If you are a fan of Orange Julius and are searching online for the perfect recipe to create Orange Julius smoothies, here is one for you to try. To be honest, I’m not the biggest fan – I much prefer green smoothies because they are so much healthier. As you will see this recipe contains lots of sugar (up to 1/2 cup!)

Orange Julius Recipe

This is the most popular Orange Julius Recipe that I have found online:

Ingredients:

1 can (6 oz) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 to 10 ice cubes

1. Combine all ingredients except ice cubes in blender.
2. Blend for about 1-2 minutes, adding ice cubes one at a time.

Orange Julius Recipe

Orange Julius Recipe can contain up to one half cup sugar!

The Orange Julius drink surely is creamy and sweet.

But check out that sugar content!

I’ve seen some people recommending 1/4 cup sugar, or to use powdered sugar to make it even more like the mall version. Or add a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream instead. But in my opinion, sugar is unnecessary. Orange juice has enough sweetness on its own. Or substitute sugar with honey.

Another problem is that you need to drink the smoothie right away. If you leave it for even 10 minutes, the smoothie will likely separate into 2 parts. The top half will be the milk (curdled because of the citric acid in the orange concentrate), and the lower part was the orange “juice”, the watery part. The acid in orange juice will often make the milk curdle! If you need to leave it for later, freeze it. Pop the blended mixture into the freezer for about 4-5 hours and you have a slushy treat.

Orange Julius Recipe Variations

Orange Julius Recipe

Orange Julius Recipe: can be prepared in orange, red or green variations

1/2 cup orange juice (fresh squeezed is better). You may also freeze it.
1 cup frozen mango, pinapple or banana
1/2 cup milk*
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. almond or peanut butter (optional)
1 or 2 tbsp. honey (optional – up to your taste)

For red colored version

1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 cup milk*
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. almond or peanut butter (optional)
1 or 2 tbsp. honey (optional – up to your taste)

For green colored version

1/2 cup orange juice
1 banana
1/2 cup milk*
1 cup spinach or kale
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. almond or peanut butter (optional)
1 or 2 tbsp. honey (optional – up to your taste)

*You can use any type of milk you prefer, including almond milk.
You can also create a fun two-layered drink:

1. For the first yellow layer – Place all the ingredients in a blender, blend until the drink reaches a smooth consistency, pour in a tall glass, and then set aside.

2. For the second red or green layer – rinse the blender, place all the ingredients for the second layer in it and blend at high speed until smooth. Then pour gently into the glass trying to have a line separating the layers. You can use a spoon to make it easier – I placed it into the glass over the yellow layer and I poured the drink over it.

Why Add Greens To Smoothies

I love green smoothies for a reason. They are delicious, but they are also tremendously rich in nutrients that our bodies need to be healthy.

I want you to encourage you to try green smoothies, and to add greens, such as spinach to your smoothie recipes, whether it’s Orange Julius or other fruit smoothies that you like.

Just for illustration, here is a nutritional comparison between bananas (a vitamin rich fruit), and kale and spinach. Below is a brief comparison of equal calorie amounts of each food. The USRDA numbers are for an active adult male and represent the percentage of USRDA nutrient requirements met.

This is just for comparison sake with easier numbers to understand because they deal with percentages. Your nutrient needs may be quite different.

50 Calorie serving size of bananas, kale and spinach:

* Vitamin A *

Bananas have 1%, kale 308% and spinach 408% of the USRDA for a 50 calorie serving.

* Vitamin C *

Bananas 8%, kale 200% and spinach 102%.

* Vitamin E *

Bananas 0%, kale (not listed in USRDA for some reason though it’s quite high in vitamin E) and spinach 22%

* Vitamin B6 *

Bananas 16%, kale 14% and spinach 21%

* Thiamin *

Bananas 2%, kale 7% and spinach 11%

* Niacin *

Bananas 1%, kale 5% and spinach 8%

* Riboflavin *

Bananas 3%, kale 8% and spinach 24%

As you can see there was NO vitamin of which banana was higher than both greens. Banana was only slightly higher than kale for Vitamin B6 but still lost to spinach for that vitamin.

And as you can see for Vitamin A… kale and spinach “destroyed” bananas, with spinach having over 400 times more Vitamin A than bananas.

Even in Vitamin C the greens crushed the bananas.

And I think now you’re starting to see why I love green smoothies so much, especially spinach smoothies and kale smoothies. I mean, when was the last time you had a cup of raw spinach or kale?

Here is a cool site where you can check nutritional data of Spinach, kale, bananas, and other foods that you drink you your smoothies.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

If you have a favorite recipe, why not submit it here in the comment section of this smoothie recipes blog for others to enjoy too!

I also welcome any comments, questions and suggestions. Thanks!