Easy Homemade Orange Julius Recipe (2024)

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Make this iconic Orange Julius recipe right in your kitchen in minutes! No need to drive across town, wait in line, or pay premium prices when you whip up this homemade Orange Julius in your blender, conveniently at home. Customize this classic drink with your own high-quality ingredients, and be sure to check out my tips for the best Orange Julius copycat. You’ll be amazed at how much it tastes like the original treat!

Easy Homemade Orange Julius Recipe (1)

What Is An Orange Julius?

This classic drink has been around since the 1920s (can you believe nearly 100 years?!) and has a flavor profile similar to a creamsicle. It’s smooth, frothy, and full of orange flavor, so it makes sense that it would become such a popular drink!

Easy Homemade Orange Julius Recipe (2)

What’s In This Homemade Orange Julius?

To make this copycat drink as close as possible to the original, you’ll need:

  • Frozen concentrated orange juice, thawed
  • Milk
  • Water
  • Sugar
  • Vanilla extract
  • Ice

I always double-check the ingredients on any can of frozen concentrate, as some contain extra ingredients that I don’t want. Use the highest quality you can find!

Easy Homemade Orange Julius Recipe (3)

What’s The Secret Ingredient?

To impart the creaminess and froth that is essential to a perfect Orange Julius, you need to add a little baking soda!

Sounds weird, right?

You don’t taste the baking soda at all, but it neutralizes the acidity of the orange juice while also producing the carbon dioxide bubbles that create the light froth.

Easy Homemade Orange Julius Recipe (4)

How To Make An Orange Julius

It is sooooooo easy. So easy. Just dump everything into a blender and whiz it up.

That’s it!

Serve it with fresh orange slices or whatever else suits your fancy. I clearly had some fun adding some lime slices and fresh edible flowers.

If you’re dairy free, you can easily swap with any other milk on the market, though my personal favorite in this recipe would be coconut milk. I think the flavors just complement each other better than with nut milks. You can also swap the sugar with other varieties such as coconut sugar, just know that each swap will result in a different flavor profile and possibly a slightly different texture.

Just don’t skip the baking soda, don’t do it!

Easy Homemade Orange Julius Recipe (5)

Easy Homemade Orange Julius Recipe

Skip the long lines and whip up your own Orange Julius recipe right at home! With easy ingredients like orange juice, milk, water, and ice, you can’t go wrong with this iconic drink, so make a homemade Orange Julius today!

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Easy Homemade Orange Julius Recipe (6)

Easy Homemade Orange Julius Recipe

Skip the long lines and whip up your own Orange Julius recipe right at home! With easy ingredients like orange juice, milk, water, and ice, you can’t go wrong with this iconic drink, so make a homemade Orange Julius today!

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert, Drinks

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 296kcal

Author: Karly Gomez

Ingredients

  • 2 cups ice
  • 1 (12 oz) can frozen orange juice concentrate thawed
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Calories: 296kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 335mg | Potassium: 738mg | Sugar: 62g | Vitamin A: 445IU | Vitamin C: 117.5mg | Calcium: 169mg | Iron: 0.3mg

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Originally posted 08/23/2013 and updated 04/29/2019

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About Karly

From her childhood home in Southern Minnesota, Karly embraces the crazy of everyday life by creating delicious dishes her family and friends love, while experimenting with new flavors and techniques and photographing the results. Karly’s love for beautiful foods and joy for creating is infectious to all who meet her.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Elite Proxy says

    Thank you for some other great post. Where else may anybody get that kind of info in such an ideal means of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I am at the look for such information.

    Reply

  2. Michael S says

    Easy Homemade Orange Julius Recipe (8)
    Hello Karly and thank you for this wonderful recipe! I have been looking for an orange Julius recipe to try & I found yours. I am so glad I tried it! It was the best! It’s super easy to make & I love that it doesn’t require a lot of ingredients. Thank you for sharing this!

    Reply

  3. Beth says

    Easy Homemade Orange Julius Recipe (9)
    This recipe just made my day – it totally takes me back to hanging out at the mall with my friends and ordering an Orange Julius!!! Can’t wait to give it a try for a quick, tasty, refreshing drink and remember the good ‘ol days!

    Reply

  4. Allison says

    Easy Homemade Orange Julius Recipe (10)
    I haven’t had one of these in years! Now I get to introduce my kids to them – thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  5. Kim says

    Thank you for developing and sharing a homemade Julius recipe! Last time I bought an Orange Julius at a mall, it was very disappoint — not at all the goodness of childhood memory. I would never have guessed the baking-soda secret.

    Reply

  6. Chris says

    I tried really hard to like this. I couldn’t get past the baking soda. I mean it was almost perfect, but it had that baking soda after taste. I am going to try again without the baking soda. Thanks for the receipe.

    Reply

    • Karly Gomez says

      That’s unfortunate! Maybe you just ended up with a small clump in your cup, because you shouldn’t taste it at all. It’s exactly what’s in the real Orange Julius to make it smooth and creamy!

      Reply

  7. Natasha Hoover says

    Baking soda?! I never would have guessed! So cool – I love cold things and have to try this! Visiting from the From Dream to Reality hop!

