This homemade Pressed Juicery Freeze recipe recreates the trendy ice cream treat with nothing but fruits, veggies, and a blender—just add toppings!
It’s basically salad ice cream. Your childhood dreams have finally come true.
If you’ve ever been on a little thing called Instagram, you’ve probably seen the Pressed Juicery F R E E Z E. Subway tile background, hand holding up a black and white cup, creamy soft-serve swirl, berries nestled around the edges – you know what I’m talking about. Given my serious love for all things cold + creamy + healthy, I have to admit I’ve been a little jealous of all the CA peeps who can get their hands on this fruity froyo-like treat.
If by chance you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s basically soft-serve that’s the equivalent of drinking a green juice. Soft-serve made of nothing but fruits, veggies, and nuts. To which I say–sign me up! For breakfast. And dessert. And maybe every other meal too if it’s a really hot day.
The jealousy didn’t last for long, because about 3 seconds later I remembered I have fruits and coconut and a blender. I have swirling skill. I have toppings like coconut and berries and even almond butter for drizzling. No it’s not as easy as walking up to a counter and handing over cash for a cold creamy cup of the stuff. But if you are like me and live in one of the 45 states without access to a Pressed Juicery location or another country entirely, the effort is absolutely worth it. Because this green goodness-packed blender copycat is blowing my mind!
Creamier than I had imagined. Sweeter than I had expected. Easier than driving to California. Because not even the greenest fancy froyo can justify the cross country excursion just for a cupful. Although if I went every day while I was there so it wasn’t just one cup…
Lucky for me Pressed Juicery is all about simple minimal ingredients, so DIY-ing it wasn’t too tricky. They offer six different flavors, but I created this recipe based off the Greens version which is made of green juice, coconut meat, and Medjool dates.
Green juice. I don’t own a juicer, and with how easy it is to make juice in the Vitamix I don’t plan to change that anytime soon. Also, for the sake of fiber preservation, I drink smoothies most of the time anyways. But in classic Greens Freeze fashion, this recipe starts with making green juice.
The juice that Pressed Juicery uses for this Freeze flavor is a blend of cucumber, romaine, kale, spinach, apple, and lemon. Now I don’t know the exact ratios they use, so we get to make that part up.
I used approximately…
1 cucumber
1 pink lady apple
1/2 a lemon (seeds and peel removed)
5 large romaine leaves
3 curly kale leaves
1 large handful of spinach
This list made for a fairly sweet green juice, which I love, but you could green it up a little more if you wanted to.
Be sure to add your most liquid-y ingredients (cucumber, lemon, apple) to the blender first otherwise all the foliage will get stuck. After blending, you will have a pulpy but very pretty green mixture. The best option for straining out the pulp is to use a nut milk bag, but a sieve and spoon works too.
Depending on how thoroughly you strain/squeeze, you will probably get 2-3 cups of juice. For the sake of consistency, the recipe uses just 2 cups, so happy green sipping with the extra.
If you own a juicer feel free to use that instead. Or for a really easy option, just buy a bottle of cold-pressed green juice. But check the ingredients first. Personally I recommend avoiding anything with chlorella or spirulina added unless you want soft-serve that tastes like the ocean. And I don’t mean in the good tropical vacay kinda way.
Coconut. If you can find frozen coconut meat, then lucky you. If you want to crack open a young coconut and scoop that stuff out, you and your large sharp object have (careful) fun. But personally I’m just going to use the cream from a can of full-fat coconut milk because it’s easier, cheaper, and safer for all involved.
After chilling in the fridge for a day or two, all the thick coconut cream will separate and you can scoop it right off the top. One can of milk makes for about one cup of cream, which I used all of in this recipe.
The 2:1 ratio of juice to cream made for a super lush creamy texture. You could probably use a little less if you wanted to keep it lower in fat. As is though it’s still lower in fat than a lot of vegan coconut milk ice cream recipes that are pretty much made entirely of coconut milk. And just think of all that good-for-you leafy green nutrition you are consuming with every heavenly bite.
Medjool dates. Are they absolutely necessary? No. Does that pain me a little bit to say about one of my fave fruits? Yes.
