Celeriac is the odd one out in the vegetable rack. It looks like a knobbly turnip that has had a hard life, it is nearly 90 per cent water, and it is a root you can juice without the glass turning into a sugar drink. I started making this one when the celeriac comes into the shops in October and I wanted something green and light that did not taste like a dessert. The apple and the lemon do the work on flavour, the cucumber keeps it fresh, and the celeriac gives it a soft, faintly nutty, celery-ish note underneath. If you like celery juice you will like this, and if you find celery juice too savoury this is a gentler way in.
Why these ingredients work
Celeriac has around 42 kcal per 100 g and about 1.6 g of sugar, which is unusually low for a root vegetable, and because it is mostly water the glass stays light. This one lands at roughly 143 kcal and 17 g of sugar, about half the sugar of the same volume of straight apple juice. It brings potassium (around 715 mg a glass), vitamin C, vitamin K, and a useful amount of calcium and iron. The apple adds sweetness and body, the cucumber brings water and freshness, and the lemon sharpens the whole thing up. A glass will not burn fat on its own, that is simply not how it works, but it fills a glass for very few calories compared with a fruit-only juice, and it is a much better choice than a can of pop.
FAQ
Is celeriac juice good for weight loss?
No juice burns fat, and I would not pretend otherwise. What celeriac does is let you fill a glass for very few calories. It is about 88 per cent water and only around 42 kcal per 100 g, so this glass comes in at roughly 143 kcal and 17 g of sugar, about half the sugar of the same volume of apple juice. Have it instead of a fizzy drink or a fruit juice and it is the better habit. Do not use it to replace a meal though, it is a drink and not dinner.
Is celeriac safe if I have a celery allergy?
Celeriac is the root of a plant in the same family as celery, and celery is one of the 14 allergens that has to be declared on food labels in the UK. Many people who react to celery also react to celeriac, and there is a well documented cross reaction between celery, celeriac, mugwort pollen and birch pollen, which is why some hay fever sufferers find celery and celeriac make their mouth tingle. If you react to celery, or you have that celery-mugwort cross reaction, keep this one small or skip it and check with your GP or pharmacist first.
Who else should be careful with it?
Celeriac is high in vitamin K, around 77 µg in a glass, so if you take warfarin or another vitamin K antagonist, keep your intake steady from week to week rather than having a lot one day and none the next, and mention it to your anticoagulant clinic. Juicing and straining also removes most of the fibre, so it will not fill you up the way eating the vegetables whole would. And because celeriac is a watery vegetable carrying a fair amount of potassium, anyone with kidney disease should ask their GP before making it a daily habit.
More weight-loss recipes: see the full Weight Loss collection.
Celeriac, Apple and Cucumber Juice
Equipment
- Nut milk bag
Ingredients
For the juice
- 1 celeriac, about 300 g, peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 sweet apples, about 250 g, cored and quartered
- 1/2 cucumber, about 150 g
- 1/2 unwaxed lemon, rind left on
Instructions
Juicer method
- Wash everything. Peel the celeriac properly, the skin is thick, knobbly and bitter, so take it off rather than juicing through it, then cut it into chunks that fit your feed chute.
- Quarter the apples, cut the cucumber into rough lengths and halve the lemon.
- Feed the celeriac and cucumber through first, then the apple, then the lemon, alternating the firm root with the wet fruit so the pulp keeps moving and does not clog the basket.
- Stir the juice and drink it straight away, or pour it into a sealed bottle and keep it in the fridge for up to 24 hours. It will separate a little as it stands, just shake it back together.
Blender method
- Peel the celeriac and chop it into small 2 cm cubes, it is too hard for most blenders in big pieces. Core the apples and roughly chop the cucumber and lemon.
- Put everything in the blender with 150 ml of cold water and blitz on high for about 60 seconds, until there are no chunks left.
- Pour the blend through a nut milk bag or a fine sieve set over a jug and squeeze well to press the juice out, then discard the pulp.
- Serve straight away or bottle it and drink within 24 hours.