fresh orange smoothie (“orange julius”)
I can’t believe I haven’t posted on this yet! I literally make this drink all the time.
Allow me to introduce you to MY version of the famous “orange julius”. But rather than being made with canned concentrate, and a few other questionable ingredients, this orange smoothie is made with fabulously fresh ingredients that you can feel good about enjoying. And all you literally do is drop everything in a blender, and push the button. Oh-so-easy!
I should point out that this one is more of a “method” than a precise “recipe”. I generally just toss in a little of this and that, but here are some yummy proportions to get you started. Feel free to sub in your favorite kind of milk, and (optional) honey, agave, or other sweetener that you like.
Cheers!!
Fresh Orange Smoothie Recipe
(Original recipe)
Ingredients:
- 4 fresh oranges, peeled
- 2 cups ice
- 1/3 cup milk (your preference – regular, soy, coconut, etc.)
- 2 Tbsp. honey (or agave nectar, or sugar) – optional
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- zest of 1 orange
Method:
Combine all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. Add more ice if you would like.
Ali’s Tip:
My favorite trick with this is to pop the peeled oranges in the freezer for 30 minutes prior to making these. So that they’re not thoroughly frozen, but definitely chilled and beginning to freeze. Then you can use slightly less ice. :)
Im makeing this recipe at my grandmas, but she only has a single serve blender. How can i make this recipe for one serving.
Can’t wait to try this! How many servings does the recipe make?
Was in a smoothie mood last night, had some oranges on hand and gave this recipe a try. It was absolutely delicious and very easy! Would definitely use this again! Thanks!
I am so happy to find this recipe. Years ago we had an orange julius in a mall that has been closed for years. Have some oranges that need to be used and this will be mine and my husband’s treat tonight! Thanks (-:
In place of vanilla, almond essence is a fresh tasty alternative.
can i do this with two oranges
My son and I made this drink yesterday! The orange drink was tasty!!
Omh my stars this little drink was so yummy! My girlies and me gave it whirl and it was fabulous!!
It was just FABOO-FABOO! ;)
This is great :-)try replacing the milk with Vanilla ice cream what a great drink :-) unbelieveable. Got a new kitchen top Ninja <mixer it woriks great on all smoothies WOW WE WOW happy trails
SO good! (I just made it) The only thing I would change is that I think I’ll put in a little less vanilla next time.
Is the orange zest nessascary? Srry i cant spell. Im in a rush and not sure if it would make a difference
I was looking for a smoothie to make with fresh oranges. This recipe is really chunky and the zest is just too much. I will try this again without any zest at all
I tried this and it was fantastic! thanks
!
I just made this but used frozen strawberries instead of ice. It’s amazing!!
I usually have a mixed berry smoothie for breakfast, but I have been wanting to give an orange smoothie a try since I love oranges. I am planning on giving this a smoothie a try tomorrow morning for breakfast. Thanks for sharing.
YUM, thanks for sharing!!!! I made mine with vanilla yogurt instead of milk and vanilla and it turned out great!!
Just tried it, it tastes amazing!
I think I’m going to try it with orange juice instead, it’s a bit chunky for my taste
I’ve made this twice over the past two days and have been pretty impressed (especially since I used partially frozen milk for it tonight.) My only complaint is that, both times, they have been overly “chewy”. While I am a fan of orange juice “with pulp”, this has been a bit too much for me and has made the smoothies kind of bitter. So, next time, I will remove the insides from each orange section and add these to the smoothie, instead of whole peeled orange sections.
what about the seeds? do you take them out of the oranges , or leave them in? and when do you take them out before freezing or after?
My kids love smoothies but I only had oranges left. Tried this recipe and was AMAZED!!!! It’s sooo easy and YUMMY, We will be making this quite often, thank you.
this was super yummy thank you. we bought 25lbs of navel oranges from out local little stand and i did not know what to do with all these oranges and this will be great. i am going to peel a whole bunch of them and freeze them and make these for me and the kids!
this drink turned out really well!!! i was looking to make something with oranges and this turned up….i tried it and man -it was delicious. I was so eager to make it that i totally forgot that my oranges had some seeds. BUT! It was sooo delicious, i really didn’t care!!! Thanks for the recipe!
This looks so refreshing! I love natural beverages, this one looks amazing.
I just wanted to let you know that I made this and it was fabulous!! And it did remind me of an Orange Julius! :) I also used your recipe to make a cool blue grape smoothie. Instead of using oranges, I just used 2 cups of black grapes. It was awesome! :) Thanks so much again for sharing such a great recipe! :)
I always wondered how an orange Julius was made! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe! I’ll probably make this after we get back from the pool later! :)
I just made this and it is just as good if not better than the real thing. Instead of using milk though, I used yogurt and it was outstanding.
SOOOO GOOD!!!!
ALI!! You NAILED the taste of the Orange Julius!!! It’s so incredibly delicious.
Wow, just what I’ve been looking for! I have a bag of oranges just begging to be used!! Cool tip about the peeled oranges too! Thanks so much for posting this!!
I made this today with my cousin (: It turned out amazing! We added some vanilla ice cream and it was the perfect touch! Thanks for sharing this recipe, much love!
i am about to make this for lunch. so excited! it looks great!
That looks nice and cook and refreshing and good!
Great drink, interesting blog!
Thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing. I just made this for breakfast. AWESOME.
Yum! I always freeze cut up strawberries before making smoothies. they last long and can be used as ice fruits, lol! I can’t waitto get some oranges from the farmer’s market and make this :)
sounds really, REALLY good about right now.
Oh yum… I would love one of these right now! The weather has been hot here, and I”m baking cookies, which isn’t helping the temperature in my kitchen!
This looks so refreshing!
Carmen
freezing oranges = less ice..smart idea! Thanks
Oh. my. goodness!! This drink looks perfect. I’m bookmarking this recipe. Thanks for sharing this great recipe and tantalizing photo!
Soy milk is the way to go on all smoothie recipes.
I’ve been making my own smoothies for breakfast every morning for the past few months. No sugar, keep them purple, that’s the general rule.
Grape juice (or açaí), soy milk, frozen blueberries, frozen blackberries, and frozen strawberries.
Awesome stuff.
(Get a hand blender and knock this down to a 3 minute make, with very little clean up.)
Between that, smart eating, and regular exercise I’ve lost 35 lbs.
:D
All of that aside, every once in a while I’ll grab a couple oranges and throw together something very similar to your recipe. I’ve added the vanilla extract but never the honey – seems a smart way to go for a dessert-fix. I definitely vouch for this though.
As a side-note, it’s been rather warm here… I think tomorrow afternoon I’ll play with a frozen lemon concoction. Pretty much this recipe of yours (sans vanilla) and maybe a touch more honey. I’d think it would work quite nice.
i love orange julius!!! YUMMY!!! brings back high school memories of walking through the mall eating original pizza slice and drinking an orange julius!!!
I just posted my mandarin orange muffin recipe that is super yummy you might like: http://lettersnumbersandbooksohmy.blogspot.com/2010/05/tasty-tuesday-homemade-healthy-muffins.html
My heart jumped for joy at seeing this recipe. I LOVE orange julius drinks and they are nowhere to be found anymore. Can’t wait to give this a whirl! Thanks!
YUM! I just made this with grapefruit! I added a packet of sweetener (oh my sweet tooth!). SO SO SO delish!