Jugo Verde {Mexican Green Juice}

Jugo Verde! Mexico’s all-natural, anti-inflammatory cold-pressed juice- made with fresh pineapple, spinach, cucumber, and nopales. Heals and soothes the body! Blender instructions included. Video included!

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If you follow along with my adventures on Instagram, you may remember my gorgeous trip back in November to a few very special California farms right here in my own backyard of Santa Barbara.

I was so inspired by the massive variety of produce grown that I wanted to combine many of them in a healthy Jugo Verde recipe or traditional green juice that you will find all over Mexico made with nopales, the thick pads of the Opuntia Cactus.

Keep reading to hear all about my trip and how to make this power-packed juice!

24x the tomatoes with only 6x the water

What shocked me most about our CA Grown Santa Barbara Agri-Tour wasn’t the vast diversity in produce (although we did sample over 40 different crops during the two day trip), it was the incredible technological advances that are being used to grow massive amounts of food in very small spaces using very minimal resources.

For example, at Houweling’s Greenhouses, they are producing 24X the amount of tomatoes that would be grown in the same size of field-farmed tomatoes, with only 6X the amount of water that would be used in a field-farmed operation. 

They use solar to power much of their facility and are even able to trap the heat emitted during the day to warm the plants at night.

california grown coffee—really!

In the hills of Santa Barbara, Frinj Coffee is pioneering the coffee industry in California, and also working with U.C. Davis to do research on coffee plants and varieties.

Coffee is now being farmed in several locations throughout Southern California, often inter-planted with avocados.

75% of the cut flowers grown in the US are from california

On our second day we headed to Carpenteria where we found row upon row of colorful Gerbera Daisies at Ocean Breeze Farms.

The hydroponic greenhouses, as well as their cut flower packing house and bouquet production line grow stunning blossoms that can be found at many grocery stores and flower shops.

Our farm host shared that the market has been hurt, however, by the low cost of imported flowers.

How can we help? When shopping for flowers, look for and ask for California Grown (or American Grown) blooms.

You will not only be supporting local farms, but the flowers will last longer because they haven’t been shipped in.

a jugo verde made with california grown produce

During our trip we stayed at the luxurious Biltmore Four Seasons Resort.

Among the many beautiful offerings, morning green juice was served during breakfast.

It got me thinking about all the cold-pressed Mexican licuado verde or green juice I’ve had so many times and have been wanting to make at home for the longest.

I especially love this Mexican juice recipe because everything that goes into it (minus the pineapple) is grown right here in California.

Even the nopales, the paddles of the Opuntia cactus, better known as Prickly Pear are California grown.

One of my favorite Agua Fresca recipes uses the fruit of this cactus but the green pads are also eaten and contain many health benefits, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties as well as controlling blood sugar.

how to make jugo verde without a juicer

I made this Jugo Verde receta or Mexican Green Juice recipe by pressing everything through my juicer but you can easily make this without one in a few easy steps:

• Blend all the ingredients in a blender.
• Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a pitcher.
• Compost the scraps or add to muffins or cake batter.

more healthy drink recipes to try!

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Superfood Smoothie
• Peaches and Cream Smoothie
• Pink Chia Lemonade
• Strawberry Mandarin Agua Fresca
• Green Tea Smoothie
• Mango Lime Agua Fresca
• Sunrise Smoothie

treat yo’ self

Opening up the fridge to find a homemade cold-pressed, power-boosting green juice is the BEST way to start your day. So treat yourself by whipping up a batch of Jugo Verde, and don’t forget to snap a pic and share it with me on Instagram by tagging @holajalapeno or #holajalapeno so I can see or leave me a comment below (don’t forget to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating) ! ¡Salúd!

In support of this small business, ¡Hola! Jalapeño earns revenue in a few different ways. Several sponsored posts are published each month, such as this one here which is sponsored by California Grown. I also earn an affiliate commission on the sales of products I link to— there are a few of those links in this post. I only feature items I genuinely love and personally use on a regular basis. This commission is an arrangement between the retailer and ¡Hola! Jalapeño (readers never pay more for products). This income allows me to run the site. Thank you for reading!