or more, for a spicier juice)
Core the apples (no need to take off the skin), and combine all ingredients in a super-high-powered blender like a Vita-Mix. Blend until completely pulverized. I like it thick, so I never bother with this next step: Unless you prefer a ton of pulp like I do, you should pour the blended mixture through the finest strainer you own. Discard pulp or use for a different recipe. (Google “juice pulp recipes” if you need ideas.) Use one apple for a more tart drink and two apples for a sweeter drink.
View Green Lemonade Nutrition Facts
Question of the Day:
Did you ever sell lemonade as a kid?
Sadly I don’t see very many kids selling lemonade anymore. Now they’re always out there selling Kool Aid… for $5 a glass!
Link of the Day:
It’s also green, thanks to a secret healthy ingredient. No, not spinach or avocado!
Erica { EricaDHouse.com } says
I remember I had a lemonade stand once. A cute old lady came up and gave my brother and I $5 and didn’t even want any of our drinks lol. That’s all the money we made but we considered it a huge success!
Olivia @ OmNom Love says
Ah, yes, I used to sell lemonade. Not many people would stop to buy some, though. I live in a neighbor where the majority of the people who live there were older and not many people drove by my house. Oh well.
Katie @ Peace Love & Oats says
This looks so good! Too bad I don’t have a Vitamix… And yes! I definitely sold lemonade as a kid, we did that all the time on our street, but never made much money!
Sarah says
My neighbor’s grandson sells lemonade every year at the bike race in Philly since it goes through my neigborhood. He sells it for 25 cents and with all of the people drinking alcohol that day, I’m sure he makes a killing when they need something non-alcoholic to drink!
Christina says
Do you cook the kale first?
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Nope 🙂
Rachel says
I used to sell iced tea haha ths looks good! I don’t have a vitamix though
Jennifer @ Peut Butter and Peppers says
I love the recipe. I’ve been meaning to try out juicing. I just got a high power blender and I would love to have a healthy drink like this for my afternoon snack! Thanks Katie!
Ashley says
I never sold lemonade as a kid- probably because we lived in the desert and it was always too hot in the summer to be outside in the daytime! But I am a sucker for a good glass of sour lemonade:)
Janae @ Bring-Joy says
I have been making a similar recipe since I went vegan 6 years ago. I use romaine lettuce instead of kale, add ice & blend in my Blendtec (instead of a juicer).
& never sold lemonade as a kid.
Eating 4 Balance says
I never sold lemonade because I lived out in the middle of the country where no one would pass by for hours. My parents would have definitely bought some though! I take it that you lived in a very populated area? Was your business venture successful? 😀
My brother and I did have mini-garage sales with each other though. We’d pick cheap nick-knacks from our room (like bouncy balls, envelopes, fast food toys, slinkies, Pokemon cards…) and price them at 5 or 10 cents apiece. If we ran out of money we went couch diving!
Rachel @ My Naturally Frugal Family says
Well like you I never sold lemonade as I kid. I never had any sort of stand come to think of it…oh well!
I do very much like the way this lemonade looks and with my favorite veggie, KALE, in it it must be a winner 🙂
Chelsea @ Healthy In a Nutshell says
It’s so GREEN! Love it- usually wake up to yummy spinach smoothies 🙂
Rachel Ngom says
This looks awesome! I’ve made something similar in the juicer, but not in my blender! I will have to give it a shot!
Ashley says
Do you use granny smith apples? Or a sweeter variety?
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
I used Pink Lady.
Sunnie says
Ah, I LOVE pink lady apples. I just ate one today. 🙂 Looks like a yummy recipe, Katie! Have you ever had limeade?
Meredith says
I just ate one about two minutes ago! Wish I could try this recipe, but all I have is a food processor and I don’t think it could handle this :/
Ani says
I’ve made a similar juice in a food processor before. It will just come out slushier, like a slushy instead. Try it; still delicious!
Meg says
What a fabulous idea! I am so trying this!
CARA says
I found 2 lemons, 1 LARGE (inedibly so ) cucumber, a little bit of agave nectar and some kale or spinach or both to be THE best lemonade slushy! 🙂 less calories too because of the cucumber instead of apples. Believe me with the apples piling up I was tempted. 🙂
Sherry says
I throw kale, 1/2 a peeled lemon, spinach, an apple, 1 celery stalk, piece of ginger, 1/2 a cucumber, cilantro and parsley in my juicer in the morning, and it’s delicious! No pulp just a dark green juice. I like the color of your bright green juice!
tiffany says
I never had a lemonade stand but I did have a mini carni game lol. I got a bunch of toys I no longer wanted and set up a game for people to play to win a toy….a couple people played and gave me money but no one would take a toy. I think they figured I would be sad losing some of my own toys.
Jasmin says
For the lemon juice, is it pure lemon juice? Like freshly squeezed stuff?
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Yes 🙂
Carrie @ Season It Already! says
No, but I just saw a lemonade stand on the corner about an hour ago. In fact, I’ve seen them more than ever this summer!
Kavli says
Katie do you think this can be made in a food processor? I don’t have a vitamix and my blender probably won’t do this. It looks so delicious and sounds good too!
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Sorry, I haven’t tried it so I really don’t know.
Kavli says
Okay I tried it! 🙂 It was super thick but I usually like juices with all that pulp so I really really enjoyed it. It’s super delicious! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Ashley @ Wishes and Dishes says
I love sour lemonade! I never did a lemonade stand as a kid, but always wanted to. My friends’ kids had one this summer and made 75$ in an hour! It’s just crazy…. (not what they used to be, that’s for sure)
[email protected] says
Never sold lemonade either! I love sneaking in super healthy ingredients that despite the color you would never know were there. This sounds SUPER refreshing!
Emily @ Glitz Glam Granola says
Ohh this looks delicious! I make a similar green drink in my juicer and always add lemon and lime! So yummy and so good for you! And I definitely had a lemonade stand growing up with my best friend– she had this special little stand thing too that had a chalkboard on it and counter and we would sit behind it and sell lemonade for 50 cents! I can’t believe kids are selling koolaid now for $5! Crazy! PS Love that you had a hot chocolate stand… looks like you were a chocolate girl from the beginning!
Jade C says
Hmmm I make a similar drink, but with my juicer 😀
Also, try adding a banana in place of some of the water – makes an awesome breakfast!!
Rachel @ Eat, Learn, Discover! says
Goodness, this looks amazing, I have got to try it! Do you think it would work in a magic bullet?
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Not sure the apple would process…
Anonymous says
Yes, I cut up and core apples in my nutri bullet and it works great!
Debbie says
I love all these green drinks popping up everywhere. They are all so delicious. Never had a lemonade stand, we lived at the end of a dead end street.
Cayce says
OMG! So green! I gotta try this!
Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Amanda @ Heart Tree Home says
We just bought a Vitamix and I can’t wait to be able to make all of your yummy Vitamix recipes!
Tanya @ Playful and hungry says
It’s like a green smoothie! 😉