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Beetroot juice combinations: apple and ginger, orange and carrot, berries and lime
Short answer. The best beetroot juice combinations pair the deep, earthy root with something sweet, something sharp and something to stretch it. Our three favourites are beetroot, apple and ginger (sweet and warming), beetroot, orange and carrot (the easiest to like), and beetroot, cucumber, berries and lime (lighter and less sweet). Start with beetroot as about a quarter to a third of the glass and increase it once you like the taste. If the earthiness still puts you off, peel the beetroot, or look out for golden beetroot, which tests lower in the compound behind that flavour. Horizontal slow juicers such as the Sana 727 and Sana 707 press hard roots well.
On this page
- Building on the foundation beetroot juice
- How much beetroot to use
- Beetroot, apple and ginger
- Beetroot, orange and carrot
- Beetroot, cucumber, berries and lime
- A tip for taming the earthy taste
- Feeding beetroot through the juicer
- Which Sana suits beetroot juice?
- Keeping it sensible
- Frequently asked questions
Building on the foundation beetroot juice
Our everyday beetroot juice is beetroot, cucumber, ginger and lemon, and it lives in our carrot and beetroot foundation recipes, along with how to scrub and cut the roots, how to handle stains and what the research on beetroot does and doesn’t show. This post picks up from there with three fuller juices for days when you want something different.
Each recipe follows the same pattern. Beetroot gives colour and depth, a fruit softens the earthiness, and an acid such as lemon, lime or orange keeps the juice tasting fresh rather than heavy.
How much beetroot to use
Beetroot is strong. A glass that is half beetroot tastes like a mouthful of garden soil to most people, while a quarter is rich and smooth. Raw beetroot also gives less juice by weight than cucumber or apple, so a little goes a long way in the glass.
| Beetroot in the glass | How it tastes | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| About a quarter | Sweet, fruity, clearly beetroot but mild | First-timers, or anyone who already likes fruit juice |
| About a third | Rich, earthy, balanced by the fruit | Most people, once they’re used to it |
| Half or more | Heavy and earthy | Seasoned beetroot fans only |
As a guide, one medium beetroot of about 150 g gives roughly 70 to 90 ml of juice, which is about a quarter of a 350 ml two-glass batch. The recipes below use one beetroot per batch for that reason.
Beetroot, apple and ginger
Apple is the classic partner for beetroot. It brings sweetness and body, and ginger adds warmth that cuts through the earthy note. A firm, crisp apple works best: soft, floury apples give a cloudy, thin juice.
Beetroot, apple and ginger juice
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Scrub the beetroot and trim the top and root tail. Cut it into pieces of about 2 to 3 cm.
- Core the apples, remove the pips and cut them into wedges. Peel the lemon half and remove the pips.
- Fit the fine screen. On the Sana 727, set the speed to 40 rpm. The Sana 707 runs at one low speed.
- Feed a few pieces of beetroot, then an apple wedge, adding the ginger and lemon between them. Let each handful clear before adding more.
- Finish with apple to carry the last of the beetroot juice through.
- Stir and drink straight away, then rinse the juicer before the juice dries.
Notes
Two apples make this the sweetest of the three. If you want less sugar, swap one apple for half a cucumber; the juice gets lighter and a little sharper.
Beetroot, orange and carrot
This is the one we make for people who say they don’t like beetroot. Carrot adds a mellow sweetness and orange brightens everything, and together they turn the juice a warm brick red rather than deep purple. If you have been making our carrot, orange and ginger juice, think of this as its beetroot cousin.
Beetroot, orange and carrot juice
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Scrub the beetroot and carrots and trim the tops and tails. Cut both into pieces of about 2 to 3 cm.
- Peel the oranges, leaving most of the white pith, remove the pips and break them into segments.
- Fit the fine screen. On the Sana 727, set the speed to 40 rpm. The Sana 707 runs at one low speed.
- Feed the juicer alternately: a few pieces of carrot, a piece or two of beetroot, then a few orange segments. Let each handful clear before adding more.
- Finish with carrot to push the last of the orange and beetroot through.
- Stir and drink straight away.
Notes
Peel the oranges, but leave most of the white pith on. It holds the segments together and juices well; only the outer skin needs to go, because its oil turns the juice bitter.
Beetroot, cucumber, berries and lime
A lighter, sharper juice. Cucumber stretches the beetroot without adding sugar, a small handful of berries gives a fruity top note, and lime keeps it lively. Strawberries are the obvious choice when they are plentiful; raspberries work too. You only need about 100 g, so this is a good use for a punnet that is past its best for eating.
Beetroot, cucumber, berries and lime juice
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Scrub the beetroot and trim the top and root tail. Cut it into pieces of about 2 to 3 cm.
- Cut the cucumber into long wedges. Hull the strawberries. Peel the lime half and remove the pips.
- Fit the fine screen. On the Sana 727, set the speed to 40 rpm. The Sana 707 runs at one low speed.
- Feed a few pieces of beetroot, then a wedge of cucumber, then a few berries, so the firmer produce pushes the soft berries through. Add the lime between them.
- Finish with cucumber to carry the last of the juice out of the drum.
- Stir and drink straight away.