Keeping this copycat recipe as true to the original as possible, I added them. But really it’s quite sweet even without. They do probably add a little extra thickness to the texture too, but not essential. So add a few or not – it’s up to you.
No churn. While a froyo machine does make for more pristine swirls than me and my piping bag, you don’t need one. Or even an ice cream maker for that matter. This entire recipe only requires a blender, ice cube tray, and freezer.
After straining the green juice, add it back to the blender with all the other ingredients and blend until completely smooth. Then pour that mixture into an ice cube tray (or a muffin pan works too!) and freeze overnight.
The next day pop those green cubes back into the blender and blend until as creamy as can be. A high speed blender works best, but a food processor will work too. Don’t add any liquid – just keep blending, scraping down the sides, and blending some more.
Swirl with a piping bag or spoon into a cup. Then raid the kitchen for any and all…
Toppings! Raspberries. Blueberries. Fruit of all kinds. Chia seeds. Shredded coconut. Caramel sauce. Nut butter. Granola. Chocolate chips. Sea salt. Chocolate sauce. Sliced almonds. You get the idea.
It may not come in the iconic black and white cup shaped with the kind of swirl precision only a froyo machine can pull off, but none of that matters because this stuff tastes green juice genius!
Copycat Pressed Juicery Greens Freeze
- Yield: 4 people 1x
Description
This homemade Pressed Juicery Freeze recipe recreates the trendy ice cream treat with nothing but fruits, veggies, and a blender—just add toppings!
Ingredients
Green Juice
- 1 cucumber, (chopped)
- 1/2 of a lemon, (peeled and seeds removed)
- 1 apple, (chopped)
- 5–6 romaine leaves
- 3–4 kale leaves
- 1–2 handfuls spinach
Greens Freeze
- 2 cups green juice from above ((or any green juice, from a bottle is fine))
- 1 15oz can full-fat coconut milk, (chilled overnight)
- Optional: 3 Medjool dates
Instructions
- To make the juice, add all the ingredient to a high-speed blender in the order listed. Blend until fully broken down.
- Strain through a sieve or nut milk bag to remove the pulp. Return 2 cups of the strained juice to the blender.
- Open the can of coconut milk without shaking. Scoop out the thick cream from the top, it should be about 1 cup.
- Add the coconut cream and pitted Medjool dates to the blender. Blend until smooth and creamy.
- Pour into an ice cube tray (or a muffin pan works too!) Freeze overnight.
- The next day, break apart the cubes and blend in a high speed blender or food processor until creamy and thick like soft-serve. Do not add any liquid. You will need to stop and scrape down the sides several times or use the tamper.
- Scoop or swirl (using a piping bag) into a cup, add toppings of choice, and enjoy!
- You can keep the frozen cubes in the freezer for up to 3-4 days and blend just before serving.
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This is like, SO majestic and swirly and beautiful I kind of cannot handle it! And how much better does it make it that it’s packed with greens?! The color is STUNNING. Totally want to try this like, as soon as possible. Wish I lived close to one to try the real thing, though! Good thing I have you to help me out 🙂
If it makes you feel any better, I wasn’t that wowed by Pressed Freeze when I was in NYC… didn’t live up to its hype for me. BUT this looks SO good. The texture is so creamy and luscious and the way you piped it just looks so glorious. What a magical salad <3
Aww really!?! That’s kind of a bummer, especially after you paid good money for that freeze. I think I may have upped the creaminess factor a little more than the original, but I’m certainly not mad about it 🙂 Hehe yes a magical salad indeed!
Looks so yummy!!! Do you think you could substitute something else in place of the coconut cream? My stomach doesn’t handle coconut too well.
I would try a mix of another non-dairy milk and a nut butter to add that extra fat that keeps it creamy. So maybe like 3/4 cup whatever milk you want to use and 1/2 cup nut butter blended together. You could go lower with the nut butter in that ratio, but it will get less creamy/icy. Hope that helps!
