I ignored fennel for years. It sits in the supermarket looking like a pale, overgrown onion with dill sticking out of the top, and I walked straight past it every time. Then a friend who actually juices put a glass of apple, fennel and celery in front of me and I had to ask what was in it. That clean aniseed taste, sharpened by green apple and held down by celery, is now what I pour on a Sunday night or after any meal that leaves my stomach feeling heavy and bloated. It makes two proper glasses in about ten minutes.
Why these ingredients work
Fennel is the reason this juice belongs on the digestion page. The compound behind that liquorice taste, anethole, is why fennel has a long folk history as a stomach soother, and the bulb brings real substance with it: one batch carries around 640mg of potassium per glass, more than you would get from a banana, plus a useful 25mg of vitamin C. Celery does the quieter work. It is mostly water with a little natural sodium, which is what gives the juice its savoury backbone, and it stretches the glass so you are not just drinking apple juice. The green apples supply the sugar that makes fennel drinkable in the first place, and a sharp variety like Granny Smith stands up to the aniseed instead of disappearing under it. The half lemon brightens the lot and slows the browning.
One honest note: juicing keeps less of the fibre than eating the vegetables whole, so think of this as a top-up rather than a swap. It is a pleasant, useful drink for days when your stomach feels slow, not a cure for anything.
FAQ
Does fennel juice taste like liquorice?
It does, but milder than you might expect. Fennel is where aniseed comes from before it turns into the sweets, and half a bulb gives a clean herbal note rather than an overpowering one. If you are unsure, start with half a bulb and let the apple and celery carry the glass. The feathery fronds taste milder than the bulb itself, so keep them in.
Is apple fennel celery juice good for bloating?
Fennel has been used for generations as a gentle stomach soother, and this recipe turns it into something you actually want to drink rather than a spoonful of something. Each glass has around 22g of sugar, all of it from the fruit, and roughly 640mg of potassium from the fennel and celery, which helps your body balance fluids. It is a helpful drink to have after a heavy meal, not a medicine, so if bloating is a regular problem, eat slower and drink more water alongside it.
Can I make this juice without a juicer?
Yes. The blender method on the card does the whole job in one go: blend the chopped fruit and vegetables with 150ml of cold water, then strain through a nut milk bag or a fine-mesh sieve. You lose a little yield to the pulp but the taste is the same. A smoothie maker with a straining attachment works too.
More digestion recipes: see the full Digestion collection.
Apple Fennel Celery Juice
Equipment
- 1 Juicer masticating or centrifugal
- 1 High-speed blender for the blender method
- 1 Nut milk bag or fine-mesh sieve to strain the blender version
- 2 Airtight glass bottles for storing
- 1 Budget cold press juicer a great value alternative
- 1 Budget blender a great value alternative
Ingredients
- 2 green apples, cored and quartered Granny Smith work best; about 360g in total
- 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and quartered about 300g; keep the feathery fronds, they juice fine
- 3 celery sticks washed; the pale inner sticks are the mildest
- 1/2 lemon, peeled peel it first, the pith turns the whole glass bitter
Instructions
Juicer method
- Wash the celery, apples and fennel. Core the apples and cut them into wedges that fit your feed tube, and cut the fennel into quarters.
- Feed the celery through the juicer first, then the fennel, then the apple wedges. Finish with the peeled lemon half, which pushes the last of the pulp through.
- Stir the juice well, pour into two glasses and drink straight away. Apple juice oxidises quickly, so it tastes best within the hour.
Blender method
- Roughly chop the apple (core removed), fennel and celery so the blender can cope, and squeeze the juice from the lemon half.
- Tip everything into a high-speed blender with 150ml of cold water and blend on high for 60 to 90 seconds, until completely smooth.
- Pour through a nut milk bag or a fine-mesh sieve and squeeze out as much juice as you can.
- Taste, thin with a splash more water if it is thicker than you like, and serve over ice.