This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
‘Tis the season for all things Vitamin C, eh?
Actually, this may be totally weird to point out, but I have to say that there’s a little phenomenon that exists in our culture that always makes me smile. I’m guessing you may have noticed it before. The It’s-Going-Around Phenomenon.
It can happen at end of December, the beginning of March, or smack dab in the middle of July. It can happen just about anywhere in the world. It’s what happens when you can’t stifle a cough, or have to blow your nose, or anytime you reference your child/friend/spouse/parent/cousin’s-boyfriend’s-mechanic’s-dentist. Anytime there’s a mention of someone being sick, the person near you quickly chimes in that — you guessed it — “Oh, I’ve heard that there’s something going around!”
Granted, that’s probably also true every day of the year. But it’s one of those nice mini traditions in our culture that I kind of love. Because no one ever wants to think that they’re the only one having to carry around 100 kleenex, or gulp down another spoonful of Nyquil. Nope, misery and colds love company. And they also need lots and lots of Vitamin C.
Which is where this random story is heading. If you happen to be someone who caught “that bug that’s going around” right now, or even if you’re trying to stave off said bug, well I have the perfect smoothie for you. And, it just so happens to be a healthy one that tastes just like the famous “orange julius” you used to get at the mall. As I would have said back in my high school Orange Julius days — score!
My original Orange Julius photo, back in 2010.
Yes, for anyone who has been following this blog forever and ever, this is actually a really old recipe from the good ol’ days of 2010 that I decided to re-photograph and re-share with you since it was collecting dust back in the archives. Which worked out for me, because in the weeks leading up to my Mexico vacation (where I’m currently basking in the sunshine), I was bound and determined to do everything possible not to get sick.
So, in comes this smoothie to the rescue.
This fresh orange smoothie has become a sort of winter tradition for me these past few years. I try and make it a point to always have fresh oranges in the house during cold and flu season, and one of the easiest ways to use them is with in this smoothie.
It is the epitome of “quick and easy” to make, with just 5 simple ingredients. And the claim to fame which makes it taste just like the Orange Julius we all used to love is that tiny ingredient right there in the center: vanilla.
It’s the key ingredient that kicks this smoothie up a mega notch. And when paired with the milk (I use almond milk), a bit of honey (if needed to sweeten), and tons of fresh oranges (I’d say this one’s what they call “heavy pulp”), this smoothie tastes like an absolute treat.
To make it, simply toss everything in a blender…
…and, well, blend it. ;)
No fancy instructions for this one.
Then pop in a straw (I’m obsessed with these metal straws from West Elm lately), and down all of that delicious Vitamin C. Hopefully it will make you feel better, and keep you feeling better, and — at minimum — make your day taste all the better soon. :)
A healthy orange smoothie made with FRESH oranges, and your choice of milk and sweetener. Enjoy this fresh orange smoothie (“Orange Julius”) recipe today!
Ingredients
Scale
4 fresh oranges, peeled
2 cups ice
1/3 cup milk (your preference – regular, soy, coconut, etc.)
1–2 tablespoons honey (or agave or your desired sweetener), if needed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, store-bought or homemade
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. Add more ice if you would like.
Notes
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. :)
this smoothie is amazing! I’ve never tried an orange smoothie but I was sick and decided to try it. It was amazed. thanks for sharing this recipe I cant wait to tell all my friends!
Oh my gosh this is so yummy. I have been looking for one using all oranges and this one is perfect. Even though in Wisconsin right now it is -23 without the windchill this is awesome!
I’ve been making these with blood oranges and coconut milk since Farm Fresh To You shared the recipe on Facebook and my family is addicted to them. My husband used to have Orange Julius all the time as a kid and he says the ones I’ve made taste just the same. Thanks for sharing!
1. why would you peel the oranges like that???
2. this was delicious. thanks
p.s. i put in like a few drops of vanilla and i could taste it through the whole thing. a teaspoon might be too much for others
Thanks so much for posting this! I’m home sick and feeling like garbage and I knew I should eat an orange but I really don’t like eating them. So I made this and it’s such a delicious cold sweet treat, exactly what I needed. I dropped a strawberry in it because I had one and it gave it a little extra something :) Not too chunky for me, I pulsed it a while to see if I could avoid it based on the other comments and it turned out pulpy but not chewy. So good. Used my little hamilton beach single serve smoothie maker.