Thanks so much!! I’m going to try that 🙂
I must be completely in the dark because I have never seen this on Instagram, hahaha! But it doesn’t really matter because your version of this drink, regardless of the original, looks simply amazing! I have no doubt that it is better, too. I always find homemade remakes when I remake them from somewhere to be better than where I bought them. I absolutely love the beautiful color and swirl perfection you got going on here! I also love how freaking amazing and healthy the ingredients are. I love to add lemon and apples to smoothies as well, if I make them. The lemon juice almost completely disguises any weird vibes the greens may give off. I’m suddenly craving something I never knew I would, hahaha! How is it that you always seem to do that?!!
By the way, I’m making your Larabar mint chocolate bars again today for Olivia. She loves them!! xx
Well I guess it depends on what parts of IG you hang out on haha! Isn’t it weird to think that there are some people who’s IG feed has no food in it at all? So many other parts of the app i’ve never even explored…:D But yes yes yes, homemade totally wins much of the time. I think it definitely did here because mine came out extra creamy thanks to some heavy handed coconut cream usage lol. The apple and lemon make it so bright and fruity–it almost tastes like nice cream but with the apple flavor being predominant as opposed to bananas. Woohoo!! Aww that makes me so happy to hear that she is still enjoying those bars 🙂
Such a pretty color! This looks so good 🙂
Thanks girl! It came out almost matcha colored, but kale in ice cream does make for a lovely shade 🙂
I can’t believe how healthy this is! It looks so decadent. Your creative ideas never fail to amaze me, Natalie!
Thanks for hopping over here to see the green swirly stuff <3
May I just say, I love the idea of pressing it through a piping bag – because it looks gorgeous!!
The best way to eat a green juice 😀
I love/hate the piping part. Love that it makes me feel a little fancy, hate how I end up with green ice cream spurting out everywhere and only 2/3 actually makes it into the cup usually lol. But worth it 🙂
You are brilliant! I never have to eat a salad again! Just kidding, salads can be tasty too =) But seriously, what a fun, delicious way to get a couple veggie servings in. Oh, and your video is just perfect – I could watch it all day!
Hehe I hate on salad a lot but it can be totally delicious too! But I never mind an EXTRA dose of ice cream-y greens 🙂 Thanks Ashley!
Hi!
I only got 1 cup of green juice. Now what??
You could make more. Or just replace the missing 1 cup green juice with more milk, it won’t be as green and fruity but still works 🙂
Could I use an ice cream maker? I happen to have one and thought it would save a few steps.
It may not be as creamy as blending right before eating actually, the Vitamix gets things soooo creamy it’s hard to beat. Ice cream makers work best with cooked or higher fat recipes, but you can certainly try it and see 🙂
Hi!!! I love pressed juicery freeze matcha almond! I know that their ingredients are: kale, spanich, romaine lettuce, cucumber, water, almonds, vanilla extract, matcha powder and dates. Should i blend those green veggies first then strain them in mesh then add almond milk, dates and matcha powder then blend??
Yep, that’s the basic process. Although I do not recommend almond milk, because without the machine they use that continuously stirs it while its freezing it will be very icy with almond milk. That’s why I used higher fat coconut cream instead, so it’s still creamy just using a regular freezer 🙂
Hi I actually have ice cream maker at home. Maybe I will give it a try and see if that works? I do know that pressed juicery sell the vanilla almond juice. So I am thinking if I am going to buy that vanilla almond juice then blend it with green stuff then pour into ice cream maker. I hope it will taste exactly the same! There is no pressed juicery frees here in Phoenix 🙁
That’s a great idea, it will defiantly help the texture! If the vanilla almond juice is thicker than normal carton almond milk it will definitely help too. No pressed juicery over here in FL either, but it’s fun to have to get creative sometimes😉 Good luck and lemme know how it goes!
Ok sure I will see if I can order the pressed juicery vanilla almond juice then I will do some experiment and see how it turns out. Will keep you posted!
How would one use coconut meat in this recipe?
You could use young thai coconut meat in place of the 1 cup coconut cream. I’m not sure if it will be an exact 1-for-1 sub, but actually that should be about right still 🙂
how do you think they make the almond drizzle? It’s more liquid than the jars I buy??
★★★★★
It’s just almond butter and coconut oil whisked together to your desired drizzle-able consistency 🙂
Thank you!