T he Whole Foods in Miami has this amazing juice bar. They will whip up a juice for you with the most tantalizing fresh ingredients – or you can buy a bottle if you’re in a rush. Here’s the only problem: the juices are $10. We are not $10 juice people. However, I will sample that $10 juice any day of the week. I always walk away from the sample station with those emoji heart eyes, already dreaming of the next time I can pay a visit.

The other day, I had a sip of the most amazing concoction I’d tasted in a LONG time. It was the perfect blend of tropical flavors with a zip of fresh ginger. It tasted like health in a bottle. I’ve been hit with the worst cold over these past few days – probably to be expected after working so intensely at the Masters – and that ginger made me come back to life just a little bit. I glanced at the bottle and the ingredients were all delicious and do-able. What if I could re-create this juice without a juicer? It was worth a try. So I gathered up the various fruits, most of which happened to be on sale. If that’s not a “go for it!” sign from the grocery store gods, I don’t know what is!

I peeled the pineapple, orange, and ginger, and cut off the tops to the strawberries.

I put them all into the Vitamix with some water.

And guess what? IT WORKED. The juice was a little more frothy than what you would get from a juicer, but it was almost better since it had all the goodness from the nutrients – and it was still definitely more on the juice side of things than the smoothie side.

I whipped it up for Bobby after his long work day and he was equally as obsessed. He kept on remarking that he couldn’t believe how “juice-like” it was. This has quickly risen to the top of the list of our favorite treats.

Again, here are the exact measurements I used:

(makes 3 servings)

  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1/2 a pineapple (I put some of the core in, but you would probably not want that if you’re going to non-Vitamix route)
  • 3 strawberries
  • 1 orange, peeled (I put in the whole orange, seeds and all. Again, a plus of the magical Vitamix.)
  • 3 penny-sized slices of peeled ginger (fewer if you don’t want much of a kick)

1. Place all ingredients in blender. Blend on highest speed.
2. Enjoy the best juice to ever pass through your lips.

(Note: I’m not sure how this would work in a regular blender…the Vitamix has transformed our life in the kitchen. Honestly, we have some friends who got a Vitamix a couple months ago and said, “We now delineate our lives between pre-Vitamix and post-Vitamix.” Which is hilarious, because they just recently got married. The purchase of a Vitamix and marriage – both life changing events. ANYWAYS, I’m not saying you need to rush out and buy a Vitamix or your life in the kitchen is doomed; but I will say that it was worth every penny of the investment for us. You can buy a refurbished one for about $150 less which is the route we went. We’ve had it for about 5 years and it’s been amazing every step of the way. However, don’t let the lack of a Vitamix stop you from trying to make this juice! I think it could still be done with a regular blender just by chopping up the ingredients more beforehand – mincing the ginger etc.)

Now that I’ve discovered this juice making ability of mine, I’m excited to try other combinations! Suggestions are welcome!

(*The link to the Vitamix in this post is an affiliate link – meaning that if you purchase through it, the cost to you is the same but I get a tiny commission. Thank you so much for supporting this creative work!)