I wasn’t sure what to do with two semi frozen oranges so I decided to search for a fresh orange smoothie recipe and there you are! I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk and it was delicious. The last time I had an Orange Julius was over 40 years ago in New York City. It bought back good memories. Thanks for sharing.
Yum! I love orange julius’s but haven’t had one in years! This looks like such a refreshing smoothie that I really want to run out and get some oranges just so I can make it! Definitely trying this one soon. Pinned!
I just wanted to say how much I appreciate that your beautiful photo is included in the print page of the recipe. I print out a lot of recipes to save when I need inspiration and many times, I’m just “eh” about something that looked so good on a blog because there’s no picture on the printed page. Thanks for making this look irresistible – I’m off to make one right now. And Happy New Year! :)
This takes me back to my childhood. I remember that my mother never wanted to pay extra to have the egg put in. I’m definitely planning to make this because I’ve always loved Orange Julius. However, I would add vanilla protein powder to bring the protein levels up to make a great breakfast. Thank you for posting this. Hope your time in Mexico is wonderful, and Happy New Year!
This looks great! I love the glass as well.
I always feel large amounts of fear and doom when l hear the “going around” phrase. Sickness suddenly feels imminent. Thanks for sharing.
Http://absolutelytara.com
Well luckily I haven’t got the ‘going around’. But family members have. Sigh. BUT if this tastes anything like an Orange Jullius, I am sunk. I love those. I have one about once a year, because I live 1.5 hrs away from the nearest one. Plus it’s located in a mall. I am not much of a mall rat. So wow to make it at home—-most excellent.
YUM! I saw these and went to make them all in the same minute. May I say, these are SUPER tasty, and even more “orange-y” and better tasting than Orange Julius’ in my opinion. Thanks for the healthy and easy recipe!
What! It’s unreasonable how excited I am for this recipe. I have a whole pile of clementines that I’m worried will go bad if I don’t use them up soon, and this… this is their destiny!
I used blood oranges and it came out great. A nice bright pink color, more citrusy with a hint of cream flavor (I used regular milk). I found that the honey didn’t blend well (it sort of clumped in the cold) but agave worked fine.
I made this the other night because I’ve been battling a cold for 2 weeks and thought some serious vitamin C was in order. I halved the recipe b/c I needed a smaller serving – and it was awesome!! Tasted great and honestly, the next day I woke up feeling a little better. Coincidence? I think not! Thanks for the recipe!
Made this today, with a couple of modifications: added some protein powder and also some orange zest to make sure the orange flavor came through (had a problem with the orange flavor disappearing in another smoothie). It came out absolutely wonderful. The flavor definitely takes me back to my childhood. I’ll be making this often now. Thanks for a great recipe.
I just made this and i already want more! it was so delicious, i could eat this like a dessert. I have an el cheapo blender and it worked just fine:) Thank you for this recipe!
It took me 30mins since the ice simply refused to break down. I would suggest replacing a cup of the ice with cold water/milk or omitting it all together and replacing it with 1C water + 1C milk.
It needed more milk-i ended up doubling it but you could easily put 1C milk without it being too milky/liquid-y.
If you put 1C milk for 2 oranges, it is really creamy like a milkshake. You can refrigerate it if it isn’t cold
Also, it easily serves 4 , so if you’re making it just for yourself you might want to halve it.
This flavor was good, but I couldnt get past all the Orange pieces when sipping! I guess I should have assumed there would be pulp. I will do again but use frozen, pulp free oj. I used 1 Tblsp powdered sugar and half and half.
Try this strawberry banana smoothie:
10-13 cubes of ice
1 cup fresh cut strawberries
1 cup 2% milk
3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
2 tablespoons sugar (add more or less to taste)
2 teaspoons vanilla (add more or less to taste)
Half or whole banana
*put ice in blender first and crush, add other ingredients but banana and blend 15-30 seconds, at end add banana. Enjoy!
Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven —
We think that sounds pretty yummy Erin, thanks for sharing!
Lovely ! I love it. Hope my kids will too. Or if they don’t yet, they will ! Sure to be on the breakfast menu from now on. That vanilla essence gives it something really delicious. Thank you
Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven —
We’re so glad to hear that Jennifer, thanks for sharing with us! :D
this smoothie is amazing! I’ve never tried an orange smoothie but I was sick and decided to try it. It was amazed. thanks for sharing this recipe I cant wait to tell all my friends!
