The Best Green Juice: First Watch Kale Tonic Recipe
By Hannah Healy
Updated January 12, 2024
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This copycat First Watch kale tonic recipe is a vegetable-packed green juice full of kale, fuji apples, cucumber, and lemon, with no juicer required. The sweet, fresh, and light flavors are sure to delight your taste buds, while the vitamin C will make your immune system happy!
First Watch is a chain of healthy, California-inspired casual dining cafes that feature menu items ranging from avocado toast to benedicts to green juices like this kale tonic. Many patrons of the restaurant rave about this healthy green juice recipe, so why not make it at home and have it any time you want?
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- One of the best things about this copycat First Watch kale tonic recipe is that there is no juicer required! Juicers can be heavy, bulky, expensive, and hard to use! Plus, not everyone has one. This recipe uses a blender and a strainer to make the best green juice you’ve ever had!
- This is an easy and simple recipe that only takes about 15 minutes to create.
- There’s a reason why this kale tonic is so popular at First Watch. All of the ingredients work in perfect balance to make a wholesome, vegan, vegetable-packed green juice that actually tastes good!
- There is no added sugar in this juice. Its flavor comes from the natural sweet taste of the apple juice!
What’s in the First Watch Kale Tonic Recipe?
- Kale: This green vegetable is a well-known superfood and a nutritional powerhouse full of antioxidants, vitamin K, potassium, manganese, and many other essential vitamins and minerals that support the immune and digestive system. I like to use curly kale for this recipe, but you can swap it out for any other variety, such as lacinato kale (aka dinosaur kale).
- Apples: The First Watch restaurant uses fuji apples in this kale tonic green juice because they’re crisp, juicy, and very sweet, which goes great with leafy greens. Honeycrisp, pink lady, or gala apples are a great substitute if you can’t get your hands on fuji apples. I wouldn’t recommend green apples or granny smith unless you prefer less sugar and a more bitter, sour-tasting juice.
- Cucumbers: English cucumbers are used in the original First Watch kale tonic recipe. This variety of cucumbers is sweeter, juicier, and lighter in flavor than regular cucumbers, which is why it’s perfect for green juice. However, regular cucumbers can work as well!
- Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice is an excellent addition to this juice that brings in even more nutrients in addition to some acidity and a bite that makes it really refreshing. Regular lemons work great, but Meyer lemons can add a sweeter touch. You can use lime juice instead of lemons, but it may be more sour and a little more intense than lemon juice. If you’re out of lemons, you can also substitute this with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.
Additions
The simple ingredients above make up the original recipe of the First Watch kale tonic juice, but some people like to add other healthy ingredients to boost the nutrition. Below are a few add-ins that work well!
- Ginger: This root is commonly used in teas because of its anti-inflammatory properties and ability to support digestion. A small amount goes a long way, but it adds a real kick to any recipe. Start by grating about 1-2 inch cubes of peeled ginger into the blender as you make this juice, and be sure to strain it out along with the other pulp.
- Turmeric: Another popular anti-inflammatory root with a lot of promising research. Use turmeric similarly to ginger by removing the peel from a 1-2 inch cube of turmeric, then grating it into the blender. Be sure to strain afterward.
- Spinach: This is another nutrient-dense leafy green, but I would be very sparing with spinach because it can add bitterness and graininess to the juice. If you want to add some, start with a small amount.
- Celery: Celery juice has a lot of benefits, especially with digestion. Since it’s very mild in flavor and very hydrating, it’s easy to add to this juice recipe without interfering with the flavor too much. You can add in about half a heart of celery without changing the recipe much, and don’t leave out all those little leaves on the celery stalk; they also contain beneficial nutrients!
Recipe Tips
- You’ll need a high-powered blender, like a Vitamix or Ninja blender, for the best results with this recipe. Other blenders may not adequately process all the high-fiber vegetables.
- All of the unprocessed vegetables and fruits will take up a lot of room in the blender at first but then will shrink down a lot once they’re blended. The capacity of the blender should be about 64 ounces in order to fit all the unprocessed ingredients.
- You’ll need a fine-mesh strainer to make this green juice. You can also use cheesecloth.
- You can leave the seeds and core intact when you chop the apples since they will be strained out after blending.
- For storage, keep this juice in an airtight container, like a mason jar, in the refrigerator. This fresh juice won’t last long, so be sure to consume it within 24 hours.
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How To Make First Watch Kale Tonic Recipe
Start by washing and chopping the apples and cucumbers. You can leave the seeds in the apple since they will be strained out after blending. Remove the kale leaves from the stems and discard the stems.
Pour water into a high-speed blender, then add in the kale leaves, stuffing them down to create room. Add in the apples and cucumbers. The ingredients will likely come all the way to the top of the blender but will shrink down after blending.
Blend on high until all the ingredients are mixed and it resembles a liquid. Pulse or stop to mix in the ingredients with a spoon if needed.
Get a large bowl and place a fine-mesh strainer over it. Pour the contents of the blender over the strainer so the bowl catches the liquid while the strainer keeps out the fiber and pulp. Use a rubber spatula to gently mix the pulp in the strainer to get out any excess juice. The pulp may be very foamy. Once the juice is strained, you can discard the pulp.
Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the bowl, and be careful not to get any lemon seeds in the juice. Pour the juice into a cup and enjoy your glass of kale tonic! You can also store it in a mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
Copycat First Watch Kale Tonic Recipe
EQUIPMENT
- 1 high-powered blender Vitamix or Ninja
Ingredients
- 3 leaves kale
- 2 small to medium apples
- 1 English cucumber
- 2 cups water
- Juice of half a lemon
Instructions
- Start by washing and chopping the apples and cucumbers. You can leave the seeds in the apples since they will be strained out after blending. Remove the kale leaves from the stems and discard the stems.
- Pour water into a high-speed blender, then add in the kale leaves, stuffing them down to create room. Add in the apples and cucumbers. The ingredients will likely come all the way to the top of the blender but will shrink down after blending.
- Blend on high until all the ingredients are mixed and it resembles a liquid. Pulse or stop to mix in the ingredients with a spoon if needed.
- Get a large bowl and place a fine mesh strainer over it. Pour the contents of the blender over the strainer so the bowl catches the liquid while the strainer keeps out the fiber and pulp. Use a rubber spatula to gently mix the pulp in the strainer to get out any excess juice. The pulp may be very foamy. Once the juice is strained, you can discard the pulp.
- Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the bowl of juice, and be careful not to get any lemon seeds in the juice. Pour the juice into a glass to enjoy as is, or store it in a mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
Video
Notes
- You’ll need a high-powered blender, like a Vitamix or Ninja blender, for this recipe. Other blenders may not adequately process all the high-fiber vegetables.
- All of the unprocessed vegetables and fruits will take up a lot of room in the blender at first but then will shrink down a lot once they’re blended. The capacity of the blender should be about 64 ounces in order to fit all the unprocessed ingredients.
- You’ll need a fine mesh strainer to make this green juice. You can also use a cheesecloth.
- You can leave the seeds and core intact when you chop the apples since they will be strained out after blending.
- For storage, keep this juice in an airtight container, like a mason jar, in the refrigerator. This fresh juice won’t last long, so be sure to consume it within 24 hours.
Nutrition