    Reply

    • Karly Gomez says

      I know, right?!? Probably why it took me so long to figure it out! It was a well-held secret!

      Reply

  8. Casey K says

    Oh thank you so much for posting this! I can’t wait to make it. Thank you thank you thank you!

    Reply

    • Karly Gomez says

      You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy it!

      Reply

  9. Lish says

    ooh I can’t wait to try this!! I too always get reminded of my teenage years visiting the mall whenever I hear the word Orange Julius!!!

    Reply

    • Karly Gomez says

      Ha ha ha YES! Exactly the same for me!

      Reply

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Easy Homemade Orange Julius Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What was the original Orange Julius made of? ›

But it was Freed/Fried's real estate agent, Willard “Bill” Hamlin, who made the first real Orange Julius. Hamlin convinced Freed/Fried to carry his secret powdered vanilla-ey formula that turns blended orange juice, sugar syrup, and crushed ice into that icy cold, fluffy, Creamsicle-y drink.

Can I mix orange juice and milk? ›

Some believe, however, that chasing OJ with milk is a recipe for puking. The idea behind this myth is that when you mix orange juice with milk, it curdles in your stomach, making you feel nauseous. Ali Rezaie, a gastroenterologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, graciously debunks this belief.

How many oranges do you need to make orange juice? ›

How Much Juice in One Orange? There are 4 to 5 tablespoons or 1/4 to 1/3 cups of juice in one orange. To make one cup of fresh orange juice, you need three oranges. It's important to note this amount is for common oranges.

How to make orange juice at home without a juicer? ›

How to Make Orange Juice in Blender
  1. Peel the oranges and remove the pith. Halve the oranges lengthwise. ...
  2. Using the edge of a small knife or a little fork, remove the seeds. ...
  3. To a blender, add the oranges and the optional ingredient ginger/ turmeric. ...
  4. Blend until smooth. ...
  5. Using a spoon, pass the juice through the sieve.
Mar 1, 2024

What are the ingredients in Orange Julius? ›

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Water, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (To Protect Flavor), Water, Orange Juice: Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice, Orange Julius Flavor Enhancer Modified Whey Solids, Maltodextrin, Egg White Solids, Sugar, Karaya Gum, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Corn Syrup Solids, Guar Gum, Modified ...

What happens when you put an egg in orange juice for 24 hours? ›

Orange juice and vinegar both contain acids which react with the calcium carbonate in the eggs to produce carbon dioxide gas. This is why the eggs fizz in those liquids. Over time, this reaction has the effect of destroying the egg shells and leaving behind the inside of the egg.

What should not be mixed with milk? ›

Fish with milk is one of the most harmful combination. Milk and jaggery don't go together as Milk is cold and Jaggery is hot in nature. Anything sour added to milk sits inside our stomach and leads to acidic reaction. Bananas and milk should not be consumed together as it could tead to congestion and indigestion.

Which is better milk or orange juice? ›

ORANGE JUICE VS MILK: In this debate, milk wins. This is because firstly, milk is full of calcium and hence strengthen your teeth. Orange juice, as mentioned before, can ruin your enamel. Secondly, milk fills you up more than a glass orange juice due to the amount of satisfactory protein in it.

What happens when lemon is added to milk? ›

When lemon juice is added to milk it curdles.

How do you make orange juice taste better? ›

Add a pinch of salt to the orange juice. Adding a tablespoon or so of lime juice to the orange juice can also help improve its flavor. We can also dilute the orange juice with water to make it less strong.

What is the main ingredient in orange juice? ›

On a molecular level, orange juice is composed of organic acids, sugars, and phenolic compounds. The main organic acids found in orange juice are citric, malic, and ascorbic acid. The major sugars found in orange juice are sucrose, glucose, and fructose.

How long does homemade orange juice last? ›

If want to preserve your freshly squeezed juice without freezing it, you can keep it in the refrigerator for three days. If you're freezing your juice it can last between 12 to 16 months.

Is homemade orange juice good? ›

As mentioned above, freshly squeezed orange juice is an excellent source of vitamin C. This vitamin is essential for the production of collagen, which is important for healthy skin, bones and muscles. Vitamin C helps to improve iron absorption in the body.

Does Orange Julius exist anymore? ›

A bit of history of success, Orange Julius was the official drink of the 1964 World's Fair. In 1987 DQ Dairy Queen bought the rights to the Orange Julius Chains and marketed the drink at their DQ Treat Stores. Now in 2023 Dairy Queen seem to be phasing the drink away from some of its stores.

Is pulp in OJ real? ›

As well as variations in oranges used, some varieties include differing amounts of juice vesicles, known as "pulp" in American English, and "(juicy) bits" in British English. These vesicles contain the juice of the orange and can be left in or removed during the manufacturing process.

Is an Orange Julius good for you? ›

The mall drink is packed with more sugar than a can of soda, and besides having vitamin C from the orange juice it contains, it's devoid of nutrients. It's a sugar bomb with no protein and no fiber.

Where was the original Orange Julius? ›

Julius Freed opened an orange juice stand in 1926 on South Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles. In 1929, the orange juice was developed into a specialty drink by Freed's real estate broker Willard Hamlin.

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