How many calories does this snoothie have.
Oh my gosh this is so yummy. I have been looking for one using all oranges and this one is perfect. Even though in Wisconsin right now it is -23 without the windchill this is awesome!
Yummy!!! I put 2 big oranges,1 tbsp of vanilla and 1 cup of milk. It came out perfect!
Just made this & absolutely love it! I’m becoming a jucing addict! Thanks so much ^_^ Currently enjoying it
I’m addicted to these! So good with coconut milk. I don’t even bother with the zest.
I’ve been making these with blood oranges and coconut milk since Farm Fresh To You shared the recipe on Facebook and my family is addicted to them. My husband used to have Orange Julius all the time as a kid and he says the ones I’ve made taste just the same. Thanks for sharing!
This is so yummy! I’m glad I discovered this! I used agave nectar instead of honey. Mmmm.
This is great. I’ve been looking for the Orange Julius secret (lol). And I have all the ingredients to make this today! Woohoo! Thank you :)
I really want to try this but what are the ingredients for 1 serving, like in a magic bullet? Thanks..
I was wondering, can you make this with orange juice rather that fresh oranges? Not to be a total cheapskate but I just ran out of oranges
1. why would you peel the oranges like that???
2. this was delicious. thanks
p.s. i put in like a few drops of vanilla and i could taste it through the whole thing. a teaspoon might be too much for others
Thanks so much for posting this! I’m home sick and feeling like garbage and I knew I should eat an orange but I really don’t like eating them. So I made this and it’s such a delicious cold sweet treat, exactly what I needed. I dropped a strawberry in it because I had one and it gave it a little extra something :) Not too chunky for me, I pulsed it a while to see if I could avoid it based on the other comments and it turned out pulpy but not chewy. So good. Used my little hamilton beach single serve smoothie maker.
This was amazing. I great breakfast for when I’m on the go! Just peel the oranges at night. I also suggest maybe adding yogurt! :)
I wasn’t sure what to do with two semi frozen oranges so I decided to search for a fresh orange smoothie recipe and there you are! I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk and it was delicious. The last time I had an Orange Julius was over 40 years ago in New York City. It bought back good memories. Thanks for sharing.
myke
Could I use Greek yogurt instead of milk
Greek yogurt is quite a bit thicker, so you may need to thin the smoothie a bit with some extra liquid (orange juice, water, etc.).
I added Greek yoghurt to mine with a bit of water and ice along with the other ingredients and it turned out really good.
The best orange smoothie recipe ever!
I halved this recipient but added too much orange zest!! Tried it again and delishous
Brilliant recipe works great for the family especially for the kids (found a way to stop them from saying ‘Mum im so hot).
Yum! I love orange julius’s but haven’t had one in years! This looks like such a refreshing smoothie that I really want to run out and get some oranges just so I can make it! Definitely trying this one soon. Pinned!
I just wanted to say how much I appreciate that your beautiful photo is included in the print page of the recipe. I print out a lot of recipes to save when I need inspiration and many times, I’m just “eh” about something that looked so good on a blog because there’s no picture on the printed page. Thanks for making this look irresistible – I’m off to make one right now. And Happy New Year! :)
I would love to try this with some non dairy milk!
I love orange julius. I switch it up a bit adding a banana or strawberries sometimes too.
This takes me back to my childhood. I remember that my mother never wanted to pay extra to have the egg put in. I’m definitely planning to make this because I’ve always loved Orange Julius. However, I would add vanilla protein powder to bring the protein levels up to make a great breakfast. Thank you for posting this. Hope your time in Mexico is wonderful, and Happy New Year!
This looks great! I love the glass as well.
I always feel large amounts of fear and doom when l hear the “going around” phrase. Sickness suddenly feels imminent. Thanks for sharing.
Http://absolutelytara.com
Ahhh Yummy!!!
https://arnellavanilla.com
Well luckily I haven’t got the ‘going around’. But family members have. Sigh. BUT if this tastes anything like an Orange Jullius, I am sunk. I love those. I have one about once a year, because I live 1.5 hrs away from the nearest one. Plus it’s located in a mall. I am not much of a mall rat. So wow to make it at home—-most excellent.
