I did not believe the numbers until I added them up for myself. Strawberries are the lowest-sugar fruit most of us have sitting in the fruit bowl, about 4.9 g per 100 g, against roughly 10 g for an apple, 12 g for a banana and 16 g for grapes. Which is why a strawberry juice that needs a spoonful of sugar before it tastes of anything is telling you about the recipe, not the fruit. Mine is 350 g of strawberries, one small apple for body and half a lemon to stop it tasting flat, and that is the whole list. It works out at around 96 kcal and 16 g of sugar a glass, lighter than the same volume of apple juice and about half what a shop-bought berry smoothie will hand you.
Why these ingredients work
The strawberries carry the flavour and the vitamin C. Weight for weight a strawberry has more vitamin C than a sweet orange, roughly 59 mg per 100 g against about 53 mg, so a glass this size lands near 115 mg, close to three times the UK reference intake of 40 mg a day. What strawberries do not have is sugar, and that is the reason this works as a light drink at all. They are also about 91 per cent water, which is the catch: strawberry juice on its own is thin to the point of being watery, so the apple is not padding, it is what gives the glass some weight and sweetness. The lemon I would not leave out, because strawberries are sweet but not sharp, and half a lemon is the difference between a nice drink and one you actually finish.
Be honest about the trade-off though. Straining takes out the seeds and the pulp, and most of the fibre with them, so a glass is not the same as eating the fruit. What survives is the vitamin C, the potassium, the colour and the taste. And no juice burns fat, none of them do; the honest case for this one is that it is one of the lightest glasses on the site, it is genuinely pleasant, and it is a much better habit than a can of pop.
FAQ
Do you need to add sugar to strawberry juice?
No, and you should not. A strawberry carries about 4.9 g of sugar per 100 g, one of the lowest of any fruit, and 350 g of them brings only about 17 g of sugar to the glass on its own. The rest is the one apple. The recipes that leave strawberries in the fridge overnight with sugar, or simmer them for half an hour and then strain, are making cordial, and they are fixing a problem the fruit never had.
Can you juice strawberries in a juicer?
You can, but soft fruit needs a bit of care. A centrifugal juicer will happily turn strawberries to puree and clog if the basket is dry, so juice the apple and the lemon first and alternate the strawberries with the last of the apple. If your machine still spits out puree rather than juice, use the blender and strain it through a fine sieve or a nut milk bag, which is honestly the easier route with berries.
Do you need to wash strawberries before juicing them?
Yes, and more carefully than for fruit you peel. Strawberries come near the top of pesticide-residue monitoring year after year, and because you are drinking the skin rather than binning it, a good rinse under cold running water matters. A 2026 analysis of European strawberry samples found residues of at least one pesticide in 78 per cent of conventionally grown fruit, and two or more in 61 per cent of them. That is not a reason to stop eating strawberries, but it is a reason to wash them properly, or to spend the extra pound on an organic punnet.
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Strawberry, Apple and Lemon Juice
Equipment
- 1 Juicer use the apple first so the basket is wet
- 1 High-speed blender the easier option for soft berries
- 1 Nut milk bag
Ingredients
You'll need
- 350 g strawberries hulled, about 20 medium berries
- 1 small sweet apple about 130 g, cored and quartered
- 1/2 unwaxed lemon rind left on if it is unwaxed, peeled if you would rather it was milder
Instructions
Juicer method
- Hull the strawberries and rinse them properly under cold running water. Quarter the apple and cut out the core.
- Juice the apple and the lemon half first, so the basket and the filter are already wet before any strawberry goes in.
- Feed the strawberries through a small handful at a time, alternating them with the last of the apple. Strawberries are soft, and a dry basket simply turns them to puree and clogs.
- Stir, then taste. Add the rest of the lemon only if you want it sharper. Drink it straight away over ice, or pour it into a sealed bottle and keep it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
Blender method
- Hull and rinse the strawberries, quarter the apple and cut out the core, and peel the lemon half.
- Blend the strawberries, apple and lemon with 100 ml of cold water until completely smooth, about 45 seconds.
- Strain through a fine sieve or a nut milk bag, pressing the pulp with the back of a spoon so you get all the juice out.
- Chill, then stir or shake before serving. It keeps for a day in a sealed bottle in the fridge.