Cucumber and fennel is a pairing I only ever saw in juice bars before I started making it at home, and it turns out there is nothing difficult about it. The cucumber does the cooling, the green apples stop the whole thing tasting like a savoury drink, and the fennel sits behind both of them with a faint aniseed edge that you notice more with each mouthful. I make it the morning after a heavy dinner, when I want something cold and green rather than another coffee. Two glasses, ten minutes, and nothing unusual in the cupboard.
Why these ingredients work
Cucumber is around 96 per cent water, and that is most of the point of it. It gives the glass volume and coldness without adding sugar, which is why this one goes down more easily than a lot of green juices, and it brings a little potassium and vitamin K with it. The skin holds what small amount of fibre survives juicing, so leave it on.
The apples are the sweetener, and I will be straight with you about the trade. Two green apples put roughly 25g of sugar in each glass, nearly all of it from the fruit itself. Juice is like that. The fibre that would slow fruit sugar down is left behind in the pulp. Granny Smiths are the ones to use here, because their acidity is what cuts through the fennel instead of sitting under it.
Fennel is the interesting one. It has been used for bloating and wind for centuries, and fennel seed and fennel oil do have small trials behind them for that sort of thing, though the raw bulb you are juicing here has not been studied in the same way. What the bulb certainly brings is anethole, the compound behind the aniseed taste, plus a decent amount of vitamin C and potassium. I treat it as a light, hydrating habit rather than a cure for anything.
The lemon is for sharpness and vitamin C. Worth saying plainly while we are here: no juice flushes your liver. Your liver does that on its own, all day, without help from a glass of anything. What this juice actually does is get water and a few vitamins into you in a form you will happily drink, which for most of us is the part that was missing.
FAQ
Do you need to peel cucumbers before juicing?
Not if the skin is clean and unwaxed. Wash them, cut the ends off and put them through whole. The skin is thin enough that a slow juicer manages it without complaint, and it is where the colour and a bit of the fibre sit. The one time to peel is a waxed supermarket cucumber, because the wax ends up in the juice and leaves a film on the inside of the glass.
How much sugar is in cucumber, apple and fennel juice?
About 25g per glass, and the apples account for nearly all of it. The cucumber and fennel together add barely 6g. If you are watching your intake, use one apple instead of two and top the glass up with cold water or a couple of ice cubes, which brings it down to roughly 15g and still tastes like something. It is fruit juice either way, so treat it as a nice drink rather than a replacement for water.
Can you make cucumber, apple and fennel juice without a juicer?
Yes, and the method is in the card below. Blend the cucumber, apple and fennel with 100ml of cold water for about a minute, then strain it through a nut milk bag or a fine sieve. You will get a cloudier drink than a juicer gives you, with more fibre left in, which is no bad thing. Press the pulp gently with the back of a spoon. Squeezing it hard pulls bitterness through and you will taste it.
More detox recipes: see the full Detox collection.
Cucumber, Apple and Fennel Juice
Equipment
- 1 Juicer a slow juicer gets much more out of the cucumber
- 1 High-speed blender for the blender method
- 1 Nut milk bag or a fine sieve
- 1 Airtight glass bottles only if you are taking it with you, it is better fresh
- 1 Budget cold press juicer a cheaper slow juicer handles cucumber and apple easily
- 1 Budget blender fine here, as long as you strain it well
Ingredients
- 2 medium cucumbers about 400g, or 1 large one
- 2 green apples cored but not peeled
- 1 small fennel bulb hard core removed, fronds kept if you like
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 100 ml cold water for the blender method only
Instructions
Juicer method
- Rinse the cucumbers and cut them into batons that fit your feed chute. There is no need to peel them unless the skin is waxed, in which case peel it off.
- Quarter the apples and cut out the core and seeds. Cut the fennel bulb in half through the root, slice out the hard core at the base, then cut each half into wedges.
- Feed the fennel through the juicer first, then the cucumber, then the apple. Alternating the vegetables with the fruit keeps the pulp moving and stops the basket clogging.
- Squeeze the half lemon straight into the jug at the end, stir, then pour into two glasses and drink it cold.
Blender method
- Peel the cucumbers if the skins are thick, then cut them into rough chunks.
- Core the apples and cut them into chunks. Cut the fennel into pieces and discard the solid core.
- Tip everything into the blender jug with the 100ml of cold water and blend on high for about 60 seconds, until there are no solid pieces of fennel left.
- Pour the mixture through a nut milk bag or a fine sieve set over a jug. Let it drain first, then press it gently with the back of a spoon and no harder.
- Squeeze in the lemon, stir the jug, and pour into two glasses to serve.