YUM! I saw these and went to make them all in the same minute. May I say, these are SUPER tasty, and even more “orange-y” and better tasting than Orange Julius’ in my opinion. Thanks for the healthy and easy recipe!
Kick off your new year with this healhy beauty! Ok…maybe kick off is too much…start is gently! ;)
This sounds absolutely delicious, I’ll make it for breakfast tomorrow.
What! It’s unreasonable how excited I am for this recipe. I have a whole pile of clementines that I’m worried will go bad if I don’t use them up soon, and this… this is their destiny!
I used blood oranges and it came out great. A nice bright pink color, more citrusy with a hint of cream flavor (I used regular milk). I found that the honey didn’t blend well (it sort of clumped in the cold) but agave worked fine.
Delicious, of course!!!! Great use of the oranges on sale this past week at Price Chopper!!
I made this the other night because I’ve been battling a cold for 2 weeks and thought some serious vitamin C was in order. I halved the recipe b/c I needed a smaller serving – and it was awesome!! Tasted great and honestly, the next day I woke up feeling a little better. Coincidence? I think not! Thanks for the recipe!
Made this today, with a couple of modifications: added some protein powder and also some orange zest to make sure the orange flavor came through (had a problem with the orange flavor disappearing in another smoothie). It came out absolutely wonderful. The flavor definitely takes me back to my childhood. I’ll be making this often now. Thanks for a great recipe.
OMG SO TRYING IT!!!
Have you tried this using a normal blender? Would it still work? (Most of us don’t have a $400 blender, but that’s cool you do! :) )
Hey Tricia! Yep, this one should totally work in all kinds of blenders. Enjoy!
I just made this and i already want more! it was so delicious, i could eat this like a dessert. I have an el cheapo blender and it worked just fine:) Thank you for this recipe!
I put in golden syrup it’s really nice aswell
It took me 30mins since the ice simply refused to break down. I would suggest replacing a cup of the ice with cold water/milk or omitting it all together and replacing it with 1C water + 1C milk.
It needed more milk-i ended up doubling it but you could easily put 1C milk without it being too milky/liquid-y.
If you put 1C milk for 2 oranges, it is really creamy like a milkshake. You can refrigerate it if it isn’t cold
Also, it easily serves 4 , so if you’re making it just for yourself you might want to halve it.
I just finished making this for me and my family and it’s super delicious! thanks for sharing this recipe :)
Thanks Aimee, I’m glad it was a hit with your family!
This flavor was good, but I couldnt get past all the Orange pieces when sipping! I guess I should have assumed there would be pulp. I will do again but use frozen, pulp free oj. I used 1 Tblsp powdered sugar and half and half.
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!
Thank you Lizzie! So happy you love it!
I may or may not have woken up my neighbours at 11pm with my orange smoothie cravings……….
Haha! Hope you love it, Hannah!
Fantastic blog you have here. You’ll discover me looking at your stuff often. Saved!
Thank you, Tram, we’re so happy to hear that!
I only n this receipt to make one cup a day to drink with my breakfast not 4 cups can I save the left overs if so how long are they good for?
We’d just suggest cutting the recipe in half. : )
Try this strawberry banana smoothie:
10-13 cubes of ice
1 cup fresh cut strawberries
1 cup 2% milk
3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
2 tablespoons sugar (add more or less to taste)
2 teaspoons vanilla (add more or less to taste)
Half or whole banana
*put ice in blender first and crush, add other ingredients but banana and blend 15-30 seconds, at end add banana. Enjoy!
We think that sounds pretty yummy Erin, thanks for sharing!
Lovely ! I love it. Hope my kids will too. Or if they don’t yet, they will ! Sure to be on the breakfast menu from now on. That vanilla essence gives it something really delicious. Thank you
We’re so glad to hear that Jennifer, thanks for sharing with us! :D
Thank you for this recipe. It’s lovely. I think I might try freezing it for summer popsicles.
You’re very welcome Paul, we hope you enjoy!
I just got my Vitamix yesterday, and I had this recipe bookmarked prior to receiving it because I really wanted to make an at home Orange Julius…
I made this with a giant orange and a half, 1/3 a cup of vanilla almond milk, vanilla and 2 spoons of sugar
I froze the oranges last night so I wouldnt have to use ice
This was DELISH! thank you for such a great recipe!
Yay, do you totally love it?! We’re obsessed. :) And we’re so glad you enjoyed the smoothie!