Notes
Soft berries give little juice on their own and can smear across the screen. Feed them between pieces of cucumber or beetroot so the firmer produce pushes them through.
A tip for taming the earthy taste
Our foundation post covers the usual fixes: less beetroot, more lemon, ginger, something sweet and serving it cold. Two less obvious ones help if you still find beetroot too earthy.
- Peel the beetroot. We normally scrub young beetroot rather than peel it. But the earthy flavour comes from a natural compound called geosmin, and summaries of the research on table beet report that the skin carries several times more of it than the flesh. If earthiness is the problem, a thin peel with a vegetable peeler makes a noticeable difference, at the cost of a little colour.
- Try golden beetroot. Research at the University of Wisconsin compared beet varieties and found the golden variety tested had the lowest geosmin of those studied, and the researcher suggested that golden beets taste sweeter partly because they are less earthy. If you come across golden or yellow beetroot at a farmers’ market or greengrocer, try it in any of these recipes. The juice is a sunny orange-yellow, and it won’t stain the way red beetroot does.
Feeding beetroot through the juicer
Beetroot is dense and hard. Cut it into pieces of about 2 to 3 cm and feed it a few pieces at a time. Sana’s 727 manual asks for firm produce such as beets and carrots to be cut small and fed slowly, and notes that the juicer is louder with them, which is normal.
On the Sana 727, use the slowest setting, 40 rpm, which Sana gives for root vegetables. The Sana 707 runs at a single low speed. Alternate beetroot with softer produce such as apple, orange or cucumber, and finish with something juicy to carry the last of the beetroot juice out of the drum.
On the hands-free Sana 878, cut beetroot small and mix it with other produce rather than filling the hopper with beetroot alone. The manual says a hopper loaded with very firm pieces such as beets can jam, and asks for soft and leafy produce at the bottom with firmer pieces on top.
Rinse the juicer as soon as you finish. Our cleaning guide has the routine for each model.
Which Sana suits beetroot juice?
- Sana 727 Supreme. Our flagship. Four speeds, with 40 rpm for hard roots and higher speeds for the fruit you mix in.
- Sana 707. The workhorse. A single low speed of 63 to 75 rpm that copes well with beetroot, carrot and ginger.
- Sana 878. Hands-free, for a jug of fruit-led beetroot juice for the family, with beetroot cut small and mixed in.
Not sure which fits your kitchen? Our guide to which Sana juicer suits you compares them side by side.
Keeping it sensible
All three recipes contain fruit, and juicing removes most of the fibre, so count a glass as part of your fruit and vegetables for the day rather than a replacement for eating them. The orange and berry versions are the lower-sugar options. Home-made juice isn’t pasteurised, so drink it the day you make it. If you take blood-pressure medication, have kidney stones or have diabetes, our guide to juicing and your health explains why it’s worth checking with your doctor before drinking beetroot juice regularly.
Made with a Sana juicer
Sana 707 Juicer
R9899,00
Sana 727 Supreme Juicer
Price range: R12999,00 through R14999,00
Sana 878 Juicer
Original price was: R11999,00.R10399,00Current price is: R10399,00.Frequently asked questions
What goes well with beetroot in juice?
Apple, carrot, orange, cucumber, ginger, lemon and lime are the most reliable partners. Pineapple and berries work well too. Each combination needs something sweet to soften the earthiness and something sharp to keep the juice fresh.
How much beetroot should I put in a juice?
Start with beetroot as about a quarter of the glass, which is one medium beetroot of about 150 g in a two-glass batch. Once you like the taste, increase it to about a third. Half or more is very earthy.
Why does beetroot juice taste like soil?
The earthy flavour comes from geosmin, a natural compound in beetroot. Peeling the beetroot, using less of it, adding lemon or lime, pairing it with sweet fruit such as apple or orange, and serving it cold all make it taste milder.
Is golden beetroot less earthy than red?
In research at the University of Wisconsin, the golden beet variety tested had the lowest geosmin of the varieties studied, and many people find golden beetroot sweeter and milder. Its juice is orange-yellow and stains much less than red beetroot.
Can I juice beetroot with apple in a hands-free juicer?
Yes. On the Sana 878, cut the beetroot into small pieces and mix it with the apple rather than loading the hopper with beetroot alone, because the manual warns that a hopper full of very firm pieces can jam. Put softer produce at the bottom and firmer pieces on top.
Do I need to peel beetroot for juicing?
Not usually. Scrubbing young beetroot is enough. Peel it if the skin is old and woody, or if you find the juice too earthy, since the skin carries more of the earthy flavour.
Sources
- Sana 727 Supreme user manual (English), Sana Products: preparing firm produce, speeds. sanaproducts.com
- Sana 707 user manual (English), Sana Products: preparing beetroot, hard produce. sanaproducts.com
- Sana 878 user manual, Sana Products: loading the hopper, firm produce and jams. sanaproducts.com
- Learning to love the earthy flavors of table beets, PBS Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin research on geosmin and beet varieties. pbswisconsin.org
- Why do some people hate the taste of beets?, Nutrivore: summary of geosmin research, including peel and flesh. nutrivore.com
- 5 A Day: what counts?, NHS. nhs.uk
- Expert answer on juicing and whole produce, Mayo Clinic. mayoclinic.org
